From a youth in Bedford as an office supply salesman to a man with a successful business of more than 50 years, Bob Jackson said life has been good.

What has become an era in office supplies began with Jackson’s purchase of Tree City Stationers in 1957. The business has seen many changes in the past 50 years, with the proliferation of the computer and the fax machine, among others. Although changes can also be challenges, Jackson believes it was good people who made success possible through the decades.

He felt lucky to have an employee who enjoyed computers and worked well with them, enabling the business to adjust.

“We just kept moving with the times,” he noted. “Greensburg has been good to us. As new businesses and factories opened, people made the choice to let us take care of them.”

Although it has been good to have a healthy business, Jackson also feels lucky to have never hated going to work.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” he said. “It’s been a great honor serving Decatur County people.”

He recognizes that more than 50 years of enjoying his work is a gift from God, one that many people don’t have. He also noted something must have been right with the business to have many employees who have worked there for more than 25 years.

More than the equipment has changed in the last half-century of business, Jackson said. For a long time, the business delivered merchandise anywhere within a 60-mile radius. As fuel prices have increased over the years, the radius has decreased. Jackson knows the big box stores have made a difference, but feels he knows the reason his business has been able to compete.

“We’ve done it right and done it complete,” he said.

While many stores would deliver a box on a doorstep, Jackson Office Supply has always taken the time to remove items from their box and set them up for use. The business has also always offered continued service as common practice, something Jackson said the bigger stores sell as a separate item.

Although he had hopes of passing the business on to continue within his family, those plans did not work out. Now, the time has come for him to ease into retirement, and although it is hard, he knows the time is right for his family.

The doors of the store will remain open until the inventory is gone. Eventually, even the trucks and other large equipment will go. The process, he said, is expected to take two or three months. The business will also be parting with its four large buildings. Despite its overhead, the business will be closing in excellent financial shape.

Jackson is glad to be retiring while he still loves what he does. He also has another reason to spend a little time closing.

“It doesn’t hurt to take time for thanks and goodbyes,” he said.