Pamlico Home Builders tapped for Small Business of the Year [Sun Journal, New Bern, N.C.]

Dec. 22--ALLIANCE -- After Pamlico Home Builders burned to the ground in 1981, founder Julius Tyndall rebuilt. Outside the front door he placed a sign that reads: "Our Store -- P.O.P.C."

The initials stand for People of Pamlico County.

"We owe it all to them, everybody," said Julius' son Kevin Tyndall, who operates the business today along with a throng of relatives who make it a true family business.

"If it weren't for the people of the county, we wouldn't be where we are now. Daddy always said it was the county's store, the people's store. And, he believed in helping people."

The business was recently named the Small Business of the Year by the Pamlico County Chamber of Commerce and was cited at a recent banquet for diligence in helping with storm relief and recovery.

When Hurricane Irene ripped through the county on a late August Saturday, Kevin Tyndall was one of the flood victims, but he and his family members knew there would be a need for lumber and a variety of supplies the hardware store had to offer.

"I came in here Sunday morning and got some stuff for some people," Tyndall said.

Monday morning, the store was open although there was no electricity.

"We were here with flashlights and hand-writing tickets," Tyndall recalled. "We were doing what we could to get people what they needed."

The cash register didn't work and debit and credit cards were useless, leaving the operations in a mode that was reminiscent of days long ago.

"The computers didn't run, so we did what we could because people were in a bind," Tyndall said. "We knew them all basically and the old saying is you jot it down and they come back in the next week and take care of it. We never had anybody that didn't come back. We had them coming from New Bern, Fairfield Harbour, Lowland, Beaufort County and Aurora. The whole area was devastated."

He estimates people will still be repairing and rebuilding homes this time next year.

"A lot of people didn't have flood insurance and they are having to do it themselves," he said. "And they are doing it as they can pay for it. We didn't go up (in price) on anything. We set up certain accounts for the Irene Disaster Relief Fund and they get a discount off everything. We do what we can to help them."

Tyndall's nephew left Sunday afternoon after the hurricane for the main Ace Hardware warehouse in Virginia and returned with 20 generators, which were quickly gone. He made a return trip on Monday.

Tyndall said the business has put out extra effort to accommodate customers, because they are considered friends and neighbors.

"If somebody calls me I'll help," he said. "A lot of times people have water lines break and this, that and the other. If they can get in touch with us, we'll come down and open up and get what you need to get you fixed."

The number of family employees at the business is extensive, including Kevin's sisters Shelia, Sharon and Renee, two brother-in-laws, two step-sons, a daughter and two nephews.

Kevin said the business has all the supplies and products needed to build a house from the ground up. His own home in Vandemere was flooded and he and his family hope to be back home by early 2012.

Julius Tyndall, a county native who started the business in 1966, died in 1989, but his legacy lives on.

Keith said the original slogan now includes people of Craven, Carteret and Beaufort counties.

An electrical fire several decades ago merely slowed the business.

"It burned it completely down except for a steel warehouse out back and two lumber sheds," said Kevin Tyndall. "We actually sold lumber of out the steel building and he owned a building in Reelsboro and opened up part of the hardware store there for three or four months until he got this one built back."

Julius Tyndall had served in the Marines and came home in the late 1950s and worked for New Bern Building Supply, and then he began building houses.

The one-of-a-kind building supply business was a family affair from the beginning. Today it has 25 employees and a majority of those are direct relatives of the founder, ranging from children to grandchildren.

"He didn't believe in people being lazy and sitting around the house," Kevin Tyndall said of his father.

Kevin started in the business when he was 12, helping move lumber around the lot. His brother Keith was 14 when he started. Today he is in charge of the construction, a separate division of the company.

Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or [email protected]

___

(c)2011 the Sun Journal (New Bern, N.C.)

Visit the Sun Journal (New Bern, N.C.) at http://www.newbernsj.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services