When Scott and Becky Rushing opened a new hardware store in Wellsville in August, they had an easy time coming up with a name.

The Rushings called it Gram and Papa’s Hardware, which was named after their nicknames that their granddaughter, Becca Rushing, calls them.

“She started calling us Gram and Papa,” Scott Rushing said. “All of the others followed suit.”

The store is located at 125 W. Hudson Street and had its grand opening on Aug. 16. It is next door to the Kissing Cow, which used to be a bank and is owned by daughter Sara Freie.

“When we bought that old bank, we had to have this building, too,” Scott Rushing said. “I didn’t want anything to do with this building initially. Then, somebody said, ‘Man, that would be a good place for a hardware store.’ So I started fixing it up a little bit and buying some supplies. It still needs work.”

Rushing said the store opened on the same weekend the Old Threshers Show and the Martinsburg Picnic were held.

“We had a lot of visitors,” he said. “We didn’t do much sales, but that’s all right. There was a lot going on in both directions (of Highway 19).”

The store sells all kinds of electrical, welding, auto and plumbing supplies. Rushing said the mission for the store is to serve residents of the Wellsville area.

“When we moved here four years ago, I was working on a project,” he said. “I was 36 inches short of what I needed in lumber, a 2x4. I had to stop everything and go to Montgomery City. I ended up going to La Crosse Lumber to Vandalia because we were heading that way anyway. So I picked up a 2x4. Then, I didn’t get back to the project for a couple of days. Locally, I could have finished the project. When this (building) became available, I could now fulfill what I really wanted to do. I want to make it to where people can come in and buy a nut and bolt and not have to go into Montgomery City to do it.”

If the store doesn’t have the items customers are looking for, the Rushings will order them.

“I go shopping,” Scott Rushing said. “If I come across a good buy, then I pick it up and bring it out here. That way, my neighbors don’t have to go to Wentzville or Columbia to get stuff.”

Rushing said he had to purchase items for his store out of his pocket.

“I don’t want to go into debt,” he said. “I’m 69 years old. I have a military career behind me. I don’t need to go deep in debt.”

The store is open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday.