Mom and Pop hardware store

pooch said:
Went into a local Bunnings.

A female staffer served me.

I asked if she had taps and dies.

She looked puzzled, then pointed me to the plumbing section, where I went and could not find any taps (thread cutting ones... to the yanks, your water faucet is called a TAP too here).

Called her over and asked .. where?.. she pointed out the taps/faucets.

So far a waste of time.

Then I asked if she had any dies.....

Again, a puzzled look, then she said I would have to go to a CHEMIST for that. and it took me a while to figure out she was sending me there for hair DYE.

DOHHHH>

I know big chain may have an equal opportunity gender workforce agenda, but they should train some people if they are working in hardware.
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I have met more men and boys in hardware stores that do that then women, since you really took it there. It is a result of hiring the lowest common denominator for the lowest wage possible.

I worked at Home Depot years ago - when they had Trades people working as sales associates. That is back when the associates could make $20/hour. That was also when you could ask someone working there for what you needed and they could actually help you.

By the time I left Nardelli had taken over the company and it was mostly $8/ hour college kids that got no actual training related to the products.
 
I think our children will have no idea about how hardware merchants did business years ago. No one has mentioned the wonderful smells that greeted you as you walked in. I remember driving in a blizzard to arrive 15 mins. after the store closed. I had 2 small kids and my furness was out because the igniter failed. The owner was getting into his car as I arrived. He re-opened his store,gave me the part and told me to call him the next day. He didn't know me by name,but trusted me. How much is that kind of kindness worth? That was over 20 years ago. That store is now an Ace.
 
I had the good fortune to work in 2 Mom&Pop hardware stores, I have always been mechanically inclined but I learned so much from those old guys I should have been paying them.

Mike
 
Kennedy's hardware in Cranesville Pennsylvania has been there since the 1880's I think.The owner Bud Kennedy is close to 90 years old.When I'm home I often stop in.He has a 1911 Model T he bought in 1946 when he got back from WWII along with another T,Model A,and 9N tractor next door. He and his wife always treated me like they expected me to go out in the world and do well and always asked my family how I was doing in the Ford business. If it isn't there it doesn't exist!
 
Barrows Hardware in Worcester. My grandfather used to go there. They have expanded and modernized the building but still stock a lot of great stuff. I needed some SS 1/4 x 3/4 machine screws and nuts to bolt down aluminum diamond plate to fill in the middle of a car trailer. Bought boxes of 100ct screws nuts and lock washers plus two drill bits for under $50. Never would have found them at Home Depot.
 
We lost ours about a year ago. It was staffed by women only and I always enjoyed listening to the guys who came in who didn't realize that those women really knew what they were talking about.
 
The attached photos are then & now of a hardware store located in Tustin, CA (Southern California). The store has been in continuous operation since early in the 20th century. In the now photo, taken in the mid 1990's, my Victoria is parked in front.

Tom Endy
 

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"Progress" is not true it is a lie made up to sell folks things, well it might exist in medicine but that is about it.
If i ever win millions of dollars i might open a hardware store using that McMaster - Carr place as a supplier. Plus have a machine shop out back to make/repair products and spend alot of spare time.
 
If you know what crocus cloth is you are old! I had to explain to the local Napa counter man what it was. I ended up with emery cloth. I couldn't buy a small envelope of shim stock either. I'm old too! And the local ACE hardware store has the 7/16ths bolts I needed, not the Lowes.
Have a nice day gents.
Al
 
Here's a plug for Finkle's in Lambertville, NJ. The stuff in their basement goes on forever.

http://www.finkles.com/

There used to be several old-school hardware stores within 5 miles or so of my home. But almost all of them have closed down. The one in downtown Princeton became a Yoga shop...
The local Ace Hardware store is actually pretty good and gets a lot of business, but it opened only a few years ago, so they don't have any old or oddball stuff. For example, they do not carry any steel slot-head wood screws, only Philips head.

Doug
 
I lived a block away from an old time Ace (now gone) in Des Plaines, IL. I was in there so often while restoring my 1913 house, that if I came in at closing time, they would tell me to come back tomorrow to pay. The young sons worked there and were very knowledgeable. Kinder Supply a few blocks over was more of a pure hardware store and even had pump leathers. Come to think of it, in between was a Model T parts store.
 
Main street hardware stores are more often closed due to high property values than competition from the big box stores. I purchased the entire fastener selection when our Do-It-Best closed down.
 
I worked at a hardware store in the mid 60's when I was in highschool. The owners dad told me when I started that I was going to get a million dollar education and he was right. I wish I could have retained as much from school as I did from helping people solve their hardware problems. I still can't pass an old hardware store without poking around for awhile.
 
Old shops are really cool. I happened to be in MN for work, and I stopped into Little Dearborn. I had only heard of their catalog, what I saw when I showed up was not expected, an old time parts store!

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