On June 5, 1960, Kermit Speer and Keith Beaird founded Rural King Supply in Mattoon. The original store was started in a former implement building of 7,200 square feet. The company started with two employees, besides the owners. In 1963, an addition to the main building was added. In 1966, a warehouse was built, and in 1970, a second addition was added to the store. A new building was finished and opened in September 1976. In 1999, a new store, warehouse and corporate officeconsisting of 210,000 square feet was opened across the highway from the old store. The old store and warehouse were donated to the Catholic Charities. In 2003, a 94,000-square-foot addition was added to the warehouse. In 2007, another 96,000 square feet were added to the warehouse. In 2010, a third warehouse expansion was started that will add 104,000 square feet. In 1962, Speer and Beaird opened another store in Paris, Illinois, in an old packing house with eight rooms. In 1970, land was purchased across from the Edgar County Fairgrounds and the new Paris Rural King was constructed. In 2001, that building was torn down and the current 55,000-square-foot Paris Rural King was built. Paris was Kermit and Pat Speer's home for 15 years. The Vandalia, Illinois, Rural King was opened in 1966 in an old building on U.S. Highway 40 East. A new Rural King was built in November 1973 on Van Tran Avenue, which has been renamed Veterans Avenue. An addition to that building was completed in 1983. In 1979, Gary Melvin, nephew of Kermit Speer, purchased an interest in Rural King. Gary began his career working in the store, learning the products and serving customers. Bruce Speer, nephew of Kermit Speer, purchased an interest in Rural King in 1982, with the opening of the Litchfield, Ill., store. Bruce began his career as the manager of the Litchfield store. In 1985, he and his family moved to Terre Haute, Ind., where he opened and managed that store for five years. In 1990, Bruce moved to the Mattoon corporate office to help with purchasing and expansion of the Rural King stores. In December 2015 Rural King announced they had reached, for the first time, $1 Billion in total sales. In 2017, Rural King purchased the Cross County Mall in Mattoon, Illinois. In July 2018, Rural King finalized their plans for the mall and decided to move the Mattoon Rural King store location into the former Sears space to drive more traffic to the mall and other businesses in the area. The location opened January 16th, 2019. The current facility, located at 4216 Dewitt Avenue, will continue to serve as a distribution center, and the headquarters will be expanded into the current Rural King store space.
Products
Rural King sells work clothing and work boots, equine and pet supplies, live chicks and rabbits, hunting equipment and supplies, firearms and ammunition, tractor/trailer parts and accessories, lawn and garden supplies, sprinkler/irrigation parts, power tools, fencing, welding and pump supplies, riding mowers, agricultural chemicals and many other farm and home supplies. Rural King also sells toys, especially around the holidays. One of Rural King's notable sales tactics is offering free coffee and popcorn to customers inside their stores.
