This year Trader Horn, Butler's "Original Idea Discount Store" will celebrate its 48th anniversary.

The original store, which was opened as Warehouse Sales, is on Route 422, west of Butler. After three or four additions to a building that started out as a feed store, that store is still operating and is relied upon by customers around the Prospect area.

The privately owned 11 store chain of Trader Horn stores has always been operated out of Western Pennsylvania and is headquartered in the Butler area. The office and warehouse are attached to the Trader Horn on Route 8 in Penn Township. The chain employs more than 400 Western Pennsylvanians.

In 1973 the owner decided to open a second store and called it Trader Horn. It was named after a book written in the 1920s and was suggested by the manager of the Route 422 store.

It was first located across the street from the current location in the Greater Butler Mart. They moved into the former Gaylords building in 1984.

The third store along Route 8 in Penn Township opened five years later in 1978. From there they expanded to the North Hills of Pittsburgh, New Castle, Eau Claire, Grove City, Ellwood City, Indiana, Kittanning and finally Clarion.

The chain features a low overhead, no frills approach to selling a large inventory of plumbing, hardware, electrical, automotive supplies, paint, sporting goods, lawn and garden equipment and supplies, small appliances, pet and cleaning supplies, housewares, snacks, popular food items and pop.

The larger Trader Horns have departments featuring craft supplies, home improvements, flooring, unfinished and pre-finished furniture and more.

One advantage the Trader Horn stores have is they can adjust the mix of products to suit the customer needs in a particular area. This is something that big national chains have trouble doing.

The more rural Trader Horn store in Prospect has more of a general hardware store flavor but carries expanded lines of product that serve the needs of the local customer.

The chain is also community minded. Over the years stores have supported various charities in the areas they are located. Currently they have focused much of their efforts toward local shelters for abused women and children.

Beyond the company support, the employees have taken on their own special projects. The employees started selling "Angels" and arranging raffles to raise funds or collected everyday necessities for the shelters.

Hopefully the next 48 years will afford an opportunity for continued growth into other small towns in Pennsylvania and serve the kind of customers that have declared Trader Horn as "My Favorite Store."