Stein’s two sons — Bill Basnight and Jesse Basnight — grew up in Chapel Hill, graduated from Chapel Hill High School and attended UNC and NC State, respectively.
In the 1950s, the family’s home burned down. Bill Basnight and Jesse Basnight had to leave college and go to work in the family business.
Around the same time, the business relocated to West Main Street in Carrboro.
Bill Basnight worked as the general manager and architectural hardware consultant. Jesse Basnight worked making sales. Jesse Basnight’s son, Jesse Basnight Jr., remembers his uncle Bill telling him his dad was the nice guy while he was the hard-liner.
Jesse Basnight Jr. and Bill Basnight’s daughter, Terry Basnight Hamlet, were nine years old when their grandfather died in 1964, but they both grew up to work for and eventually take ownership of the business he founded.
Today, both lead the company, with Hamlet serving as president and Jesse Basnight Jr. working in sales like his father.
The company is now located at 6909 Dodsons Crossroads, just outside of Hillsborough. The company’s customer base has expanded to include North Carolina’s Piedmont region and the coastal area of South Carolina.
While the company still distributes residential fixtures, most of their business today comes from supplying to the commercial and institutional construction industry.
Their clients primarily include hospitals, hotels, and schools — including schools in Orange County.
The UNC 1913 yearbook described Stein Basnight as likeable, tenacious and likely to make friends wherever he went.
Basnight’s friends and family remember his strong work ethic and inventiveness, both of which he shared with his sons. His grandchildren also remember his toughness.
Jesse Basnight Jr. recalls an incident when he was learning to ride a bike. His grandfather took off the training wheels and pushed Jesse down a hill.
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After several failed attempts and badly skinned knees, Jesse knew that the only way he would get out of it was learning to ride the bike that day — and he did.
“My dad was the same way,” said Hamlet. “You learned things quickly when you were learning from him.”
‘A handshake company’
That tradition of high expectations paid off. When Hamlet and Jesse Basnight Jr. decided to join the business, they began as commercial salespeople and had to earn their way by working hard and becoming knowledgeable about what they did.
This resulted in Hamlet and Jesse Basnight Jr. inheriting a company they were prepared to lead and carry on when the time came, in a time when only 12 percent of family businesses are still viable in the third generation, according to data from Family Firm Institute, Inc.
Jesse Basnight Jr. carries on the practice of traveling to meet clients.
“We’re a handshake company,” he said. “Not all companies do it like we do.”
Hamlet said there are still people who come up to her and tell her how much they miss her father, who passed away in 2000.
“People love to come visit us,” Hamlet said. “I am pretty sure it was that way when our dads were around.”
Today, the cousins strive to emulate their fathers’ and grandfather’s strong work ethic.
“Most of what Terry and I do in our philosophy is actually what we learned from our dads,” said Jesse Basnight Jr.
They both said it was an honor to be carrying on their fathers’ and grandfather’s business and values.
“We think that their values were good values, and we are carrying those on happily,” said Hamlet.
