TRURO, N.S. – He’s not ready to call it quits by any means but after more than 40 years of slugging it out in the plumbing trenches, Jim Henderson has decided to take things down a notch.
“Jim is getting older and he is looking to slow down a little,” Henderson’s wife Gloria said with a chuckle, of the couple’s decision to downsize the operations of JD Henderson Plumbing and Heating.
The company is in the process of completing its move from the Bentley Building on West Prince Street to the other end of town. The new location is still on Prince Street but is across the street from Walker Lofts (formerly Walker’s hardware store).
Henderson’s start in the plumbing business came at age 14 when he began helping his father Daniel.
“I was the youngest person to have a (provincial) plumbing licence,” he said. “I was 19.”
About two years later he took over the business from his parents and has been going strong ever since.
The business has operated out of the Bentley Building for the past six years when they moved to larger quarters in order to set up a display section for bathroom and plumbing renovation projects.
But with Henderson’s 60th birthday drawing near, combined with growing competition from the larger supply centres, the couple was convinced to downsize their efforts and concentrate more on the traditional side of things.
“Our customers supported us well but the trend of buying stuff cheaper than we can even get for it was giving us a little intention that we should slow it down,” he said.
And while the products they offered before will still be available should customers wish to order them, the display centre from the old store is not present in the new location.
“We’re going to stick to the (water) pumps and ventilation units and mostly repairs and get back to more of the, something we can fix,” he said.
“We’re going to be a little pump centre where you can get pumps repaired and fixed.”
The business, which will still also offer plumbing services, currently employs five people, including the Hendersons.
