About Us

WE ARE THE SUCCESSOR COMPANY TO “THE GOLDEN RULE GENERAL STORE”

Jarrod photo
Dear Friend:

When my Grandfather, Old Frank Gross, (I guess he was Young Frank Gross in those days) opened up his store at the cross-roads of Black Springs, Arkansas, about 100 years ago, he proudly put up a sign with the name “THE GOLDEN RULE GENERAL STORE”. In those days it was not considered an advertising gimmick for a merchant to express his ethical principles right out in public.

We here at Abbeon Cal, still feel that way and have been practicing it since 1946. Through the publication of our Fischer / Lufft and PlasticWorking catalogs, and now through our website, we have been meeting the needs of our small and large business customers with our specialty tools and instruments. We are proud to be both the merchant and supplier of the German manufactured FORSTHOFF Hot Air Tools, A-Z Formen Thermocutters, and Fischer / Lufft Precision weather instruments.

Speaking of merchants and grandfathers, my other grandfather, Old Jake, was also another old time merchant with strong principles. It was noted that he once blackballed one of the richest men in town from membership in his lodge because, “some of that money that fellow got is tainted”. It cost Jake a lot of business, but he stuck to his principles. What defeated him was an act of nature. He had his Emporium first in the line of stores as you came over the bridge from the Axe Factory and the State Legislature located across the Kanawha River in Charleston, West Virginia. Somewhere around the turn of the century, the bridge over the river was washed away by high waters, and Grandpa’s store instead of being number one as you came over the bridge became #11, the last store on a dead end street located a long way from the new bridge. I mention this to bring out the fact that sometimes location has a lot to do with a merchant’s success or failure. Which is the nice thing about doing business the way we do— by e-mail and phone, and then shipping from the nearest factory location. This allows us to give maximum service to our customers and at the same time live in the beautiful city of Ventura, California— “where the climate fits our clothes”.

There are always some people you just can’t satisfy— no way, no how, no time. However, we here at the Abbeon company, take pride in our batting average. We make a positive effort to sell only the best merchandise at a fair price. After all, it is only good business to have happy customers.

Getting old makes one reminisce this way about a couple of old time merchants who spent their lives in square and fair dealing. Hope that when my granddaughters write about me they will feel as kindly toward me and my standards of business ethics as I do toward those old gentlemen who lived (and worked till they died in harness) under the theory that the only true asset of any business is the trust that the customer reposes in the merchant by placing his order with that particular establishment.


Jared Abbeon
Founder