After three generations, Whitten Bros. Hardware sold
New owner George Sultani, right, will run Whitten Hardware in Orange Mound with general manager, Mary Margaret Friskillo. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Whitten Brothers Hardware, a fixture in Orange Mound bigger than any of the fixtures it has sold at the corner of Park Avenue and Haynes Street for 95 years, has a new owner, changing it from an ACE affiliate to Orgill and planning to expand and modernize.
By late fall, new owner George Sultani, 31, hopes to unveil an e-commerce platform that will allow shoppers to walk through store virtually, selecting items for pickup or possible delivery later in the day.
He also plans to add more Whitten Hardware stores in Memphis. All employees have been invited to stay.
Sultani owned a local DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen franchise with a design center in Germantown.
“One thing I could always rely on were those independent hardware stores,” he said. “You can rely on them to help you.”
Under a larger holding company, Sultani Investments, he also remodeled and flipped homes and, over time, acquired a portfolio of rental properties — 50 in Cleveland, Mississippi, and 72 in Memphis, plus a 120-unit apartment complex.
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What he learned in the field is how important a reliable hardware store is to a crew working against timelines. The only thing that would make it better, he said, would be if they delivered.
None did.
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Whitten Brothers Hardware George Sultani Ben Whitten Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Jane Roberts
Longtime journalist Jane Roberts is a Minnesotan by birth and a Memphian by choice. She's lived and reported in the city more than two decades. She covers business news and features for The Daily Memphian.
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