America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

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Old No7
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America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by Old No7 »

So sad to see this happening...

Sure, I get the lure of lower prices, wider selection and shopping online...

But when you "need it now"; or when you're trying to "Rube Goldberg" a solution to a problem and you're not quite sure what you need, but know they'll have "something" to make it work; or for when you need a 50-cent washer to finish your $3,000 bathroom makeover; or when you just want to browse the tools or hardware sections; the corner or Main Street hardware store can be savior and a fun place to spend a half hour and a few bucks.

Old No7

Here's the news...

Farewell to the Nation’s Oldest Hardware Store

When Elwood Adams Hardware Store first opened its doors, the bestselling items were clock bells and pinions. That was back in 1782. Now, on October 20th, 2017, the oldest continuously run hardware store in America will close its doors for good -- a victim of "Amazonization".

Elwood Adams, established in Worcester, Massachusetts survived the War of 1812, the Civil War, WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, The Cold War, The War on Terror, Oh-Bummer and the Great Recession. But all those were less damaging than the shift to online shopping. "I think Amazon or the larger big-box stores have probably just been too much to compete against," the city manager said.

The demise of Elwood Adams illustrates the profound challenge to brick-and-mortar retail, and another hit to the mom-and-pop shops that once dominated Main Street.
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Pitchy
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by Pitchy »

Sad, most the hardware stores around here jack they're prices up so high it`s worth driving 50 miles too a Fleetfarm.
A old guy inonce new went to the local hardware to get a small washer, he took it too the counter and they wanted 20 cents for it.
He haded it to them and said he would go home and drill a hole in a nickel :lol:
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Blaine
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by Blaine »

Pitchy wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2017 2:18 pm Sad, most the hardware stores around here jack they're prices up so high it`s worth driving 50 miles too a Fleetfarm.
A old guy inonce new went to the local hardware to get a small washer, he took it too the counter and they wanted 20 cents for it.
He haded it to them and said he would go home and drill a hole in a nickel :lol:
Half a lifetime ago, I started picking up washers and taking them home to save. I have a lifetime supply of assorted washers. I used to joke they were my retirement IRA.

We have South End Hardware close by. Most anything for everything. Even a liquor store and a tiny bit of ammo.
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rossim92
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by rossim92 »

Back in the day, My father in law used to go to the dump for bolts and washer, electrical cords and whatever, now, you can't even do that, just dump and go. So much waste in this world. Heck I still own a sweater i used to wear back in the seventiess!!!!!!!!!!!! :o
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Pitchy you gave me a chuckle. :lol:
We had an ancient hardware store in Medford, Oregon, -- Hubbard Brothers -- with the creakiest old oak floors you could imagine. Same kind o' deal. A clerk would help you find an 8-cent nut and be truly glad to have helped. Miss that place.
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Pitchy
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by Pitchy »

Bill in Oregon wrote: Fri Oct 20, 2017 6:17 am Pitchy you gave me a chuckle. :lol:
We had an ancient hardware store in Medford, Oregon, -- Hubbard Brothers -- with the creakiest old oak floors you could imagine. Same kind o' deal. A clerk would help you find an 8-cent nut and be truly glad to have helped. Miss that place.
Yep that`s the way he was actually happened. :)
There`s a hardware store in another town near by that has wood floors that creak, ya wonder if your going to end up in the basement. :lol:
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by piller »

That just goes to show that impersonal service and high profit margin are able to take over because too many people today value the ability to shop from a computer.
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by 308magtip »

Grew up in northern Lancaster county,pa.remember several of those old time stores including a mom and pop grocery store almost one in each block in town.There is one really good hardware store that has a nick name "if Paul B don't have it,they don't make it".Name of the store id Paul B.Zimmerman.Like Larry Potter says"just about everything"..
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by Ysabel Kid »

That's really a shame... :(
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yooper2
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by yooper2 »

Sad to hear this. I worked in an old small town hardware at one point, loved it. Was always fun when folks came in trying to "make something work" . Little bit of on the fly engineering. I miss small town hardwares.

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Ji in Hawaii
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by Ji in Hawaii »

WOW, I have no doubt my dad frequented that store as he was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. He used to also walk by the old H&R Firearms factory on his way to school, another American institution also closed.

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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by GunnyMack »

We had one of those old time hardware stores, used to love that place. If ya needed parts for a Farmall tractor- or 6" cut nails, real brass plumbing parts-they had em AND knew exactly where in the store those parts were! Most times those odd ball things had been on the shelves for years, could tell by the dust layers!
Sad to say the place burned and all that history went with it!

Now at one point I gave heart & soul to local lumber yard for 10 years, the motto was "the friendly lumber yard" boy what a crock that was, staff was nice to your face but would bash you behind your back! I DO NOT miss that place!
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by JerryB »

Most Hardware store also sold guns and ammo. My dad used to take me to one in a small town close to us. They would sell me 32-20 shells for a few cents a round depending on how much money I had made hauling hay. They sold shot gun shells the same way.
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by piller »

Western Auto used to sell guns and ammo when I was a kid. By the time I could legally buy them, they were out of business. OTASCO was in business when I bought my first gun.
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wolfdog
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Re: America's Oldest Hardware Store Closing...

Post by wolfdog »

That is a shame. Luckily Travis hardware in Cocoa still seems to be holding its own.
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