Our History

Dewald and Lengle was founded in the late 1940’s.  After returning home from World War II, two friends Harvey Lengle and Aaron “Butch” Dewald decided to go into business together.  They wanted to open an Allis Chalmers farm tractor dealership.   The first year they could not get the Allis Chalmer’s  dealership,  so  they made custom kitchen cabinets mainly for Harvey Dewald , Aaron’s father,  who was a contractor.  The second year they became an Allis Chalmers dealer.  They were an Allis Chalmers dealer and custom wood makers until the 1970’s.  In the early 1970’s Harvey Lengle passed away and after a few years, Joseph Dewald,  (Aaron’s son) and Janet Dewald (Joe’s wife)  bought Harvey’s half of the business.  With fewer farmers in the area in the 1970’s the Allis Chalmers sales fell off.  Joseph decided to turn the dealership into a True Value Hardware store.  The hardware store grew over the years, and the customers would say, “If you can’t find it at Dewald and Lengle, you can’t find it anywhere. “  In 1995, rental equipment was added.  Dewald and Lengle would rent everything from a drill to a backhoe or skid loader.   In 1997, Dewald and Lengle was incorporated as Dewald and Lengle Hardware Inc. and Jeff Dewald, (Joe’s son) joined the business.  In early 2000, Dewald and Lengle added Red Wing boots and Carhartt clothing to their store.  They even added a mobile shoe store that visits factories and supplies their workers with the proper safety footwear.  In 2000 True Value had a major accounting error so Dewald and Lengle joined Do It Best Corporation who have helped Dewald and Lengle grow over the past ten years.  Aaron Dewald passed away in 2006 but worked at the store until he was 85 years old before retiring.  Dewald and Lengle has and will always pride themselves on providing great service to their customers.