Sacramento hardware store closing after 75 years in business: ‘There’s no silver lining’
Phones haven’t stopped ringing since Hollywood Hardware in Sacramento announced it would permanently lock its doors after 75 years in business.
The tears have already come as the community grapples with the inevitable: Its family-owned hardware store, founded in 1948, will soon be gone.
Unpretentious and slightly rough around the edges, the shop at 5303 Freeport Blvd. has provided its customers with quality customer service since it opened. The roughly 8,000-square-foot space is lined with cleaning supplies, light bulbs, toilet seats, paints, and hardware and bolts.
Store manager Jeff Ford, who has been with the company for 26 years, said business has “dried out” over the past year and the store is not making enough money to stay open. The store could close sometime in February, he told The Sacramento Bee during an interview from his office on Tuesday morning.
Pictures of smiling faces line the blue walls of the workspace.
Cat bowls are scattered across the floor for Tiger and Scaredy Cat, who will soon need new homes.
A walkie-talkie chimes continuously.
“We have some really good employees and it’s just nothing but sadness,” the Sacramento native said. “There’s no silver lining, there’s just great memory.”
Ford answered an ad in the newspaper in the late 90s for a job at Hollywood Hardware’s former location in West Sacramento. When the store closed in 2009, he transferred his skills to the central site on Freeport Boulevard where he’s been working for nearly 15 years.
Ford has worked alongside his son Taylor over the past six years.
“I’m losing a lot here — everybody is,” he said.
“I will end up somewhere and start from the beginning.”
The business was founded in 1948 by Ted Messner, according to the hardware store’s website. His son Dennis, who eventually took the reins, sold it in 2015 to family friend Thomas Tognetti.
Dennis declined an interview.
“I’m really sad and disappointed,” said longtime customer Brieanne Otto, as she held back tears.
Otto works near the hardware store at Centennial Christan Preschool on Freeport Boulevard and has popped in for something or another over the past several years. This time it was for a pair of pliers.
The store is run by five employees, including Ford and mother-daughter duo Susie Reynolds and Amber Hodgson.
“I love working here, I love helping people,” said Hodgson, commonly referred to as “Susie Jr.”
“I love it when a plan comes together, we can spend half an hour looking for a screw, as long as your project gets done.”
When is Hollywood Hardware in Sacramento closing?
Hollywood Hardware hasn’t set an official closing date yet, Ford said, but it could be sometime in mid-February.
The store is holding a “super sale” with deals increasing over the next couple of weeks to get rid of its inventory.
The hardware store operates seven days a week. Business hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Sunday.
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