Maple Leaf Ace Hardware, the Stephenson Family owned and operated hardware store is my store of choice. The other day I was in Tweedy and Popp which just moved into the Wallingford Center Building. Tweedy and Popp also just opened two more locations. These are local businesses who use the buying power of the Ace Hardware brand name and warehousing to compete for your shopping dollars.
When doing home projects there is no better place to go than a local store that has the employees who can direct you. A trip to Home Depot is a minimum of 30 minutes. They may have what you need, maybe not, but then finding the right part, piece, or tool can take for ever. There’s never any one around in a Home Depot. Just walking from one end to the other in a warehouse store can take 5 minutes.
The other thing is the quantities. In my garage is a box, a big box, of nails. There is every kind of nail you can think of because when shopping big stores you are buying a life time supply of nails to do the job. I actually use nails regularly and still I have a big box filled with smaller big boxes of nails.
Another good thing about your local hardware store is the quality of merchandise. When you are buying face to face the people selling you home improvement want you to have things that work. Smaller stores with recognizable faces have a vested interest in keeping better quality merchandise. You are returning to a neighborhood store, they build their business on that premise.
Another part of shopping locally and in your neighborhood, is the selection of things you may need. These stores are set up with the home owner in mind. Contractors are also finding much more at the local hardware store, but the focus is on getting your home projects completed. There are a wide variety of items that are specific to our neighborhood. Cast iron plumbing valves and stop molding wood trim for screen doors I didn’t find at Lowes are in the Maple Leaf Hardware Store.
Ace is a whole sale buying cooperative and distributor. It allows your local store to compete with larger purchasing power. The owners are contributing members of our community who deserve your support.
It is always nice when you read an article that is not only informative but fun. I must bookmark Your Local Ace Hardware | Buying Seattle Real Estate, Seattle WA Homes. I really liked your blog post.