Tony Hnilicka

Sherman's is not your typical store. We weren't normal in 1976, and we're never going to be normal. See, we were founded as a side-hustle when a fiercely-independent woman named Sharon Sherman decided to sell some clocks and gifts while her kids were in school. Her husband Jack was a lineman at CILCO. Do you know how hard it is to be a lineman? Real hard. Like hard enough that taking a risk to sell some crazy new thing called a "microwave" seemed like a safer way to make a living. Now back then, no one knew what the heck a microwave was, and they sure didn't want to shell out $500 for one. But that wasn't going to stop Jack or Sharon. They constructed a microwave cooking school. Every Peorian and their friend attended Sharon's cooking classes. OK, maybe not everyone, but they were a hit, and we were officially in the home appliance business. Then came the dawn of the flashy big box stores and the world proclaimed, "Local businesses are doomed!". We begged to differ. Instead, Jack and Sharon said how 'bout you "Deal Direct with the Owners and Save!"? Peorians liked the sound of that better. They still do. Today more than 190 employees bear Jack and Sharon's can-do attitude across four Central Illinois locations. Their son, Paul Sherman, currently steers this ship. He says all we have to do is, "Make sure our customers are really happy they chose Sherman's." Sounds easy enough, right? Actually no, but working hard is in our DNA. You wanna know something silly? Just the other day we heard a mumbling that rhymed with Hamzon, followed by, "Local businesses are doomed!". We've heard that before somewhere. Over 40 years ago. You can shop plenty of normal stores, but we're happy being different. It's exactly what you're going to love about us.