By James Ronald Skains
Journal Correspondent

"This is our 92nd year in business," said Debbie Nichols, CEO of the five-store chain based in Many, Louisiana. "My grandfather, H. A. Nichols opened the first Nichols store in DeQuincy in the southern part of Beauregard parish in 1914 which was the same year that my father, Truman, was born."

In 1914, Woodrow Wilson was President; World War I was just beginning in Europe. Huey P. Long was 17 years old and his little brother Earl was 15.

Ironically, Harry Andrews Nichols, the founder of the Nichols Stores in 1914, earned the money to open his first store in DeQuincy by working in a sawmill at the rate of $1.50 per day. During those years, DeQuincy, about 50 miles north of Lake Charles, had several sawmills and was known as a railroad town because it was at the intersection of north/south and east/west tracks.

Between 1914 and 1977, 16 Nichols stores were opened in central and western Louisiana and east Texas. The peak year for the most number of Nichols stores in operation at the same time was 1964, when store number 13 was opened fourteen years after the death of H.A. Nichols in 1948.

T.D.(Truman) Nichols was also a pioneer in the discount store business in the 1960's by opening several Gibson discount stores. Today, there are five Nichols stores still open with locations in Many, Leesville, Coushatta, Winnfield and DeQuincy, with the Central Warehouse being located in Many. The Nichols DeQunicy store is operated by one of Debbie Nichols' cousins, Rusty Irwin who is also a grandson of Harry Andrews Nichols, the founder of the Nichols chain.

Harry Andrews Nichols died in 1948 after 34 years in the retail store business. His son Truman assumed the management of the Nichols stores after his death. Truman Nichols had started with his dad in 1934 after attending Louisiana State University.

In 1998, Truman, or T.D. as he was best known, was honored as the first inductee in the Sabine Parish Hall of Fame as the Outstanding Citizen in the spring of 1997 before he passed away in December. He also apparently built a workforce of loyal dedicated employees as evidenced by John Skinner who spent 40 years working for Truman.

Over the years, T.D. Nichols received recognition from many of his nationwide vendors as a "Gentleman of Retail."

"His management style was unique," Debbie Nichols pointed out to the Journal. "He kept most of his record keeping in his head. I was always amazed at how accurate he was on recalling the exact inventory of different items in the warehouse. He used what he called a master book."

He worked seven days a week, using Saturday and Sunday to catch up on his paper work," Debbie recalled. "He loved his work and was able to work regularly until about four months before his death."

"He didn't focus much on the retail end of the business, as he said the real key to the business was in the warehouse and inventory side," Debbie recalled. "That didn't mean that he didn't know what was happening in the stores, he just realized that his primary place was in the warehouse."

"My mother, Elaine, who was originally from Kinder was involved in the retail side and did a lot of the buying, especially gift ware and china," Debbie noted. "She was a character in her own right. She was a very accomplished musician on different instruments. She also liked to garden and to buy and sell cows and land."

"I was a teenager when my Dad let me place my first order for product. It was for school crayons," Debbie explained. "I personally liked the big crayons, so I ordered a lot more large boxes of crayons that the smaller ones."

"Naturally, the boxes of smaller crayons sold much faster than the bigger boxes and we had an inventory of crayons for many years," Debbie remembered. "Dad never let me forget it. Every once in a while, my Dad, out of the clear blue sky would ask me, 'Oh, by the way, do we need to order anymore boxes of large crayons?"

Today, in the Nichols Central Warehouse located in downtown Many, it is evident that Debbie Nichols' management style is similar to her Dad's, in the noticeable lack of computers in the warehouse.

"Actually, in our business, I think that we can keep our inventory as well if not better without computers," Debbie noted. "With computers, you still have to enter all the data and when a mistake is made, it's more difficult to catch than it is with our paper and pencil system in a master book."

Debbie's life and business career has come full circle in the Nichols store business. "As a kid and teenager, the first Sunday of each month was the day that we stripped and waxed the floors in the stores. That was in the pre-WalMart days when we didn't stay open on Sunday."

"Those were not the best of my days," Debbie stated. "I can also remember many hours as a young girl stocking shelves when we handled soft goods."

During her high school days, she was a member of the homecoming court and was escorted by her Dad in those ceremonies. Also, in the high school years and later in college, Debbie was very involved in dance, taking over 12 years of lessons in jazz, ballet, and tap dancing.

She was a member of the "Demon Dazzlers" dance team at NSU and later taught dance in the Many area. Debbie is still active in aerobics and works out faithfully at the local gym and readily admits, "I still have to do some type of dancing on a regular basis, especially on the weekends."

"I first went to college at McNeese in Lakes Charles and then transferred to Northwestern majoring in business marketing," Debbie recalled. "I wanted to continue at Northwestern and get a master's degree in business. However, my Dad told me that I would get my master's degree in business at Nichols."

"And he was right because I soon got involved in all aspects of the business especially the buying and inventory control,'' Debbie admitted.

"Over the years, I've spent a lot of time at the markets in Dallas and Fort Worth. Those are 15 hour days."

"I still go to market four or five times a year, primarily to Dallas and to the Sporting goods show in Fort Worth," Debbie explained.

"I've recently hired two young graduates of Northwestern, Ashley Morgan and Laura Moore who I am breaking in to going to market. Also, Ashley and Laura are helping to redo the interior decorations in all of our stores."

"I try to make the rounds to each store in the chain about five times a year," Debbie noted. Each store has around $1.4 million in inventory. We carry about 500 different lines of merchandize, including about a hundred different lines of gift wear."

"We are also big into hunting gear, camouflage, guns, boots and Levi's and Wrangler clothes," Debbie pointed out. "One thing that we are very proud of is our sponsorship with Toledo Bend Ford of the "Big Buck Contest.''

"Last year, which was the 3rd year of our sponsorship, we had over 200 people attend our "Shoot For The Bucks," Debbie stated. "First prize in the event was $1,000 cash to the winner, $500 to the second place winner, and new hunting guns to the Women's, Spike, and Youth divisions."

"Our business has increased considerably in the past year and a half," Debbie explained. "I don't know if it was all due to the hurricanes or a combination of Wal-Mart cutting back on their guns and hunting gear or people just wanting quality products."

"We've also added an LSU Corner in some of our stores," Debbie said.

"LSU memorabilia is always a draw in Louisiana. We also hosted a book signing for Jim Hawthorne, the `Voice of the LSU Tigers' in our Many store on October 27."

"In looking back over the 92 year history of the Nichols stores, I think the key to our success has been the ability to make changes, keep up with the trends and try new things such as my Dad with the Gibson Discount Stores," Debbie said in closing. "My Dad had an insatiable drive to conquer any task or challenge at hand."

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