Content about The store

Orchard Supply Hardware’s neighborhood format is spreading.

The San Jose, Calif.-based hardware and garden chain announced the planned grand re-opening event of its Van Nuys, Calif., store on June 8. The store will mark the chain’s 17th new neighborhood format.

One of the new features of the format, according to the store’s designers, is better “in-and-out convenience than big-box home improvement stores.”

A store manager’s inability to be physically present at work during the busy season was a legitimate business reason for her termination, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

Cynthia Lawler had managed a Montblanc retail store in a mall for nearly a decade. The store made a third of its sales during the holiday season. Thus, from Thanksgiving to Jan. 2, Lawler was required to work 60 to 70 hours per week.

Sullivan Hardware & Garden of Indianapolis is no stranger to recognition in the local media. But its latest “best of” Indianapolis title marks what might be considered a strange departure.

The store won the Indianapolis Monthly’s “Best Retro Soda Pop” award.

Tool maker and distributor Hilti will end its in-store relationship with The Home Depot, according to an article in the Tulsa (Okla.) World.

The store-within-a-store Hilti departments had been a fixture at Home Depot for about 13 years.

Beyond Hardware True Value will officially and formally open its second upstate New York store during a two-day event slated to begin June 8.

The store is the second Beyond Hardware True Value. Owners Matt Shapiro and Jim Marsh opened the first in 2009 in Penfield, N.Y.

The new store follows the Destination True Value design and merchandising format. The owners also cultivated a female-friendly environment, including a “Demos for Divas” consumer education program.

San Jose, Calif.-based Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. plans to open a new Orchard Supply Hardware store in Fresno, Calif. on April 14th. 

The store will be Orchard’s 88th, and the fourth store in Fresno. Grand Opening events include a ribbon-cutting ceremony beginning at 7 a.m., as well as day-long vendor demos, spin and win, kid’s activities and door prizes, including a patio set and a Weber Summit Grill.

Robert and Vicki Amberg, owners of Gerstner Hardware in Glenn, Mich., recently proved their commitment to their surrounding community by re-locating a nearby Post Office designated to close and incorporating it into their store.

The story reminded me of my Uncle Jerry, proprietor of an independent store stuffed with hardware SKUs and located in South Newfane, Vt.

After a soft opening earlier this week, the first Marvin’s location in Tennessee will celebrate a grand opening weekend, beginning today.

The store will be the 28^th location for Marvin’s Building Materials and Home Centers, and the first in Tennessee. The Leeds, Ala.-based retailer announced plans for the new store back in September. 

According to an article in the Tampa Tribune, Harvey's Hardware celebrated its 50th anniversary over the weekend by playing to its strengths -- a niche market in knives.

The store in Land O' Lakes, Fla., held its annual Case & Sons Cutlery knife event, which also featured appearances from local veterans and a presentation from a Case historian.

The retailer describes itself as a classic hometown hardware store, according to the article.

San Jose, Calif.-based Orchard Supply Hardware chain opened a 60,000-sq.-ft. store in a former Mervyns location, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal. 

The official opening was Saturday. The store is a relocation of a previous store located in nearby San Jose. It will feature a new format unveiled two years ago in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Marvin's Building Materials and Home Centers announced plans to open a new store in Fayetteville, Tenn.

The new store in Fayetteville is the first of at least two new stores planned for Marvin’s in 2012 and the first store in Tennessee to take on the company's new-store format. It will soon be under construction at the former Food Lion shopping center on Huntsville Highway, Highway 431.  

The store, expected to open in February of 2012, will feature a 35,000 square foot home center with an attached lawn and garden center and drive through lumberyard.  

Sulphur Springs, Texas — “Let me show you something.”


That’s how an employee at Fix & Feed Sulphur Springs Hardware greeted a reporter who was visiting the store about 80 miles east of Dallas on a hot July weekday. She marched to a back room of the 20,000-sq.-ft. hardware store to a door marked “Keep this door closed at all times,” and led the visitor inside. 


“Here is where we make the fudge,” she said.