McLendon Hardware, Inc.

The history of McLendon Hardware begins in 1894, in the hills of Tennessee where M.J. MJ McLendonMcLendon was born. Knowing by the age of fourteen that six mouths would be too much for a part-time traveling school teacher to feed, he left home. He walked to Texas and got a job harvesting wheat with a crew that traveled between Texas and Manitoba, Canada. Later as a surveyor for the Canadian Government he helped map the Peace River in Alberta and Manitoba. He served in the Canadian Army during WWI, where he was both gassed and wounded. Discharged and shipped back to Alberta, he met and courted Helen Emery. Born in Iowa, Helen's family moved to Alberta soon after. They married and quickly moved (Helen hated the Alberta winters) to Portland, Oregon. They were soon joined by her father and mother, George and Cassie Emery. Mac, as he became known, and George did odd jobs in the Portland area. During this time, 1921, Dorothy, the first of six children was born. She would be joined by Bob in 1923, Wanda in 1926, and Ted in 1928, Pat in 1937 and Jan in 1940. In 1926 both families moved to the Seattle- Renton area. Mac went to work for George when he bought a second hand store in Renton. This is where Mac got his start; the two of them would travel around Renton and South Seattle by horse drawn wagon house to house, collecting used tools, light fixtures, buckets, tubs and whatever else they felt they could resell. They were early "garage sale" shoppers and recyclers. A competing second hand store across the alley gave Mac the opportunity he felt ready for - owning his own store. For $500 he bought a fifty percent share. Dale and McLendon would go on to be a successful business for decades at 320 Wells St. in Renton, WA. At this time McLendon Hardware Inc. consists of seven retail hardware stores, two distribution centers, and over five hundred employees.