amarillo chamber of commerce - HPN Books

THE NUNNCOMPANY,LTD.Above: Nunn Electric was part of thevibrant business community along historicPolk Street in 1915.Below: Nunn Electric, seen here in 1928,is one of the oldest continuously operatedbusinesses in Amarillo.The story of The NunnCompany parallels the storyof Amarillo; they have grownup together. First establishedin 1910, The Nunn ElectricCompany was started by JohnLindsey Nunn, later acquiredby Carl Hare, Sr., and is oneof the longest continually runbusinesses in Amarillo. Justlike Amarillo, The NunnCompany has prospered andweathered storms and economic downturns.Nunn Electric Company began by providingitems like wire, connectors, and insulatorsfor early telephone companies in the region.The company evolved into the retail sale ofelectrical supplies and appliances with Nunnoperating retail outlets throughout Northand West Texas, eastern New Mexico, andadjacent Oklahoma.Hare, Sr., came to Nunn’s attention in 1925.Hare was working in Nunn Electric’s WichitaFalls, Texas, store. He had taken leave from ajob at T & P Railroad to see if he was moresuited for sales. He quickly sold $50,000worth of RCA Orthophonic Victrolas, andNunn, being suitably impressed, hired him asa manager in his Amarillo store, and offeredhim a partnership as well. Hare packed up hiswife Zula and moved to Amarillo in 1926; andfrom that time to present, the Hare family hasbeen involved with the company.Hare went to work in the store at 425Polk Street, Nunn Electric’s first downtownAmarillo location. The inventory was primarilyFrigidaire refrigerators, RCA Victrolas andrecords, and lighting fixtures. Soon, the storebegan selling wholesale electrical supplies andwould continue to do so for decades. In 1936,Hare bought Nunn’s interest in the company.Nunn moved on to be involved in utilitycompanies, real estate, and newspaperpublishing, and Hare, being a naturalsalesman took over the company. Harehad an excellent partner in his wife,Zula who worked tirelessly providingstability and business sense that keptthe company going during the hardtimes. Zula was one of the smartestbusinesswomen in Amarillo duringthe Depression and helped the companystay solvent. During the 1930s,Hare, then no longer a Frigidairedealer, began to sell Zenith radioproducts, branched out into wholesaleappliance and radio sales, andexpanded to a second retail locationin Lubbock.During World War II as materialsbecame scarce, and because merchandisewas hard to come by, Hare closedthe Lubbock store and became a contractorfor the government. At the endof World War II, Hare converted hisbusiness completely to a wholesaleAMARILLO - Faces, Places & Open Spaces226