Photo by Glenda C. Booth
Village Hardware at Hollin Hall Shopping Center
Studying the paint charts in the Village Hardware recently, Sherron Harward, commented, “This is the go-to place. I needed help with a lightbulb and their service was awesome.” So Harward, a newcomer to the Mount Vernon area, was back for paint.
In the next aisle, confessing that he’s not a handyman, Jeff Oldham had driven down from Old Town because “they have everything I need,” he explained, commending the helpful, personal service.
Prices may be a bit higher than those at the big box stores, but that does not deter many customers. A loyal patron for 30 years, Dennis Brack said, “I don’t mind paying more on large items that I could purchase at Home Depot, because I know that I can get knowledgeable answers to my questions. Sometimes they have fixed my broken ‘whatever’ immediately.”
Good service is the mantra of the many faithful customers who frequent the hardware, a Mount Vernon institution in the Hollin Hall Shopping Center since 1979, when Larry and Janet Gray bought it. The Grays have retired and are moving to Sarasota, Florida, where Larry hopes to play golf and do more bicycling.
Photo by Glenda Booth
An aisle at Village Hardware.
It’s been a family affair with their three sons and daughter working there over the years. Gray in fact met his wife at the store when he sold her a lawnmower. She became the bookkeeper. Saying he has typically worked every day, Gray commented, “It’s hard to walk away from something you put your whole life into. I’ll miss it.”
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New Owners, Little Change
Troy Richard, the new general manager, insists that changes will be “minimal.” He may update some fixtures, “but to customers, it will seem the same,” he insists. Current employees will stay.
The attentive customer service will continue, he stresses. They will still carry big items to customers’ cars, deliver mulch, sponsor local Little League teams and hire local teenagers. Richard works for the new owner, Aubuchon (WEA Inc.), a New England-based company. This is Aubuchon’s first hardware store outside its New England base. Richard came from one of the company's stores in St. Johnsbury, Vermont and is adjusting to “the big city.”
Photo by Glenda Booth
New General Manager Troy Richard speaks with a customer at Village Hardware.
Customers will see some new services, like a loyalty program. For every $250 spent there, customers will get a $5 reward and double points on some weekends. Richard is beefing up the website and offering online shopping for products both in the store and not with curbside pickup.
What he calls “our pride and joy,” the popular Weber Room in the basement, will stay. It’s crammed with gas grills, smokers, barbeque tools, iron skillets and Dutch ovens. Seven shelves bulge with hot sauces, butt rubs and barbeque sauces with names like Moonshine Madness, Slap Your Mama and Sweet Sauce O’Mine. Eight shelves are packed with seasonings.
Everything You Need
In less than 8,000 square feet on two floors, the hardware is chockablock stocked with over 26,000 items, from the tiniest tack to paint brushes to chainsaws. Need a drawer handle, coupler, plunger, cooler, bird house, spark plug, car air filter, insulated tumbler, furnace filter, lamp dimmer, tire gauge, lock deicer, shoe polish, plant food, moth trap or American flag?
Photo by Glenda Booth
Village Hardware
How about an inflatable snake, hickory axe handle, deer repellent, fox urine, floor polish or a frisbee? The front sidewalk’s spring offerings include Adirondack chairs, Radio Flyer wagons and seed starters. On the back ramp, stacks of mulch, dirt, potting soil and concrete mix await. Arriving customers are greeted by jars of pickles, Virginia peanuts and Green Mountain coffee. Nearby are bandanas and reading glasses. Bill Betz, who worked there as a teenager in the 1970s, summed it up: “It is a well-stocked little gem.”
COVID’s Boon
The covid pandemic brought a bonanza to hardware stores, Richard contends, citing a 30 to 50 percent jump in industry sales in 2020 because government officials deemed hardwares “essential businesses” and the stores stayed open. Quarantiners took on home improvement projects like painting and long-neglected repairs. Outdoor gardening was up 400 percent nationally, says Richard. “It was hard to keep enough dirt and vegetable seeds in stock. We’re still riding the pandemic wave.”
Keeping up with the times is the key to success, steps like upgrading the computer system to track sales and offering Internet shopping. If products aren’t selling, they don’t need to take up shelf space and people can order them online from the hardware. “I’ll keep the fast movers in stock,” he said.
Alex Kraus shopped at Village Hardware when he lived in Old Town and living nearby for the last 13 years, is a fan. “I always appreciate how knowledgeable and helpful they are, always going the extra mile.” Employees don’t just hand you the product, they help customers solve their problem, he stressed.
Louise Potter echoed that sentiment. “Customer service is their greatest strength. They really believe in servicing the customer. When I recently took an item in there looking for a screw, Larry couldn't find one to replace it so he made one!”
That’s true customer service.
