Bob Schmidt Jr. says the men in his ancestral line have two things in common: They’ve served their country in wartime, and they’ve served their hardware customers in southwestern Wisconsin.

“My grandfather was a horse soldier in the First World War on the Mexican border,” he explained. “After the war he and his brother went into business together in Blue River.”

In 1902, they opened the first Gasser Hardware, and in 1923, expanded to Boscobel. Schmidt’s father, as well as an uncle, fought in World War Two. The uncle died in Germany; his father lived.

“After the war, he came back, and my grandma talked him into being in the store,” he said.

By the time Schmidt was in the army, the conflict was in Vietnam, though he was never stationed overseas during his service. When he came back to Wisconsin in 1971, his father said a hardware store in Lancaster was up for sale, and Schmidt came on to manage that store.

Today, Gasser has seven locations, and a third generation, Rob and Dan, work alongside Schmidt and his wife Jan. Those locations include Galena, IL and Maquoketa and Cascade IA, and in Wisconsin, stores in Broadhead, Hazel Green, Lancaster, and Boscobel, where the family is set to celebrate the location’s centennial this month.

In his time at the helm of the hardware store chain, Schmidt has seen a lot of changes.

“The biggest change is how you do business. Everything is automated now, where back in the day you did everything on the phone,” he said.

Not that Schmidt’s afraid of change. In fact, he’s embraced it. In the early 80s, Gasser claimed to be the first hardware store in Wisconsin to track inventory through a computer at the checkout line.

Other changes came from outside the business. WalMart and Amazon have provided competition and altered the types of products the Schmidts stock.

“Small appliances is a good example,” explained Schmidt. “We used to sell a ton of them, but we don’t stock them anymore. Of course, you don’t buy your wife a mixer for Christmas anymore. Not if you want to be a survivor.”

Instead, the Schmidts have expanded into areas—like tool rental, farm fencing, and live plants—where they have a leg up on the online retailers. And even when it comes to traditional hardware, Schmidt said he’s got an advantage Amazon lacks.

“When you need a pipe fitting you need a pipe fitting,” he said. “If you’re working in your garden and break your shovel, you’re not going to work with Amazon. You’re going to come here.”

A family business can be a risky venture. You’d better get along well enough.

Schmidt said that going all the way back, the family has carved up duties, and collaborated where it’s made sense to work together.

The group of stores shares a small fleet of semi-trucks and employs a couple full-time truck drivers, for instance. That way that can better manage the flow of inventory to each store.

“You’re always working together and talking about it. It isn’t always smooth, but we all get along,” he said.

To celebrate their 100-year mark, the Schmidts plan to hosted an anniversary sale.

On the eighteenth, Bob and his son Rob were on hand in Boscobel to grill brats, while Jan handed out cake, ice cream, and watermelon.

The elder Schmidt will be in his element: At 76, he said he’s slowing down a bit and doesn’t spend much time on the sales floor these days. But for him, the best part of the job has always been meeting the customers.

“The business has been really fun through the years. I’ve met a lot of people, and I have made a lot of very good old friends,” he said.