“He walked to work. We couldn't drive, but he would walk to work in his in his boot,” Mark said. “There's a few people like that, but they're hard to find, to be totally honest, that are that dedicated.”
The store that Vic Massanelli was walking to is a marvel, with coverage of almost anything a person constructing or fixing a building could want and much more. A walk through its 12 aisles reveals the store indeed has building supplies, but also supplies for plumbing, painting, wiring, woodworking, gardening, pest control, auto and small engine repair. It has everything, including your choice of several different designs of kitchen sink.
You can buy a gas heater, a generator, a wheelbarrow and many kinds of lumber that are kept in back. You can well understand, too, why Vic would want to be open during a snow storm, since the store has what you need to protect your outdoor faucets, replace burst pipes and wear warm gloves while doing the work. It’s nearly impossible to find anything the store is out of. B & R Building Supply’s inventory is well-organized, too, and shows a lot of care from an owner and staff that pays close attention every day.
This is very much a reflection of Vic Massanelli’s personality, too, Mark said. “He is completely and totally involved, and he is definitely in charge.” Mark went on to describe the store not only as his father’s business but also his hobby. “This is what he loves to do. He loves this. He gets here at 5:30 in the morning, doesn’t leave till 5:30 in the afternoon, sometimes not even then.”
Before Vic could get back from his lunch hour, Mark explained a bit about the store’s history. The business began in the old location of Gunter Lumber at 422 East Avenue A in 1969. (I found an ad was placed in the July 1, 1969 Hope Star announcing the store’s change of name to B&R for its two owners David Brown and Jack Reynard.) Vic bought into it when Reynard sold his half in 1976. Then when David Brown sold out a little over two decades later, Vic bought the other half.
As Mark dealt with a customer at the counter in the back, with his wife Amanda who has worked there for eight years. To my expression of amazement at the store’s variety but also the extent of its coverage within each specialty, she said, “We’ve got a little bit of everything.”
Soon after this, Vic Massanelli arrived back from lunch. I asked him what got him into the business of supplying Hope with hardware and building supplies. “I don't know if it was anything in particular. It just was the idea that I was just looking for a job. And I was able to get a job over at Hope Building Supply back in the 1963 or 64 … and the guy said he needed me for a couple of weeks. So I ended up running it after about three or four years. I got the opportunity to buy over there at the other store. And when that burned down, we moved over here.”
When I brought up with Vic the sheer variety of inventory and his store and the depth of coverage within that variety, he said, “Probably 75 to 85 percent of the people--we have what they need here. If not, we get it pretty quick.”
Mark said the store also prides itself on promptness in its deliveries. “We realize that people are on a job. They’ve got people working for them. They don't have time to sit there and have everybody sit down while they're waiting on the load. We don't jump people in front of other people, but if we know that one delivery is not in a hurry, and another guy says he needs it, we kind of work it out wherever it needs to be worked out so everybody’s happy.”
Asked about how the business has weathered any economic ups and downs in the 48 years since Vic bought his first half of it, Vic said, “I don't know about the ups and downs in Hope, Arkansas. Hope has always been a kind of progressive town. It's always been on the uphill deal now, but for [the last] three or four [or] five years, it's been kind of stagnant.”
He said that boom times for the building supply business in Hope came around the time he had bought into B&R, when Federal Housing Administration loans spurred a period of lots of house-building. (My own family moved into one of those homes in 1975). He also cited the addition of manufacturers to the town and the expansion of what is now University of Arkansas—Hope Texarkana as beneficial for the town’s economy and also for his store. He described business in Hope for B&R over those years as “a steady deal.”
For Vic this steadiness and Hope’s small-size drives the need to focus more on the service of the individual customer. “When a customer of ours comes in, that customer is has to be taken care of and treated [well], because we don't have 15 more that can walk in behind them, like your biggest stores do. If you don't treat them [well] and take care of them, they ain't coming back … This is just eight or 10,000 people here,” he said.
B&R employees about nine people, including a bookkeeper, counter help, three or four working in the back, Vic Massanelli said. “Everybody's capable. Most everybody's capable of doing whatever needs done.”
After working as a travelling fixer for Kroger, Vic Sr. decided to stay permanently in Hope, which had a Kroger store up to mid-1970s. Vic Sr. made the choice, when the company wanted him to transfer, to stay in Hope and opened a variety of businesses in town after that, including Vic’s Produce and Four-way Grocery.
B&R has also taken part in sponsoring sports teams and buying ads in the Hope High Yearbook. Vic Jr. served on the Planning and Zoning Commission here.
As the cold weather comes, B&R’s certainly going to have you covered when it comes to protecting your house or your businesses from pipes bursting but also keeping up your heating system with air filters and parts. If you should need a heater, too, B&R has a selection.
The store’s hours are Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m to 5:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
