YCO Hardware celebrates 40 years, looks forward to more

Like its founder, Jesus Yumul, YCO Hardware values hard work—day in and day out—and that has been a constant in the 40 years that the company has been in existence. This month marks the store’s 40th anniversary and that remains the driving force of the company, according to store manager Dante Yumul.

Yumul told Saipan Tribune that these last 40 years were built on hard work, something his father, Jesus, taught him and his siblings.

“He’s very business-minded,” Yumul says of YCO Hardware’s founder. “Growing up, nothing was handed to us. We had to work for everything.”

Yumul said his dad still refuses to fully retire to this very day. “And I think that’s his nature,” he added, crediting his dad for pushing him to finish college before returning to the family business.

Yumul said his father came to the island as an engineer, helping put up water tanks in the 1960s. His father even helped build their current building in Garapan, he said. His dad just keeps “going and going and building.” This has rubbed off on him and his siblings.

“We’re a hardware family,” he said.

Growing up, Yumul and his brothers and sister would help around the store, stocking shelves for example. “I was born into the hardware business,” he said, adding that while he is a technician at heart, the store “is in his nature.”

He attributes this trait to his father and also to his mother, who Yumul says is the “cooler head” in the family.

With his brothers Ray and Ralph, they’ve worked through a lot of tough business decisions. Owning a hardware store is not an 8-to-5 kind of job, he said. You take it home with you. You’re “on your feet” all the time.

“Time, sweat, and tears,” Yumul said, when asked how it’s like to run a family business.

Daily operations and maintenance teach you patience, he said, and communication is key.

They value that back-and-forth relationship they have with their customers. “Our customers have come back and told us the pros and cons” of their business decisions, he said. As long as their business is running, he said they do their best to accommodate.

“We really want to thank the community for the 40 years of support. We want to thank them because without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

Since opening a new location in Garapan in November, Yumul said they are beginning to settle into their new location. They had a whole bunch of new items when they first opened, he said. But now, they are finding what their customers want. “Now we know what moves,” he said, pointing at plumbing, lawn and gardens, and building materials.

It’s been long journey since the mid-1970s. Yumul recalls that his dad started with nothing, opening “just a little hardware store” at first.

“It just kept evolving,” he said.

He is optimistic of another 40 years and more. “We’re here to stay,” he said.

One of the things that are on the planning board is to add a seasonal section in the near future, with barbecue pits sold around spring, for example.