Most people live where they grew up, even if they will someday move. But one family in Kingston, N.Y., is abuzz with news that the family of Charles and Jean Paul Fergusson wants to move them out. This peculiar tale has captured the attention of more than 6,000 people on YouTube and once again made headlines as the end of the world, or the beginning of the middle one, draws near.
In the early 1990s, the Fergussons set out to open their Fergusson’s Hardware store in Kingston. Unfortunately, they did not find sufficient interest in getting them to move north. As a result, they have not moved since then.
But the Fergussons don’t seem worried that they have not left their original hometown. They have been preparing for “better opportunities” in at least five states, even though they are the only ones who know exactly where they will be when the end of the world, or the beginning of the middle one, occurs.
As a result, they have met with the mayor and other elected officials to update them on what they have been doing since moving to other states, including where they want to set up their hardware store in each state, if they can make any sales in a given state, etc.
So if it was you, would you take a leap of faith when you least expect it and open a hardware store in any state for the price of a pie-in-the-sky idea? And in the end, if you could not make enough money in the business, would you even want to run the business?
Long before its eventual demise and the kind of gruesome end that will only be experienced by a few, has the Fergussons’ story captured your attention?
The Fergussons said they could not sell enough TVs to move to the next state. They ran several fad electronics stores in New York in the 1990s and sold bicycles before that. Their intentions to buy a new PC, after running machines at their home, was derailed by their inexperience when it came to hardware repairs. So one day they decided to try their hand at running a hardware store.
Now, as predicted, their hardware store is in Kingston, N.Y. as they try to live with the wonders of online shopping.
Charles said they have found out that it’s tough to compete with Amazon online, which he also attributes to the fact that “The thing you lose is the personal touch.”
“What are we going to do, turn around and say to people, ‘Hey, we don’t have a personal touch?,’” he said.
“In Florida,” he said, “we were breaking into a lot of new homes. I was a dealer and I broke into a lot of existing houses and assisted people with getting new carpet or tile, painting. They are still tearing down the old ones and starting over.”
If it worked out, his experience from Florida would be worth it, but for now, the Fergussons are still having challenges in New York.
“It’s not that I don’t have a sense of pride in Kingston or New York,” he said. “All my paperwork and taxes are paid on the books in New York. The only piece of paper I still don’t have, is a diploma from a local New York City university.”
So for now, they will continue to live in Kingston, and if that makes them happy, that is fine with them. In fact, for a couple of reasons, they might want to stay in their home state, even if it means they will have to leave the house.
Joanie Fitch joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in 1998 and currently serves as a senior correspondent based in the Chicago bureau.