Being innovative and not being afraid to try new products has kept Waters True Value hardware stores prospering for six generations since 1894. For more than a century, the Kansas stores have evolved their product mixes as times and tastes have changed. In the 1950s, the store sold farm implements such as tractor plows and feeders. It also has at various times sold motorcycles, motorboats, sporting goods, firearms and appliances, but not anymore.
Now the product mix at the seven stores – serving Dodge City, Emporia, Great Bend, Junction City, Manhattan, Salina and Wamego, Kan. – includes a full line of hardware, farm, ranch and pet supplies, gifts and a rental division. “We change throughout the years to what our markets need,” President and CEO Scott Waters points out.
