Old hardware store.

J

JimMLa

Joined
Mar 27, 2007
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179
I stopped at an old hardware store that I have never been to before. It brought back memories of the days before the mega-stores. The old guy behind the counter looked like he hadn't seen a customer in a while. I noticed a Buck knife display and carefully searched for some justification to spend my money here. The only thing that was "Made in the USA" was the Buck 303 Cadet. His last one. The box had a date of 2006, so I was disappointed in not finding something older. He hand wrote the sales ticket and put the box in an actual brown paper bag. His price was cheaper than the google results after I got back to my office, but I would have paid more for him and his store. I figured I would keep the cadet in my desk, but now that I have held it, it doesn't want to stay in my desk. I suppose I could upgrade those plastic scales, and the edge could use a little touch up...
 
Use that pup. Personally, I like the newer 300 series Buck slipjoints. First, they're actually made by Buck, not outsourced to Camillus. Second, they've slightly changed the layout of the blades. I wish I'd been in that story with you, JimMLa, I might have bought one too. Oh, wait, you said last one. Well, anyway, enjoy that knife.
 
That store is one of the last of a dying breed. Hell, ACE hardware stores will soon be a thing of the past. Just Home Depot, Lowes and Walmarts.
 
Jim I would go back and see if he has any old display cases in the back room. I found a store like that once, they had many great old displays I waited a few days and missed out.

p1123
 
silenthunterstudios said:
That store is one of the last of a dying breed. Hell, ACE hardware stores will soon be a thing of the past. Just Home Depot, Lowes and Walmarts.
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That's both funny and sad; ACE, True Value, etc, are the ones that put real mom & pop HW stores out of business in the first place. I knew I was in trouble in the 70s when the "good" stores, the ones with wide plank wood floors and the smell of oil and dust in the air, started giving way to the bright lights and polished lineolium of the True Values with their mostly made-in-Taiwan, blister-packed merchandise.

At least the old Aubuchon, Western Auto, and (early) True Value stores allowed their dealers to stock some items beyond that which the parent company supplied. But as time went on they all started towing the company line, carrying only those items deemed appropriate by "corporate".

Nowadays there's no choices at all. Both Lowes and HD carry the same lines of imported crap. Try getting plumbing supplies that aren't the "Master Plumber" :barf: brand. Good luck.

Sorry for the rant, it's just a sore point.

-- Sam
 
Yeah, I also remember sometime back I bought a plumbing fixture, may have been a faucet or the float assembly for a toilet. I figured someone like Popular Mechanics wouldn't put their name of something unless it was good. WRONG! Pure, cheap junk.

I recall being shocked and disappointed at what seemed such a sellout.

The Tru-Values around here are small and seem to focus on things locals need. They also have real Case knives, many in CV.

However, out in nearby Rio Medina is a little Mom & Pop place, The Rio Medina General Store. It's a little grocery and hardware store. Nothing fancy and nothing that big, but it has a history and it has wood floors and a historic outhouse out back. Most of the knives he has anymore are clunkers. However, Buzzy is an authorized Case dealer and will get you what you want if you want.

Al this talk made me think back to when I used to go with my mother to get groceries at a little, hardwood floored, store in Feesburg, Ohio. Just a little place in a little place out in the country. There used to be a lot of those little places in those little burgs that served their small community even when there were bigger (by those standards anyway) stores just a little farther down the road at towns big enough to have high schools.
 
I know I've mentioned it before, but our town's hardware store is a throwback with the old wooden floors and aisles and aisles crammed with everything under the sun. The owner (and cashier oftentimes) is the mayor of town.

Though it is "Harris Hardware" it does carry the Ace designation nowadays. They seem to have managed to maintain a balance so far and are surviving despite the opening of a new Lowe's last year (on the outskirts of town) and several other plumbing/hardware supply shops which have been here for years.
 
Not a typical old time hardware, but I recall the old Western Auto in my hometown. The owner had a lot of non-Western Auto merchandise. He had carried Colt's firearms since the early 50's. Funny thing, he kept the handguns in a safe and would only show them to folks he knew as law abiding citizens. Guess he performed his own "instant check". Had several Case displays that were scooped up when he closed the doors on the place about twenty-five years back.

