Making Diamond Dreams Come True
By Carly Little —
Now, the team is known as the Greene Street Diamond Elite, named after the hardware store’s street.
Girls who played on the H.W. Little & Co.-sponsored softball team have been recruited by colleges, an opportunity many may not have had without the store’s support.
I’m the fourth generation in this hardware store in Wadesboro, N.C., and I got started by coming here before school with my dad to open up the store. Then, I would spend time in afternoons helping out and back on Saturdays.
When H.W. Little & Company first sponsored the softball team in conjunction with the Anson County Parks & Recreation department, the team’s name was Dirt Divas.
Most of the times, I’d break light bulbs and skin my knees. My favorite thing to do was help put price stickers on products. While I was in college, I’d come home and work some more in the store. They taught me how to run the cash register and I did a lot of pricing.
Now, as the owner and vice president, and being full time for more than 20 years, I do a little bit of everything. I guess that’s pretty much how the store has been run since it opened in 1894. I wanted to join the family business and skip college, but my dad made sure I got a college education before coming back to the family business.
Swinging for Fences Opportunities
The best things about being in the hardware business are the people you meet and relationships you establish, getting to know so many people from different walks of life. We’re in a pretty rural area, so I feel fortunate that my family gave me the chance to go to college. I know that there are other girls here who may not have that chance.
I work hard to understand customers and demographics. I’m involved in the community not because I want people to come in and shop the hardware store, but I want kids to have opportunities. Understanding your customers should also mean you know opportunities to make something happen for the better. Here, so many kids are desperate for that extra from an adult. Or maybe some have love and care at home but don’t have opportunities. That’s why we support many things in the community. The main thing we’ve done is the softball team, the Greene Street Diamonds.
A four-generation Century Club retailer, H.W. Little & Company has been a Do it Best retailer since 1985.
About 10 years ago, the store’s involvement started with the Anson County Parks & Recreation. We like to sponsor all kinds of different sports to give kids something to do. We’re in the country and the textile mill industry that was big here is now down to just a couple, so opportunities for kids aren’t a lot.
Through the involvement with the Parks & Recreation, I found out that not a lot was happening with girls softball. Especially the girls who didn’t make the school ball team didn’t have opportunities. The store began with sponsorship of the girls softball and it sort of took off and really became the spirit of the store.
A couple customers ended up coaching them in local leagues and tournaments and as the girls in the program advanced and got better, the team became a travel team. The hardware store covered the cost of the tournaments and anything they needed for support.
Greene Street Diamond Elite players have earned many trophies, rings and accolades, including a plaque for pitching a perfect game in a 2021 softball tournament.
