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formatting mess, sorry

Still neat to hear that there are some non-big box stores around.....

I try and support our local hardware store as much as possible. It's great to go pick up a screw or two, but kinda hard to do when they charge 30% or more as HD or Lowes on other stuff.

Case in point: A bottle of Citronella Oil at the local place cost $14.00  Same bottle at HD was 9 bucks.

There is one here like that.

fuck that, its all about walmart and toyota.

We have one Mom & Pop hardware store left in town and they should have "Been screwing the public over for 40 years" on their sign. The sad part is when they moved into their new store a couple of years ago they sold off oll the old stock they had (all the good stuff) and went Ace Hardware.

We've got a place in Salem, VA that has damn near everything you could possibly be looking for. I was looking for a Footman Loop and HD or Lowes didn't have a freakin' clue what I was talking about.  The dude at Hammerhead Hardware knew exactly what I wanted and showed me the size I needed.

Sadly, this is the truth a lot of times....

And homo depot and lowes sell the same crap as Ace/True Value. Nobody carries good stainless nuts and bolts anymore, just shitty potmetal hardware.

Same sort of store I was in today.



 

My local hardware store kicks Lowe's ass on lumber prices.

The local place has an awesome assortment of fasteners. Stainless, brass, nylon, you name it. Plus you can go in and get one screw (if that's all you need). HD and Lowes will sell you a package with that same screw and five others that you don't need.

Seven Corners Hardware here in St. Paul.



They have EVERYTHING...They also do millions in catalog sales...and they are also a full-service hardware store in a really old building.



This has got to be one of my favorite places to go.

There used to be a place in Superior WI that I went into with my dad a couple times when I was a kid back in the 70s.  They still had horse shoes and horse harness collars!  Anything old school, they had it.  It could be a museum these days.

Gone now

in ther midwest menards has a pretty good stainless selection....

or find yourself a fastenal

There are several around Austin, but they each niche a bit. The most general is "The Hardware Store".  Besides hardware it also has a bit of survival, surplus and an FFL for doing transfers.  Oh, they are a True Value hardware store as well.
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They may or may not have the best price.  But their customer services is incredible.  When you walk in you are greeted - can I help you.  If I am in a hurry, I even let them guide me to every thing I am coming in for.  In 10 minutes I can get more shopping done than an hr at a big box.

Theres one across the state line I can spend hours in , so much cool mess laying around . I always spend alot more then I plan on when I go in there , I come out with cast iron rope pulleys and the like .

That's the rub with big box companies. They buy in a volume that small timers can't compete with but what they buy are common items, say copper tubing. Sure, you can get the tubing cheaper because of the volume buy but you can't get the specific stuff, like a simple Y joint. So the small timers lose out on the tubing sales and that kills them. Now you have only the big box but nothing by way of oddball couplings except elbows and 45's. That's why a lot of places are kind of opposed to HD and Lowes.

I hate Ma' and Pa' stores. They never want to get off their ass to help, confuse the fuck out of you, keep the store in a sloppy state, then want 40% more FOR THE SAME SHIT TOOLS because of some warmed over bucket of shit feeling of 'community'.


 

We have 2 hardware stores.

One is family owned and very helpful.
They keep their prices down to help people.

Now the other one has jacked their prices up beyond belief.

There are no old time hardware stores around here anymore, the last one actually had a Case Knives display and carried stuff you couldnt find anywhere else. Now they all work at Home Depot.

have you heard the song "East Ashville Hardware".....by David Wilcox?

That about sums it up....

I've got a True Value not too far from my house, and they have everything.  Need a 1"x8" Grade 8 bolt?  They got it.  Need some 3" washers?  Yep, they've got them too.  Need your lumber loaded?  They do it, and you don't have to go looking for them either.  I'm still waiting for the guy at Home Depot to help me load 85 sheets of 1/2" OSB into my truck, and that was in 2008.  I don't expect them to kiss my ass, I only expect to be treated like a customer and Home Depot treats me as if I'm a bother, so scre them.

Closest thing we have left to an old hardware store is the local Agway. I prefer spending my money there, even if the stuff is a bit more expensive.
My wife on the other hand, loves Lowes and Home Depot.

I have to laugh everytime my wife has to go to Agway because what shes looking for isn't sold at Home Depot or Lowes.

Our local True Value store used to be a great place with high quality, mostly US-made products and reasonable prices.  They've always been a little more expensive than bigboxes but I was fine paying 10-20% more to help keep them around.  Place used to be busy as hell, they used to carry animal feed, ammo, nice knives, real tools, rope, chain.  Now it's just an oversized craft shop that looks more like Hobby Lobby than a hardware store.  Dead as shit.  Nobody goes there anymore.



They buy 90% of their shit at Dollar Stores and Harbor Freight and mark it up 500-2000%.  They even have the balls to white out the $1.00 price preprinted on packages and apply their own $5-$10 price sticker over it.



Went there for the last time a couple years ago, was looking for a half-round file and a garden hose nozzle.  Took two employees to figure out what a file was and third to find it.  It was marked $15.00.  I thought it must be mismarked and proceeded to the checkout.  Yep.  $15.00 for a fucking Chinese-made file they sell for $1.00 at the Dollar Store two blocks away (same package and everything).



A simple chromed brass garden hose nozzle?  Forget about it.  All they had were $30.00 Chinese plastic shit with pretty designs and colors, 24 different colors and styles to choose from but not one durable metal nozzle in the whole place.  Bought it anyway since I was already there, damn thing worked a week, exchanged for another and it also stopped working a week later.



Even though it's still a good place to buy small electrical & plumbing parts, screws, etc. fuck them.  I'll drive a half hour to go to Lowes, Harbor Freight, or even the dollar store.  Might as well go straight to the source.

L&R Farm and Ranch supply when I was growing up.They had every damned thing including guns and ammo, saddles, every damn thing.

We've got an old Ace Hardware, wood floors & brick building and when it comes to hardware, they have it. Stainless, Metric, stainless metric, nylon screws, little screws, big screws, bearings, bushings, motor brushes, lamp hardware, latch hardware, whatcha-ma-callits, dealy-bops, clips, thing-a-ma-bobs, motor capacitors, every Dremel bit made, 50 different kinds of glue, they're like a local McMaster-Carr/Small Parts Inc.. They carry the whole Midwest Fastener assortment product line. Stuff you cannot and will not find in any big box store ever, period. Our Lowes store can't hold a candle to them when it comes to specialized hardware.  If they ever close, I'll truly be fucked.

My favorite one is in the little town I grew up in (Holland, NY).  You can still go there and buy everything from .22lr to canning jars, along with all the traditional hardware store items.

There is a decent one nearby They have good bit of rarely used items.      For general nuts and bolts, we have Circle bolt and nut nearby.  This place is second to none for that type of stuff.  

Probably one of the coolest "hardware stores" I was at was Nicholson in IL

 That's been my experience around here as well.

While it wasn't truly "old school" the True Value down the street from my old house was a lifesaver. Had the typical all knowing old dudes that would talk your ear off, a great selection of obscure stuff and a friendly "home town" feel to it.



Was nice to be able to ride my bike to the hardware store and be back home in 10 minutes with what I needed as opposed to the hour it would take to deal with Home Depot.

I work part time at The Home Depot, but try to support my local small town hardware stores.  And yes I can buy most items at THD cheaper, but the money I locally  there goes into a local business mans pocket.  

As far as the big home improvement centers not having everything, I make special orders for items not in the store every day.  If you ask me, I can probably order it for you (Although, to be honest it is a bit of a pain in the ass).  If its a small item, I send them to the mom and pop hardware store down the road.