Gary began his career working in the store, learning the products and serving customers.īruce Speer, nephew of Kermit Speer, purchased an interest in Rural King in 1982, with the opening of the Litchfield, Ill., store. In 1979, Gary Melvin, nephew of Kermit Speer, purchased an interest in Rural King. An addition to that building was completed in 1983. A new Rural King was built in November 1973 on Van Tran Avenue, which has been renamed Veterans Avenue. The Vandalia, Illinois, Rural King was opened in 1966 in an old building on U.S. Paris was Kermit and Pat Speer's home for 15 years. In 2001, that building was torn down and the current 55,000-square-foot Paris Rural King was built. In 1970, land was purchased across from the Edgar County Fairgrounds and the new Paris Rural King was constructed. In 1962, Speer and Beaird opened another store in Paris, Illinois, in an old packing house with eight rooms. In 2010, a third warehouse expansion was started that will add 104,000 square feet. In 2007, another 96,000 square feet were added to the warehouse. In 2003, a 94,000-square-foot addition was added to the warehouse. The old store and warehouse were donated to the Catholic Charities. In 1999, a new store, warehouse and corporate office consisting of 210,000 square feet was opened across the highway from the old store. In 1966, a warehouse was built, and in 1970, a second addition was added to the store.Ī new building was finished and opened in September 1976. In 1963, an addition to the main building was added. The company started with two employees, besides the owners. The original store was started in a former implement building of 7,200 square feet. On June 5, 1960, Kermit Speer and Keith Beaird founded Rural King Supply in Mattoon. Typical Rural King location at the Clearview Mall in Butler, Pennsylvania.