PEORIA – Larry Nailon wants to go out of business, but customers won’t let him.
Not yet.
After four generations of his Nailon Plumbing Supplies on the verge of ending a formidable run as one of Peoria’s oldest businesses, he would like to start organizing inventory for liquidation. But when he cracks the front door at 101 Liberty St., he’s followed by a loyal clientele who are always looking for plumbing and advice not available elsewhere.
“Every time I come in, some customers come in too,” says a grinning Nailon, 64. “So I’ll wait for them.”
But he can’t wait forever.
Soon, for the first time in 137 years, there will be no Nailon selling sanitary fittings in the city center. Larry Nailon does not disappear, however, but switches from businessman to landlord. Ardor Breads and Provisions has been renting a piece of the large brick building since May and will soon be expanded to include the entire site that Nailon will continue to own.
That way, the family bond will continue downtown and Nailon will be happy to continue to be there. Given the freak accident that nearly killed him in July, he’s happy to be anywhere.
“I’m happy that I made it,” he says flatly but quietly. “I’m glad I’m still here.”
Link to yesterday
How old is Nailon Plumbing? It carried out the original pipeline in the town hall, which was inaugurated in 1899. At this point the company had already had 15 solid years behind it.
Today Nailon Plumbing feels like a time machine for yesterday’s trading. The two-story building was built by Swift in 1910 as a packing and smokehouse, an age evidenced by the worn wooden floorboards. The store is filled with a series of red-gray shelves, each stocked with pipes, gauges, valves, caps, hoses, and other fittings. Marks for products such as Toilaflex toilet pistons and Korky flaps.
The no-frills functionality seems out of place amid the many cultural and entertainment businesses that have settled in Nailon’s long-standing location on Liberty and Water Streets. The Peoria Riverfront Museum is across the street. Next door, Rhythm Kitchen hops along with food and music. In the Catty’s Corner at River Station, Martini’s on Water Street crackles with cocktails and music at night. And there is a farmers market on Saturdays on Saturdays on the riverside.
At these points there is a good chance that fun-loving visitors will pay little attention to Nailon’s Plumbing. But its location is familiar territory to Nailon’s believers, including Jim Dillon. The Mayor of West Peoria, whose family has done JC Dillion plumbing in Peoria for nearly a century, has been a regular for decades – especially when it comes to hard-to-find items.
“If you can’t find her here,” says Dillon, “where the hell are you going to find her?”
In fact, Nailon’s has been an integral part of downtown since 1884. The company was started by two Nailon brothers – James and John, a steam fitter and a plumber – who were both born and raised in Peoria. Coming from a cellar on Adams and Fulton Streets, her specialty at the time was commissioned work, especially in Peoria’s then abundant distilleries that employed up to 60 men.
Both brothers died in 1916. Women ran the company for decades: first from sister Mary Nailon, then from nieces Nora Nailon and Elizabeth Nailon. Her nephew Bill Nailon – Larry Nailon’s father – joined the company in 1947 and eventually rose to become the company’s secretary and manager.
On the way there, the company switched from contract work to plumbing and moved twice. For a long time it hung on a clapboard on the northwest corner of Liberty and Adams. In 1963 it made way for Sears, which is now the Peoria Riverfront Museum. But Nailon Plumbing didn’t go far, just across the street to its current location.
Knows his stuff
Larry Nailon joined the company in 1977. When his father retired in 1989, he had already been president of the company for three years. His father died two decades ago, leaving Nailon the only family member in the business.
More recently, about half the patronage has been plumbers and contractors. The other half were DIY enthusiasts looking for special parts and plumbing advice that are often difficult to find in large stores.
“You’re having a college kid who doesn’t know,” says Nailon. “He’s only there for a summer job.”
Conversely, Nailon not only knows his stuff, but likes to talk about it. It’s his favorite part of the job, chatting – about plumbing and everything else under the sun – that reflects the community spirit of shoe shine salons, neighborhood taverns, and other hangouts.
But there’s no younger Nailon to keep the conversation going. He and his wife Christine have only one child, Alyssa, 23, who has gone into veterinary medicine. .
When the museum debuted in 2012, Larry Nailon hit a rental sign in front of his building, thinking the brick hull could be converted into a restaurant. He didn’t get a solid nibble for years until Cody Scogin hit on the idea of an artisanal bakery. So Nailon renovated about a third of the 5,000 square foot first floor and Ardor Breads and Provisions opened at 301 SW Water St. in May.
As it turned out, the bakery opened on time.
Two months later, when Nailon went to a bowling alley, he bowed his head as he got into a car. He didn’t think about it much other than that his head hurt more than expected. He felt dizzy while bowling, enough to go to a hospital.
He was diagnosed with a cerebral haemorrhage and immediately had an operation. Neurosurgeons tore open his skull, repaired a broken blood vessel, and punched 51 staples in his head. He spent almost three months in the hospital – “I had a kind of brain fog,” he says – before being released to leave.
All this time, Nailon Plumbing had been closed. The last employee had died a year earlier, and Larry Nailon hadn’t gotten around to hiring a replacement. After leaving the hospital, he wondered if he should go back to work.
“It’s difficult to do two-man surgery with just one man,” he says.
Expand bakery
Thanks to the baker Scogin, he didn’t have to solve this problem. Despite the pandemic, he had done brisk business. When Nailon recovered, Scogin said he would like to expand. And that’s the plan: as soon as Nailon can clear its inventory and shelves and so on, the entire first floor will be renovated for Ardor Breads and Provisions.
“We’re going to expand what we’re doing now,” says Scogin, who has two employees. “… We want to bring more people on board.”
The expansion could also go up. The second floor of the building, which is currently a warehouse, is also likely to be renovated, possibly to house an event venue. The focus for now is on the first floor, which could be renovated by June.
Scogin says, “We’re in no rush.”
Neither are Nailon’s long-standing customers. Although he has no set days of operation, customers seem to notice whenever he stops by. On a final day, man after man pushed through the front door to ask a question about a plumbing problem. One was John Rossi, 79, from Peoria, who had been dropping by for half a century.
After consulting with Nailon, Rossi bought a drain cover and then wished good luck and health.
“It’s good that you come out while you can,” said Rossi. “The best for you.”
Then Rossi left the shop, perhaps for the last time.
“I’ll miss that,” said Larry Nailon. “The human.”
Phil Luciano is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at [email protected], facebook.com/philluciano and (309) 686-3155. Follow him on Twitter.com/LucianoPhil.
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