There was an old one on the square that had the right feel of a 20's era hardware store. Oiled floors, nails in kegs, knives in wrappers (no boxes), railway ladder, pot bellied stove (coal), few like those anymore.
 
In my town, right around the corner from where I live, there are two mom & pop hardware stores on the same street downtown. One of them has been around for over 100 years in the same building and has the wide plank floors, old timey everything. They carry Buck and Case knives, stones, army surplus stuff, cast iron cookware, etc. You can buy .22 shells, or 22 CB's by the box for shooting coons in town and whatnot, and all the larger caliber pistol ammo by singles. Big jars of 'em sitting on the counter.
 
The only family owned store I can think of is one in Rising Sun MD, and one up the road, an Amish owned store, near Muddy Run park in Buck PA.
 
Must be an exception, but here in Jackson, MI, right downtown, is an absolute gem- Casler Hardware. Creaky wood floors, inventory that includes stuff decades old, Old Hickory kitchen knives, employess who know what the hell they're doing... I avoid going anyplace else as much as possible.

But as I sit typing this in a coffee shop, I can see Lowe's and Home Depot, right here. Usually when the big boxes open up within just a few miles, the little guys have to fold, but not in this case.

As far as I know, Casler's keeps hanging on (maybe even thriving, I wouldn't really know) because they never throw anything out. People come from several counties because they can find fittings and who-know-what-else that's been long, long discontinued. And if Casler's doesn't have one, NOBODY does!

When I've got no choice, like buying lumber or something, I'll take Menard's over Lowe's or HD, too. I hear Menard's pays the employees pretty well, and I can definitely tell a difference in the quality of service I get, both in knowledge and attitude.

But as much as possible, it's Casler's! :)
Mike
 
We have Bubba's Hardware just up the street. He seems to do a good business. He sells Case knives and the chinese junk. I go to him when he has what i need and isn't too much over priced. Sometimes his price is cheaper than the big box stores. He has a Case Stockman CV that i've had my eye on for a while. Might be time to support the local small business again.
 
The one and only family owned hardware store in my town closed about 2 years ago. They also carried everything and I remember shopping there and stocking up on all those items a homeowner needs when moving into a new house.

It was a big old wooden building with improvised additions built onto it. You could see the layers added to the building over the years.

The family closed the business and sold the property. A year later the building was demolished and a "Rite Aid" store was built in its place. Not even a trace of that old store remains.
 
The last old time family owned hardware store near where I live closed last year. The last one I can think of in my entire county is over near Smith Lake, on County Road 222, the "Country Mall", and I haven't been out 222 in several years, it could possibly be gone too. Sure gonna miss those old stores, the chain stores all carry the same old mundane blister packed junk.

Come to think of it, there IS one more "hardware" store in my county that has some goodies, although they really don't sell any hardware. It's Mary Carters Paint Store. They sell paint, guns, knives, ammunition, shoes and boots, picture framing materials, gas grille accessories, little red wagons, repair parts for pressure cookers and canners, fishing tackle and bait, hunting and fishing hats, wood burning stoves, stuff like that. Pretty cool place. :thumbup:
 
p1123 said:
Jim I would go back and see if he has any old display cases in the back room. I found a store like that once, they had many great old displays I waited a few days and missed out.

p1123
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No luck on the display cases, and I take back what I said about the edge. The cadet shaved my arm right out of the box.
 
My first-time visit to an oldtime hardware store was in central Ohio, to buy a new chainsaw for my boss. Told to get "the best one" and not knowing much of chainsaws, I asked the store owner "Which one of these lasts the longest"? "That one" he said, pointing to a Clinton model "cause you can't ever get 'em started". I bought a Remington. Regards, ss.
 
It was not too long ago when you could go into old hardware stores and in some cases find an old knife for sale. (Well maybe 25 or 30 years ago. ;)).

Heard of some nice display cases in a small town not to far from here a couple of years ago, but I was too late too. :D.
 
Out on an overnighter. I found an old one tonight but it was closed. I'll go back in the morning and check it out. Report will come back tomorrow night.
 
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