In 1917 James Reardon, Anthony Briggs and Harold Briggs incorporated their hardware and farm equipment business in the Village of Millbrook, New York. The business had been established 10 years prior to incorporation when Mr. Reardon enticed the Briggs brothers, who had recently left farming, to join the firm. Shortly thereafter the bond was further solidified by the marriage of Anthony to Mr. Reardon's daughter.
The family business remained strong throughout the depression and war years, even after the death of James Reardon in 1921. Under the direction of the Briggs family, the organization was managed by two young and enthusiastic businessmen. Wilson (Bill) Howe, a nephew of the Briggs brothers, started working in the hardware store as a teenager in the late 1920's, and Robert Flanigan, an experienced farm machinery salesman, was hired in 1954.
As the business continued to thrive, Howe and Flanigan gained more control of the business they grew to love. In 1963, an agreement with the surviving shareholders made Howe and Flanigan majority owners of the corporation. Each having their own departments, Howe managed the day to day operations of the hardware store, and Flanigan directed the farm equipment department, which was run in the building to the rear of the hardware store property. International Harvester farm tractors were repaired and the parts department was operated at this location, while implements such as haybalers and manure spreaders were repaired in a converted barn as you exit the village.
Bill Howe retired in 1977 and Flanigan became sole owner of the company. Bill passed away three months after his retirement.
In the late 1950's, Reardon Briggs expanded into lawn and garden equipment, selling and servicing these products from a building on Front Street in the village. In 1982 the farm and lawn equipment business moved to Mabbettsville, a hamlent just east of the village and in 1986 to their current location just west of the village near the intersection of Route 44 and Route 82 north, and the Taconic State Parkway.