I live in Brooklyn, where I have to drive to get to Home Depot or Loews, but I can walk to my neighborhood store. The guy at the neighborhood store come out from behind the counter to help me find what I need instead of telling me what I am looking for instead of telling me where it is supposed to be.
I had that Mom & Pop hardware store experience in the early part of this century. The store was on the main street of a small town and had been a family-owned hardware store since the middle of the LAST century. There was an old fashioned wooden screen door with a long spring on it , that would give out a familiar ‘screeeeech’ as it extended and then would slam it behind you when you stepped in. I stepped on worn and faded hardwood floors that would creak when you walked on them. I was looking for just one bolt to fit a nut and the old guy came from behind the cash register (the kind that was a work of art by itself, cast iron with mechanically driven metal plates with numbers on them that popped up and gave out a satisfying ‘ding’ ) to lead me down the aisle to exactly what I wanted and he even mentioned that the most important thing is that I was satisfied.Of course a couple years after that, Home Depot opened up a store on the outskirts of that small town and you know the rest
Yeah, we had a hardware store where you could take a bolt and say, “I need a nut and lock washer to fit this.” Five minutes later you were walking out with the two items and a nickel lighter. One of those chains, with more prepackaged stuff than you need at $1.29, came in and now the hardware store and the lumber yard across the street are both gone.
BE THIS GUY over 12 years ago
Go to your local hardware store.
William Bednar Premium Member over 12 years ago
This IS my local hardware store!
BE THIS GUY over 12 years ago
I live in Brooklyn, where I have to drive to get to Home Depot or Loews, but I can walk to my neighborhood store. The guy at the neighborhood store come out from behind the counter to help me find what I need instead of telling me what I am looking for instead of telling me where it is supposed to be.
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member over 12 years ago
the amazing thing is that the floor people can remember where to find anything at all in the big box stores. and the ones i used to go to, they could.
Nighthawks Premium Member over 12 years ago
I had that Mom & Pop hardware store experience in the early part of this century. The store was on the main street of a small town and had been a family-owned hardware store since the middle of the LAST century. There was an old fashioned wooden screen door with a long spring on it , that would give out a familiar ‘screeeeech’ as it extended and then would slam it behind you when you stepped in. I stepped on worn and faded hardwood floors that would creak when you walked on them. I was looking for just one bolt to fit a nut and the old guy came from behind the cash register (the kind that was a work of art by itself, cast iron with mechanically driven metal plates with numbers on them that popped up and gave out a satisfying ‘ding’ ) to lead me down the aisle to exactly what I wanted and he even mentioned that the most important thing is that I was satisfied.Of course a couple years after that, Home Depot opened up a store on the outskirts of that small town and you know the rest
Elderflower over 12 years ago
Nice detail in the artwork!
hippogriff over 12 years ago
Yeah, we had a hardware store where you could take a bolt and say, “I need a nut and lock washer to fit this.” Five minutes later you were walking out with the two items and a nickel lighter. One of those chains, with more prepackaged stuff than you need at $1.29, came in and now the hardware store and the lumber yard across the street are both gone.