CUMMINGTON — There aren’t any hardware stores for Hilltown residents for about a 20-mile radius — except for Cummington Supply, which offers construction resources “from the concrete foundation up till right before the cabinets go in,” according to a jingle contrived by owner Gus Perkins highlighting the fact the store carries every building essential, from plumbing to electrical and lumber to windows.

Perkins bought the establishment six years ago from his parents, who set up shop in 1974. Since they established the business, it has supplied the area with building resources, including providing scheduled deliveries, with their growing fleet of three trucks.

“The community piece of it is really important to me. I think I would find it sort of exhausting working in Pittsfield with four other stores and people just coming back and forth without getting to know people,” he said. The “return customer” environment at Cummington Supply is one of the aspects of the business that Perkins cherishes most.

Over the course of its 50 years — Cummington Supply is celebrating that anniversary this year — at least 100 different residents have sifted through as employees, Perkins said.

Barns have been added to the lumberyard, and payment methods may have slightly modernized, but the store itself remains consistent, old school, and community based.

“I like helping contractors … I like when people come for help, and I can set them up so they can be successful,” he shared.

Perkins said his time in the business has allowed him to get to know people and participate in their projects, imbuing his job with a sense of purpose.

While born into the business, Perkins did not expect to be the heir of Cummington’s only building supplier.

Instead, Perkins worked a plethora of different jobs after high school, gaining a range of skills and experiences that would lead him back to the store at 18 Main St.

At first, he was involved in the New York theater scene, working on the technical aspects of the stage, before moving on to jobs in carpentry, then working for licensed contractors, followed by a period of teaching preschool.

After some time in Montana, after New York, he realized teaching preschool wasn’t enough to support his two kids.

He decided to head back to Cummington and buy the family business — a job he was prepared for even though initially it may have been something Perkins “didn’t want to do” when he was younger.

His parents established the business when he was 5. He is now 55.

“It’s hard to separate my life away from this,” he contemplated, and reminisced that as a kid his friends rode their bikes down Main Street to the shop, where Perkins would spend most of his hours, earning some spending money with a 10% commission on his sales as cashier.

To this day, using his contractor’s IQ to help customers remains among the most rewarding aspects of his job, he said.

He noted that while the business provides him a decent income, he is “not here to get rich” — a philosophy the business had been built on.

Peter Kipp, Perkins’ stepdad, and his mom, Frances, bought the business without any previous experience in the industry.

The couple were members of the hippie intellectual tradition — born “privileged,” in Perkins’ phrasing, to “white collar surgeons and lawyers,” they began the store after Peter had a run with real estate in Williamsburg.

A third of the store, which is now the right side of the shop as you walk in, had been the post office at the time.

“This is what they wanted to do,” said Perkins, surrounded by caulk, saw blades, and a million other gadgets arranged on peg boards, wooden shelving, and metal racks that line the walls of its timeless, rustic interior.

Over the years and seasons, the store has had several employees who have “stuck,” making the supply store part of their lives as well.

One of them is bookkeeper Tracy Granger, who has worked at Cummington Supply for more than 30 years.

“They were lenient,” she said, speaking about the Kipps and the kind of bosses they were, and related how when she had been a young mom raising her kids she had been allowed to bring her kids into work.

“And they still come by,” Perkins noted.

Perkins shared that at the time his parents sold, they had been ready to step away after about 45 years.

At the time he had taken over management of the store, which facilitated a clean transition once Perkins bought the store, becoming owner in 2018.

His mom died in February, and his stepdad at present is having worsening struggles with dementia.

Speaking about the possibility of one of his own kids potentially carrying on the store, Perkins says perhaps they’ll do as he did — meander and find their way back, and buy the business themselves — but that’s a decision he’ll leave up to them.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.