History

Three brothers opened Blizzard Building Supply on Vernon Avenue in September 1959.J.D. Blizzard had been working at Carolina Builders when he, Henry and Thomas “Tom” Blizzard, who had just gotten out of the Air Force, purchased the business and renamed it.“We learned the hard way, I reckon,” Tom Blizzard said about himself and Henry. In the mid-1970s, the brothers -- sons of the late Blaney and Lula Blizzard of Deep Run -- moved the business to its current location at the end of Walston Avenue at Atlantic Avenue.“Both of my brothers have passed on,” Tom Blizzard said.Today, he and his son Chris, as assistant manager, run the business and have about 15 full-time employees.In 2013, they held a large dinner event for the 50th anniversary.“We invited right many people,” Tom Blizzard said.The current location is much bigger with three warehouses and two large and two smaller lumber sheds.The company sells lumber, doors, windows, insulation, flooring, roofing and hardware.“We carry a lot of molding and plywood,” Blizzard said, “and we carry a lot of treated lumber.”They mostly sell retail to individuals and contractors. There is free delivery to Lenoir, Greene and Duplin counties and a charge to places further out, such as the beach area.Blizzard, who resides in Kinston with his wife April, said he has no plans to retire.“I reckon I’ll just stay around til I just fade away,” he said.Blizzard Building Supply, 405 Walston Ave., is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. For information, call 252-523-5181. 

Circa, early 1970's / Blizzard Building Supply, Inc. 405 Walston Ave. Kinston, NC 28504