William Jackson– ACE Hardware owner and Perry City Councilman

William Jackson comes from a family of successful business owners, and whose family members put service before self. So naturally he followed their footsteps by owning his own business and serves on the Perry City Council.

Jackson was born and raised in Wrightsville/Johnson County. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelors and masters degree in industrial arts. He said he taught school for eight years, and that was enough for him.

“My grandfather was in the hardware business down in South Georgia,” said Jackson. “I spent many summers down there working the register from eight-years old until my teenage years. Then in high school I worked at my Aunt’s clothing store so retail has been in my blood. I did teach for eight years, and loved my students, but I was ready for a new challenge.”

Jackson said he wasn’t sure just yet what he wanted to get into, but his brother-in-laws father brought to his attention the position of store manager at Ace Hardware was available in Sandersville. He applied and was hired. Jackson spent three years there. During his last year he and his brother George started talking about getting into business for themselves.

“We really liked Ace Hardware so we started looking for locations,” said Jackson. “We initially looked at Macon, but a lady who we grew up with was a real estate agent from Wrightsville told us to look at Perry plus she already had a spot for us to rent. We then came over here, agreed, and called our District Ace Rep. He told us he had just completed a market study in Perry, and said we needed to open one there. In mid September of 1984 we began the process and by January of 1985 we opened the doors for business.”

The original location was right beside the Abba House Thrift store. Jackson said they were there for two years, and the next year 1987, decided to build their own store on Ball Street where Walgreens is located today.

“My brother and I were having a lot of success that we decided to open up a second location in Macon,” said Jackson. “But we both had families, and became so busy that in 1994 we decided to spilt the businesses evenly. He took Macon and I took Perry. The Perry store needed to be expanded, we had plans but the bids were way out of sight. The location we are at now (Sam Nunn Boulevard) was up for lease so we moved here in 2004, and it has worked out well.”

Every Ace Hardware store is different and each one is locally owned. Jackson said Ace groups the stores into different sizes by convenient stores, neighborhood stores, and super stores. Perry is considered a super store.

“We of course have the recommended stock items that you can find in every Ace,” said Jackson. “The items you won’t find at every Ace are certain lawn care products, plants, and décor. One neat thing about Ace is you can go on their system to look at surrounding stores to see what they carry and how the sales are per year.”

When customers walk in the door they can expect a welcoming experience.

“First things first, our customers will be greeted as soon as they walk in the door,” said Jackson. “Our staff will then help them find what the customer is looking for or if the customer is not sure our staff will help them figure it out. We recently just got back from our annual conference, and for the tenth year in a row Ace Hardware has won the J.D. Power award for customer service in the whole hardware arena. We beat out Home Depot, Lowes, etc. It’s really unheard of. When we won this award for third year in a row they said it was unusual and well here we are in the tenth year.”

Jackson is in his seventh year serving as a Perry City Councilman. His father was appointed to several positions such as head of the development authority in Johnson County, and also volunteered to serve on several boards.

“Like retail serving the community was also in my blood,” said Jackson. “Before running for council I was appointed to the Downtown Development Authority, served on that for nine years, and was chairman for those last two years. I also was appointed to the beautification board. When the former Mayor Jim Worrall was sick, and announced he wasn’t going to run again I went down to the New Perry Hotel Tavery. Not long after I got there I had a citizen come tap me on the back, and said hello Mr. New Mayor. I said oh no, not me (he said laughing). But what really tugged my heart was what he said next, “Some of us need to step up to the bat”. So I decided to run for a council post in 2009 and was elected.”

Jackson said he has thoroughly enjoyed serving on Council. He said he has also stayed true to keep his decisions separate that might affect his business.

“I have made some decisions over the years that really weren’t best for my business, but it was the best for Perry,” said Jackson. You have to keep in mind, and I think some politicians have a hard time doing this, you make decisions not for yourself you’re making it for the community as a whole. From a business stand point and elected official position I’m really excited about where Perry is going. The growth is rising and there is new stuff coming into town. In 2010 there were only three building permit applications, and today in 2016 we have 13. That says something.”

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