03/19/2024
I remember when they built the new Askews Hardware. This was way before Lowes came to town. It was an amazing store. It had an incredible array of hardware, just about anything you could imagine or need was there from a microscopic size spring to a #30 penny nail.
Mr. Askew was a hardware wonk, he knew more about hardware than anyone I have ever met. He had memorized where every nut and bolt was located in the enormous store. Really, in those days they had serious professionals working in Hardware stores. Donnie Decamp was a hardware and door savant. Mr. Nyberg, Mr. King, Mr. Hargett all professional employees. No computers in those days. These guys had memorized most of the prices. Occasionally they had to look up a price in this enormous, almost a foot high price book.
My senior year at NBHS I worked briefly at the old Askews store located at 1101 Po***ck Street. Askews had moved from Po***cksville where they had a small store to a much larger facility on Po***ck that they built in 1959.
After the building in this photo was completed in 1973 I worked there for the remainder of my senior year. Around 1993 New Bern Building supply bought out Askews and kept this building supply open for a few years before eventually closing it around 1997. They kept most of the employees and moved them to NBBS on HWY 70/55.
Later someone opened a bowling alley in the vacant building. The Askews building was sold and razed around 2018 and Aldi built a grocery store on the property.
Car aficionados please help date these vehicles
