Ideal hardware store

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bgrone

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What are your criteria for an ideal hardware store?
Some of mine are: Wood floor; wooden bins along at least one wall;at least one employee old enough to have served in the Korean War.

Fell free to add your own
 
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the ultimate hardware store in the whole world is Gronis Hardware in Leavenworth, KS. when I was there it was operated by 2nd and 3rd generation family members and DAD who was in his 80s but only worked about 40 hrs a week. if they didn't have it, you didn't need it and they knew where everything was. old cigar boxes on top shelves that old lockworks and old door knob stems etc. old wooden bins, you name it. it's the only thing I miss about that town. lee
 
Employees that actually know something about what they are selling. I had a co worker who was a manufacturing engineer at Westinghouse. His family ran a hardware store. He could tell you how many 16 penny nails were in a pound.
 
I once walked into the hardware department at KMart. I asked, "Excuse me, where are your extension cords?" After a thoughtful moment peppered with low mumbles of "extension cords, extension cords" by the clerk, he looked me in the eye and asked "What do they extend?"

My ideal hardware store would not have that clerk.
 
Our local hardware store pretty much has it covered.
We have a place out here called Hunters Hardware. It's an old fashioned hardware store with guns, knives and ammo. There's also fishing gear.
It's pretty big with wooden floors and bins in the main area and metal shelves in other areas.
It's about 30 miles away up the side of a mountain, around here that's local.
 
Guns and ammo would be nice, but seem like a bit of a stretch in this area. I the Seattle area (where I just moved from) there was only 1 small chain of family-owned hardware stores left. McClendons. There were seven stores scattered around Seattle and the surrounding
suburbs. Unfortunately they aren't in Spokane.

What I hate are the "Home improvement" stores that try to masquerade as a hardware store. Trouble is, if a chick wouldn't buy it, they don't carry it. Kind of an emasculated hardware story - to go with our emasculated society....
 
I think about the only thing I could add would be an old hardwood counter that runs almost the length of the store with a 12-inch Carborundum sharpening stone on it for anyone to use.

Oh yeah...and a couple of benches by a wood-burning stove where a couple of the old regulars in their red and black or green and black wool mackinaws would sit and spit on the stove lid...just to hear it sizzle.:D

Reminds me of the hardware store in the town where I grew up. It also had a rack of Winchester model 94's, model 12's, and model 70's for sale behind the counter...all pre-'64 because this was somewhere between 1956 and 1962.

Ahh...great memories.:)
 
Lee Barner said:
the ultimate hardware store in the whole world is Gronis Hardware in Leavenworth, KS. when I was there it was operated by 2nd and 3rd generation family members and DAD who was in his 80s but only worked about 40 hrs a week. if they didn't have it, you didn't need it and they knew where everything was. old cigar boxes on top shelves that old lockworks and old door knob stems etc. old wooden bins, you name it. it's the only thing I miss about that town. lee
Click to expand...

We used to have one like this in the area, but they finally gave up when the building landlord decided to raise the rent in a substantial jump, and the owner determined that it was time to retire. Now we're stuck with the chain stores, where few staffers are experienced, and if what you need hasn't been made in the last couple of years, you're out of luck. Replacement parts are almost non-existent. :mad:

Fortunately, we still have a very good family owned and operated plumbing supply store in the area.
 
DAISY DUKE should work there and always insist on waiting on me when I go there!

:D :D :D
 
I agree with BC38 re. McClendon's stores in Seattle, but when I really need something unique or odd, I go to Hardwick's in the University District. Old man Hardwick used to trade & barter if you brought something in that he could sell. I tried to talk him out of a jeep scabbard for an M-1 that was hanging on the wall, but he didn't want to sell. I am a big guy & there are some aisles I have trouble navigating without turning sideways & sucking it in. Stuff hanging from the ceiling, walls & you name it. He stocks measuring & cutting tools from the US, England, Europe & Japan & it is interesting to compare the difference in the tools & application. His back room is full of used mostly wooden furniture, wood working machinery & other stuff that was made to stand the test of time. I suppose that he is best known for the supply of vintage hardware that has been recycled - best place to find original Victorian period plumbing and cabinet hardware in Seattle. The only drawback is there are no guns or related sporting goods per se. The store itself is old, dusty in some corners, with wood floors & dim marginal lighting, but I usually find something interesting even if it isn't what I came in for.
 
Wuluf, we have a beautiful red glass chandelier hanging in our entry that we purchased at the Placerville Hardware Store in 1973! John
 
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