In 1954, Thomas H. Wilder, Sr. opened a hardware store in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Our Story - Wilder’s Inc.
In 1954, Thomas H. Wilder Sr. was working a sales job in Raleigh when he realized he could do better working for himself. He opened Wilder's in a small storeroom at 334 E. Martin Street, supplying bolts, nuts, and fasteners to the automotive and industrial customers of Eastern North Carolina. His wife, Anna Maria Williams Wilder, ran the office from day one.
By the mid-1960s, business grew and Wilder's had moved to the corner of North Salisbury and West Johnson Streets, and the founder's son, Thomas H. "Tommy" Wilder Jr., had joined the business. When the state needed that property back in the early 1970s, Tommy, by then company president, built a 16,000-square-foot brick warehouse on Alwin Court. Wilder's has called 2406 Alwin Court home ever since. Our phone number, 833-2761, hasn't changed either.
From shop cats to shop dogs
In the late 1970s Tommy Wilder brought three maine coon kittens to the store when they were just days old. Named Bandit, Frog, and Smokey after Smokey and the Bandit, they became company cats. As the store manager told a local reporter, they were "definitely not mouse chasers." Their real job was making customers smile.
Today the cats have handed the job to a new crew. Zeus, our husky patriarch, fellow husky Dandy, who looks more like a bear than a dog, and Harper, the youngest of the pack. If you hear howling when you walk through the door, that's just the dogs singing you the welcome committee.
Pictured above (Left to Right): Zeus, Harper, Dandy
A woman-owned business, four generations strong
For more than seventy years, through every change, one promise has stayed the same: if you can't find it, we can. From a single specialty bolt to a full box of stainless hardware, our team takes the time to find you the right part.
Today, Wilder's is led by Stacey Wilder, Owner and President. After 20 years at Wilder's, Stacey now leads the company as a woman-owned establishment. Seventy years after Anna Maria Wilder first kept the books, Stacey carries the business forward with her own vision while honoring the family that built it.
The story continues with the fourth generation. Pheiffer Wilder works full time as Director of Operations while Nina Wilder and Logan Cabral support the business part time behind the scenes. Together they're making sure Wilder's keeps holding Raleigh together for years to come.
Stop by 2406 Alwin Court and meet the team, and the dogs.
History that made the papers.
