Located at 15 Bannock Street, the original store was owned by Benjamin
Williams, who operated it as a furniture and confectionery store, beginning about
1888.
Benjamin sold the building to T.M. Thomas in 1893. Thomas had a
successful mercantile business, and his sons, Seth and John M. Thomas, continued
the business after their father’s death under the name T.M. Thomas Sons.
Bernard A. Jones and Alex Toponce leased the property in 1923, and the
business became the Jones and Toponce Hardware Company. Not expected to
survive, the business thrived for 72 years with Alex’s excellent salesmanship and
Barney’s wisdom and business sense gained from working at Evans Co-op. Jones
and Toponce sold general hardware and J.I. Case implements.
In 1935 they began selling John Deere combines and Caterpillar tractors.
Most farmers were using horses to pull farm implements prior to tractors being
available. It was a common practice for Jones and Toponce to take horses on trade
for tractors being purchased or for payment of bills. In 1940, Jones and Toponce
purchased the building from the T.M. Thomas estate.
Alex Toponce died in 1940, and Barney A. Jones became the sole owner,
calling the business Jones Hardware and Implement Company. In 1941 Barney’s
son Roland joined the firm, filling a vacancy left by Barney’s son-in-law, Leon
Castleton. In 1946 another son, Keith, joined the business, and he and Roland
owned half interest in the store. Bernard A. Jones died in 1951, and Roland and
Keith purchased full ownership.
Jones Hardware brought the first television set to Malad in 1951 — a 21-inch
black-and-white Philco.
The store was robbed seven times during the last 30 years of existence with
guns and ammunition being the targets of the robberies.
Keith passed away in 1988, leaving his wife Mary Lou and his brother
Roland to run the business until 1995 when the building was sold, bringing the 72-
year-old family business to an end.
Sources:
“Seventy-two Years of Family Tradition Ends with Sales of Jones Hardware,” The
Idaho Enterprise, February 23, 1995.
“Jones Hardware got its start in 1923,” The Idaho Enterprise, July 12, 1990, p. C2.
Mabel Jones Gabbott, “History of Bernard A. Jones,” The Idaho Enterprise, July
12, 1990. p. C2.