Did you take a road trip this summer? I hope you had a chance to do just that, or
will soon. If you did, perhaps you
noticed more than ever the continuing homogenization of America, or even
just of Washington state. From town to
town you see the same big box stores, the same giant lighted signs, the same
sprawling lighted asphalt parking lots -- stores owned by absentee corporations
that take the profits and run to the home office far from here. Maybe you wondered what happened to local or
regional differences, because it hasn’t always been like that.
You probably don’t need me to name the big home improvement
retailers dotting the map of the country.
And while they offer something of value to consumers -- mostly a price
and a single stop for all kinds of things -- there’s yet another price to be
paid by those same consumers in addition to the one on the adhesive tag, namely, the more intangible price we pay in
transfer of wealth out of the community and the loss of jobs, social cohesion
and hometown pride when the oxygen has been sucked out of the atmosphere for
small businesses owned and operated by people who live around here -- people you used
to see at PTA and church meetings, service clubs and around your
neighborhood. We need locally owned businesses because the life of our
community includes the commercial transactions we conduct with one another as neighbors and we need these entrepreneurs to give leadership.
Does it make sense to permit or advance the fraying of the fabric of
your community to save a few dollars when you go to paint the bedroom or water the
garden? When we choose, one transaction at a time, to patronize
locally owned businesses, it’s a choice to preserve
something important.
While it seems like the big box home improvement stores
constitute an overwhelming tide rolling inexorably over our shores, there are
bright spots. Here are a few right here
in Kitsap County.
Henery
Hardware, a home-grown retailer with stores in Bremerton, Kingston, Quilcene and Port Townsend. They pride themselves
on a more personal alternative to the big home centers, a level of service
familiar in the 1950s. They’ll share
their substantial knowledge and walk you through your project from A to Z.
Coast
Hardware, located on 7th Avenue in Poulsbo. I’ll be very surprised if, when you enter the
store, you’re not greeted with a smile and an offer to help find what you’re
looking for, even if you’re not sure what it is or how to use it. The aisles are closer together here because
their inventory is deep in a relatively small space. The current owner has been operating here
since 1995 and employs people you’d be proud to know.
Ace Hardware on High School Road on Bainbridge Island. Do you remember the Ace jingle? “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware
man…” You may not hear that music any
longer, but the store has built its reputation and customer service on that
single word “helpful” when it comes to preserving and updating your home. One more. Scott McLendon’s Hardware in Port Orchard and Belfair. There they pride themselves on their knowledge of hardware (there’s an edge!) and their large inventory.
I sense a question hanging in the air. You might ask if these stores are not
themselves big boxes. Well, yes, their buildings are each bigger than a bread
box so they can meet your needs and they’ve associated themselves with national distributors to have access
to competitive costs and gain training for their staffs. But each is wholly owned and managed by people
who live around here -- your neighbors and mine.
Each tailors its inventory according to local needs, tastes, economy and
particular local features.
MY RECOMMENDATION:
Next time you begin a project to maintain or improve your home, do
business with a locally owned and operated hardware store near you.*
Henery Hardware,
Kitsap and Jefferson Counties
Ace Hardware, Bainbridge Island (and coming soon to Bremerton)
Coast Hardware, Poulsbo
Scott McLendon’s Hardware, Port Orchard and Belfair
Ace Hardware, Bainbridge Island (and coming soon to Bremerton)
Coast Hardware, Poulsbo
Scott McLendon’s Hardware, Port Orchard and Belfair
