1941
Star City, Arkansas
Tom Waters arrived in 1941, in the great metropolis of Star City, Arkansas. A hop, skip and a jump away in Pine Bluff, a girl named Brenda made her appearance not long after. They'd find each other soon enough.
The Man Behind the Name.
Same family. Same handshake.
For more than fifty years, if you worked outside in Baton Rouge, you knew how to find Tom Waters. First it was the big yellow eyeglasses over the doorway on Florida Boulevard. Now it's the red building on Joor Road, sitting five feet up off the ground.
1963
One Thomas too many
By 1963 they had found each other and made it official — though the making-it-official part is worth telling. Brenda was dating more than one Thomas at the time. The day before she became Mrs. Waters, Tom called and asked her out. She said she had plans Friday night with Thomas Whitehead. Tom told her to go on ahead, he'd pick her up Saturday.
He did. They eloped that day, and the rest is history.
They tried Opelousas, then Lake Charles, then New Orleans, before settling in Baton Rouge with their two daughters, Cindy and Ashley. Tom went to work making glasses in wholesale optical.
1966
Full of it, and hired anyway
At twenty-five, a recruiter came down from Ohio to interview Tom for optical manager at Sears. At the end of it the executive shook his head, laughed, and told Tom he was so full of it he might as well head on back to Ohio — he'd figure it out.
Tom got the job. It made him the youngest optical manager Sears had ever hired.
1968
Acadian Optical
Tom opened Acadian Optical with Dr. Edmund Hillary Sullivan on the corner of Acadian and Capital Heights, leasing retail space inside the doctor's office. He learned quickly that business partnerships can be tricky, and started looking for a place of his own.
How the Pipeliner Special Was Born.
During Tom Waters’ early days in the Hoover Building, local welders began calling him looking for glasses that could fit comfortably under a welding hood. Tom crafted a unique pair specifically for their needs, and word quickly spread throughout the welding community.
Welders called his home day and night to order them, and before long, the Tom Waters Pipeliner Special became a welding classic—a tradition that continues today.
1990
Five feet off the ground
He found the building on Joor Road sitting empty after a flood. He bought it, raised it five feet, and has been in business there ever since.
2016
The water came anyway
The historic Great Flood went past five feet. The store came back.
2018
Back on his feet
Tom had a stroke and had to relearn how to walk and how to talk. He did that too.
His Pride & Joy.
When Tom isn't at the store he's with Brenda, his children and his grandchildren. He takes them out for steak and has taught every one of them to appreciate a good cut of meat. These days they've all become part of the business too, working alongside him and learning the ropes.
He'll watch "The Big Country" any time it's on, fall asleep partway through, and watch it again next week. He's a member of the Lion's Club, the Jaycees, the Elks, and St. James Masonic Lodge.