6 Things Alabama Hardware Stores Do That Big Chains Gave Up On
Anders Hardware in Northport is run by the fifth generation of the same family, 117 years after it opened as a mercantile store in 1909.
Big chains don’t get five generations out of one storefront.
Alabama’s independent hardware stores kept doing the small, fiddly jobs long after Lowe’s and Home Depot decided those jobs weren’t worth the floor space.
These are the things Alabama’s hardware stores still do that the big chains walked away from.
1. Keys the Kiosk Can’t Cut
Planters Hardware in Ashland duplicates keys many machines refuse to touch, high-tech car keys included.
A self-service kiosk sits inside many big chains now, cutting a basic house key at the checkout line.
It has limits.
Those kiosks are built for ordinary residential profiles like Kwikset and Schlage, nothing more specialized.
Planters Hardware doesn’t have that problem.
A person behind the counter sorts out the key a machine won’t touch.
What a Key Kiosk Declines
Alabama shoppers run into the same kiosk brands as everyone else, mainly MinuteKey and KeyMe, the self-service machines parked near the front of big chains.
Both machines cut a standard house, office, or padlock key without trouble.
Both also say plainly that a restricted key or a high-security key with a patented keyway needs a locksmith instead.
A car key with a manufacturer’s encrypted chip often needs that same specialized help instead of a basic kiosk.
That’s the gap an Alabama hardware store’s counter fills.
2. Torn Screen Repairs
Anders Hardware in Northport repairs a torn window screen instead of just pointing a customer toward a repair kit.
Rip it.
Someone there fixes it.
No kit required.
Many big chains stock the do-it-yourself version: A roll of screen mesh, a spline tool, and a shopper left to figure out the corners alone.
The repaired screen goes back on its track the same afternoon, spline and all.
3. Broken Tool Repairs
Anders Hardware repairs a broken hand tool or power tool instead of sending a customer home to buy a new one.
A stripped drill or a hedge trimmer that won’t start goes on the bench.
Fixed, not replaced.
Many big chains sell a replacement tool instead of fixing the one a customer already owns.
A repaired drill still has years of work left in it.
4. Chainsaw Chain Sharpening
Anders Hardware sharpens a chainsaw chain or a mower blade in-store, a service the shop lists right alongside its regular tool sharpening.
Drop it off.
Keep shopping.
Big chains sell a replacement chain instead of sharpening the one already on the saw, since that kind of walk-in service isn’t something many of them staff.
A resharpened chain costs less than a new one anyway.
5. Buying a Single Bolt
Anders Hardware still runs a wall of carousel bins a century old, the kind a customer spins to find one bolt, one washer, or a single odd screw.
Buy exactly what broke.
A big chain sells fasteners in a sealed multi-pack, twenty screws when the job needed three, spares included whether the shopper wants them or not.
Anders Hardware counts out exactly the three screws a job needs.
6. Glass Cutting to Size
Planters Hardware cuts glass to a customer’s exact measurements, one more service the store still runs the old way.
Bring the frame.
Leave with the pane.
Many big chains hand a shopper a preset panel size instead of cutting one to order.
A cracked cabinet door or an odd-sized window in an older Alabama home rarely fits a standard size anyway.
Storefronts Turned Museums
Alabama’s hardware-store history runs deeper than the stores still selling hardware today.
Harrison Brothers Hardware opened in Huntsville in 1879, first as a tobacco shop that grew into a full hardware store over the years.
Then it stopped.
The Historic Huntsville Foundation has run the building as a museum and gift shop since 1983, staffed by volunteers.
Porter Hardware in Dothan followed a similar arc, open from 1889 until it closed in 2014.
It reopened in 2018, but as a museum, not a supplier.
Psst! How much do you know about Alabama’s own iron and steel history? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Alabama Iron Trivia
Answer these questions on Alabama’s iron and steel history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Birmingham, Alabama earned a nickname comparing it to which northern city’s steel industry?
Relics Behind the Counter
Harrison Brothers Hardware still keeps its original 1907 National Cash Register on the counter, and volunteers ring up pottery and cast iron cookware on it instead of nails.
Not hardware anymore.
R.W. Whitehurst worked the counter at Porter Hardware for 64 years, until it closed.
Walt Runyan runs Planters Hardware today, the third generation of his family behind the counter.
His father, Joe Runyan, ran the store from 1966 to 1999 before handing it down.
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