The small town that I grew up, a few miles outside of, had a hardware store much like the one in this photo. With an entire wall of wood cabinets from floor to ceiling. The kind of place you could go in and buy 1-screw, a single bolt, or a case of 1,000 of them. One of my high school classmates ended up running the store, started by his grandfather, or maybe it was his great-grandfather. Back in the 1970's they sold guns and dynamite. One night a person who was having a bit of a personal crisis, broke in, shot the place up. The police were terrified, because they knew there were cases of dynamite. Fortunately he either didn't find it, or didn't know how to use it. They waited for him to fall asleep, had a local doctor sedate him and took him away. I hope he got help so that he could feel better about life.
The last time I was back in my hometown, the store was still there, the family was still making a living.
Many of our hardware stores here look similar, but customers can't prowl the aisles. You're stopped by a front counter and tell the staff what you want. It's just not the same. My university town had a hardware store like yours. I could spend hours in there. My favorite places to browse.
ReplyDeleteWalking the aisles is half the fun, you never know what you need until you see it,
DeleteI love it!!! Amazing there still there. Good for them.
ReplyDeleteI use a little True Value hardware here is New Hope. A local queen I know owns it. They know everybody's name. I tend to not use Home Depot or Lowes, unless for huge appliances.
There is a hardware store on Castro Street in SF, sounds like a model for you hometown.
DeleteAnd hopefully no longer sells guns and dynamite but has stuck to selling individual screws. Yes, I don't always need two or ten screws at a time.
ReplyDeleteDynamite I know they stopped carrying (it is now highly regulated, when I was growing up half of the farmers had it in the tool shed.)
DeleteFamily stores like that are pretty damn rare these days.
ReplyDeleteRetail is a difficult way to earn a living. Long hours, and brutal competition from mega-marts that buy for 5,000 stores instead of one.
DeleteWhen we first moved the Smallville, the big news story was that Burns Hardware was closing after 100 years in business.
ReplyDeleteThe old building still bears the name, but now it's a Habitat Store.
Sad to see the small local stores go
Deletemy old man used to go to "paoli hardware"; it had a certain smell about it. I found that smell again at an ACE hardware store in lansdale.
ReplyDeleteACE and True Value have tried to compete with sprawlmart.
DeleteWhat a great place. It's nice to know that some of these old fashioned hardware stores are still in business.
ReplyDeletethis one was in Ohio
Delete"Hardware" brings an entirely different store to my awesomely warped mind!
ReplyDeletelike the kind over at maddie's blog today, amirite?
DeleteZippin' my lips for a change, Carebear! You do know me, though :)
DeleteYou would be please at how much fun can be had with what is found in isle 12 at home depot.
Delete