By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



A Fultondale business owner will soon be celebrating a milestone.

Claude Graham, owner of Claude Graham Wholesale Carpet Outlet, will turn 70 years old on Wednesday. That milestone may seem insignificant, except for the fact that in 1996, Graham’s doctors gave him up for dead.

As a heart patient, he was told in the 1970s after a heart attack that he’d never reach age 60. He said doctors wrote on his chart that he’d never be a candidate for any more procedures. When he began having heart problems again 12 years ago, they told him he was a lost cause.

“They told me to go home and enjoy the next few minutes of my life,” he said.

Instead of enjoying the next minutes of his life, Graham has continued to enjoy 12 more years as a successful business owner and family man. He and his wife, Eleanor, have been married more than 50 years. The parents of three sons, they also have five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and two more on the way.

“He’s a tough old bird,” said Graham’s younger sister, Bobbi Byram. “His secret is determination and not giving up. He’s had some setbacks, but he’s always managed to come through it.”

Even more impressive, Graham has been in business in Fultondale for 48 years. Though he sells carpet now, he began selling and installing ceramic tile.

“I had just quit my job and I woke my wife up at five in the morning and told her, ‘I’m going to go into business for myself,’” he said. “She looked at me and said, ‘You’re what?’”

He said he looked so young when he first began, may of his early customers thought he would be too inexperienced to do quality work. However, that wasn’t the case.

“In six months, I had more work than I could get to,” he said. “I had a lady call me last year and wanted to know if I would do one more bathroom for her. … I got out of that work [ceramic tile] in 1968.”

Graham said the secret to his success is that he takes care of his customers and he’s built a reputation on doing just that.

“I’ve got people who say, ‘You go all over town and when you get through, go to Claude,’” he said. “I don’t try to jack my prices up or rip you off. I don’t sell junk and I take care of my work.”

Graham’s store is currently located a block from Fultondale City Hall in the old Morgan’s Hardware store. Graham said the 6,000 feet of space has plenty of room and is also handicap accessible for his older customers.

When asked if he had any advice to offer young business owners, he simply said it’s harder to succeed in today’s market, versus when he first started.

“Unless you’re totally wealthy, it’s hard for a person to start now and compete against these big boys,” he said. “Back in my day, there weren’t that many people in the business. But, if I was young, I’d probably try it again.”

As he approaches 70, he said he had no plans to retire. After his first heart attack in 1974, Graham was unable to be in his business for a year.

“The next time they won’t let me go in my store, I’ll have to be in a casket,” he said.

Claude Graham’s Wholesale Carpet Outlet is located at 1424 Stouts Road. For more information, call 841-4874.