Over its more than 100 years, A.R. Perry, Inc. has provided vital services to the community and its residents. First established to repair Corbitt buggies and farm equipment, it went through a period that handled scrap metal and more before evolving into a glass repair and replacement service.
Of the many employees that have worked at Perry Glass (as many locals know it), owner Richard Davis said there have been 8 sets of brothers, 4 sets of sisters, 5 sets of fathers and sons, 3 sets of mothers and daughters, 3 sets of mothers and sons, and 2 sets of fathers, sons and daughters.
Gives new meaning to a family-operated business, doesn’t it?
But since Davis’s grandfather, A.R. Perry, first set up shop in Henderson, there have only been 2 married couples who have worked together. One of those couples is Richard and Mariana Davis.
They joined other Chamber of Commerce members and board representatives at a luncheon, during which A.R. Perry Inc. was named 2023 Small Business of the Year.
Chamber Board Chair Margier White introduced the winner, calling it a company that provides “top-notch glass products and installation,” as well as commercial oxygen for welding.
Perry and his brother-in-law were the only employees when they launched their business, but the company creates lasting personal relationships with its customers in the local area and beyond to keep the company vibrant.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Perry Glass installed countless plexiglass and glass protection barriers throughout the community – often free or at-cost. And it’s not unusual for Davis himself to answer “glass emergencies” nights and weekends.
The company volunteers throughout the community to provide their professional services to make repairs or to donate to local events. The Davises are very involved in various aspects of their church, The Church of the Holy Innocents and are instrumental in the upkeep and preservation of historic St. John’s Episcopal Church in Williamsboro.
In remarks at the awards ceremony, Davis said it’s an “extreme honor” to be recognized as the Small Business of the Year.
It hasn’t always been easy, he said. In fact, it has taken lots of work to stay viable. “There are some tough days – years – in a business like this,” he said.
“I’m here because all of you are here,” Davis said. He recalled the heyday in Henderson – when like textile mills and Rose’s Stores kept smaller companies like Perry Glass busy. “They fed us business – from all over the state and all over the Southeast…that’s what Henderson people did – they took care of their own,” he said of those big corporations that called Henderson home.
Today, you’ll find A.R. Perry in the Mobile community of Henderson. But when it was in the scrap metal business, there also was some property on Ruin Creek Road, Davis said.
In those days, there were no fences to keep people out – or inventory in, he said. “People would come in and get pieces of iron, pieces of cars,” and then bring them back to Davis’s Uncle Vernon.
He knew where the scrap had come from, Davis said. But, “he’d always buy it back from them.”