Cole Hardware - San Francisco, CA Review

I was a weird kid. I always loved going to the hardware store with my dad. On weekends, when he'd go to buy lumber, check out tools, order paint - whatever it was we needed for the Victorian brownstone my dad was always working on (and losing the battle with!) - I was always more than happy to tag along to the hardware store.  I've never been terribly handy, but I love a good hardware store.

Sadly, the days of the neighborhood hardware store are all but gone. With superstores such as Home Depot and Lowe's popping up at every suburban outpoast, the corner hardware store owner is finding it more and more difficult to stay afloat. I don't hate Home Depot, but I do support small business. I think small business is a key component in any community. There are two things that turn a geographic area into an actual neighborhood: the people who live there and the local resources made available to them. If you get rid of one, the other finds it impossible to maintain the status quo, and the neighborhood goes back to being just a space on the map. 

Ok, enough with the sociology lecture.

Cole Hardware is a real neighborhood hardware store. It's owned and run by the same family who has owned it since the late 1950s. It's the sort of store where you can find items you had no idea they were still making. It's also the kind of store where, if you don't see iton a shelf, someone will help you find it, or order it for you, or tell you where you can find it - even if it means sending you to another hardware store! The men and women who work at Cole Hardware are extremely friendly and helpful, and they go to great lengths to make sure all customers have accessto what they need. If someone has an access problem (not just a person with a disability, but a senior or even just someone who is too short to reach high shleves - that would be me), there's always soemone ready, willing and able to lend a hand and accommodate customers.

I like it that Cole keeps a list of reliable craftsmen. I've called and asked if they knew of anyone to assemble furniture, and they were quick about supplying me with the name of a reliable person. 

I also like it that Cole Hardware is really community-minded. Their newsletter (which I get in the mail a few times a year) is full of useful information, profiles of local charities, and all kinds of community news. They even have a program where they sponsor whole bunch of local not-for-profits and schools and supply them with bottled water and gifts cards for fundrasing events. This is what being part of a neighborhood is all about.