Life begins at 80: Houst & Sons carries on

His son Ned was born in New Jersey, and the family later moved to Ohio. Ned received a B.A. in economics from Williams College in Massachusetts, worked at Firestone for a year, and spent a summer with Mobil Oil in Austria before his stint in the Navy and his subsequent move to Woodstock.

Tall and trim, with a short gray beard, Ned looks much younger than 74 as he sits in the dining room of the 18th-century farmhouse his family has owned since 1917. In one corner of the room stands an antique baptismal font. The living room is furnished with his grandmother’s grand piano, which Ned sometimes plays. He and his wife, Shelby, recently built a sauna in the downstairs bathroom. The house has been impeccably maintained as a modern home while retaining its vintage look, with hand-hewn beams supporting the ceilings.

Ned describes how Houst and Sons evolved into a sort of 21st-century general store. “Our core business is traditional hardware, with a lot of legs sticking out from that,” he remarks. “When I came, there was a whole area of ‘notions’ in the middle of the store, with housewares and work clothing. I added electrical and plumbing departments, and we gradually built several additions. The store is now two-and-a-half times its original size.”

For 15 years, Houst and Sons had an active clothing business. “We phased that out because other departments became more important, and now we have no clothing,” Ned explains. “We added a lawn and garden department and some sporting goods. We had an automotive repair business for over 30 years. We closed that down in the mid-90s and expanded our equipment rental.”

He tells an anecdote that became a running joke in the business. One day in the rental office, a customer was haranguing the clerk, bragging that he knew Ned Houst. At that moment, Ned was standing at the counter, right before the customer’s eyes.

Today, Houst and Sons has 21 employees. While the day-to-day running of the business has been handed over to the next generation, Ned continues to work as bookkeeper and keeps his hand in behind the scenes. Soon he will be going to a trade show in Salt Lake City with John and Jody.

“I could not have chosen a more rewarding career,” says Ned. “It’s been very challenging, a lot of people to deal with, a lot of financial issues. I have not found it boring.”

Asked to define the philosophy of Houst and Sons, he says, “We try to carry what our customers want, and we try to take good care of the people who work there.”