Neighborhood Hardware Stores Win Out

(Last UPDATED 2/3/2021) Every neighborhood needs a local hardware store – or two.  NEW: See Update below.

Sacramento has a number of independently owned neighborhood hardware stores.  My go to local hardware stores are East Sacramento Hardware on Folsom Boulevard at 48^th Street (see Update below) and Capitol Ace Hardware on I Street near 18^th Street in Midtown.

Living in an older home, I have found that the small locally owned hardware stores are my best bet when I need a question answered and/or help in finding a part I need.

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Over the years I have found the staff at both stores to be both helpful and friendly.  More than once I have been steered in the right direction enabling me to successfully complete my home improvement project.  This help has included (nicely) discouraging me from what I perceived in my inexperience to be the correct course of action.

East Sac Hardware v Capitol Ace Hardware

East Sacramento Hardware and Capitol Ace Hardware are similar in many ways.  Both stores look smaller on the outside then they are in reality once you are inside the door.  Both stores also carry a wide array of merchandise in addition to what you would expect a hardware store to carry.

Hardware and More

Because of the variety of items carried, including unique items and gifts, I often find myself wandering up and down the aisles even though I have already found what I went into the store for.  You just never know what you may find.

In my experience,  it is often hard to find a very specific gift item when you want it.  In response to a “hint” from my daughter when I asked her for gift suggestions, I turned to Amazon as opposed to checking out various brick and mortar stores in town in what I thought likely to be a frustrating and unsuccessful quest.  Lo and behold, after I received my purchase in the mail I spotted just what I had wanted as I walked down an aisle at Ace Capitol Hardware – and the price was less than I had paid!

Both stores carry paint and match colors, and each has a small garden center.  I have found the plant quality to be excellent at both stores.  My purchases have been limited to tomatoes, peppers, etc. for my vegetable garden.  Other similarities between the two stores include blade sharpening, key cutting, glass cutting and screen repair.

Parking at East Sacramento Hardware is limited and sometimes a challenge – to say the least.   Capitol Ace Hardware has parking in front and also in back of the store making it the “winner” in that regard.

To Sum Up

I very much like to support small, local businesses – but this is not to say that I don’t make a trip or two each year to one of the big box stores.  They are just not my first choice when I can find what I need much closer to home.

Updates

(2/3/2021)  East Sac Hardware will close at the end of February, 2021!  The sad news was recently reported in Inside East Sacramento.  Sheree Johnston, the owner, wants to retire from retail and her adult children have decided to pursue other interests.  Johnston, who owns the building as well as the adjoining property, plans to redevelop the property with the possibility of a mixed-use project.

See related blog post:  Walk Down Memory Lane

(7/8/2020) Broken link deleted.

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