Aubuchon Hardware (Images of America: Massachusetts)

William E. Aubuchon Sr. immigrated to the United States from Canada in 1900 at the age of 15, speaking no English and armed with only a fifth-grade education. Through hard work and perseverance, he established a hardware store in 1908 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. One hundred years later, there are over 130 Aubuchon Hardware stores located throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, employing about 1,100 people. This remarkable growth by Aubuchon Hardware can be attributed to the company treating its customers as friends and always making them number one. As William E. Aubuchon Sr. once said, "The business was founded on the principle of buying economically. We give our customers what they want--high-grade hardware at a price everyone can afford." Aubuchon Hardware never lost track of where it started, and today it still remains "all in the family" with over 20 family members currently employed, including the fourth generation. In Aubuchon Hardware, family members were an invaluable resource for photographs and historical information.