This article was written several years ago and printed in the Wellsville Daily Reporter
Carter Hardware
The bell rang when Dean Graves walked into the store and
Kate asked him if he wanted his repaired window screen. Dean, who’s been a friend and a customer
since he was a boy, talked as she went to get it. “Everything’s here. If you need a weird little part, they have it
and if they don’t, they’ll get it for you.”
That “can
do, can find, can fix” reputation is as solid as the stone foundation that
attaches Carter’s Hardware to 130 North Main.
In the horse and buggy days, circa 1900, A. E. Brandon opened the store
to offer service to people and that’s what people continue to find. Another customer, Dick Butler said, “If I
can’t find what I need anywhere else, I come here.”
My family
discovered Carter’s when we moved to Wellsville in 1975. Our neighbor at the time, Charles Hyde, was
at the end of his career there. He
started after being in the 23rd Engineering Corps during World War I and over a
period of nearly sixty years, some worked in tandem with John Boyd, Charles
learned the purpose for every item tucked in corners and attics of the store
owned, then, by Roy Carter.
When Roy
Carter owned the store and hired Charles in the 20’s, there were no farm supply
stores and lumber stores sold only lumber.
For other construction supplies, and to have things repaired, people
went to a hardware store. Carter’s was
in one building then, selling wood and gas stoves, farm supplies, horse
blankets and collars. Upstairs, a hoist
brought materials to the area where awnings were made to order and, in the
basement, were machines for other kinds of custom work.
Nails came to the store in one hundred pound kegs and were
put into bins under the main counter.
The counter now holds a computer instead of a cash register but the
original scale is still there and ready to use, if you’d like to buy a few
pounds of nails.
Those
hundred pound kegs were abandoned in favor of fifty-pound cardboard boxes years
ago but some of the old kegs with their odd and out-of-demand nails are still
in the back, just in case.
That’s what
makes Carter’s such a great place. All
kinds of gadgets are kept around and someone in the store knows what and where
they are. My husband, Rick, has gone
searching high and low for things to be told that they aren’t made anymore but,
when he comes to his senses and stops at Carter’s, they ask, “Would you like
that in aluminum, brass or stainless steel?”
In the seventies, small kitchen appliances could be brought
to Carter’s for repair. Now people
usually throw small appliances away and buy new ones but the wall in the back
room is covered with rubber belts and small engine parts. The paint mixer takes up one corner while the
workbench along the wall is the place for repairing vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers
and snow blowers or for eating lunch. On
the wall, a list of prices for service can make a person gasp, but only because
they are such reasonable numbers.
The pipe cutter that Mr. Brandon bought about a hundred
years ago is still in service in the basement.
In addition to having pipes cut or threaded, customers can have glass
cut, window screens repaired, any kind of saw or cutting blade sharpened and
stove pipe crimped on the spot.
After Lee
Guilford bought Carter’s in the 70’s, he extended the space, spreading the
business into the second building, formerly a Sears store. This allowed expansion of the selection of
guns, swords and other sport equipment.
Lee taught his sons, Jeff and Clark, the business the old
fashioned way, by having them work in his store when they were kids. A photo of young Jeff, surrounded by
hardware, hangs between scenes of the store as Charles Hyde knew it. Jeff took over the operation of the store
with Clark several years a go but now he runs it with his younger brother,
Zack. They continued to offer
merchandise, advice and repairs.
Taking the
tradition into another generation, Kate Aronson works in the store part
time. She says there isn’t much of a
choice about where you work when your Dad owns a store but that it’s really
fun. She has gained useful knowledge and
skills. She knows what to do with all
the machines in the basement and most of the stuff upstairs, too.
And, may I stress, there is a lot of stuff. Just standing on the foot-worn wooden floor
at the front door, one can see keys, light fixtures, fans, ant traps, drills,
dry wall tools, toy Radio Flyers in different scales, knives, Goop, and plastic
floor covers sold by the yard. A walk
down any aisle reveals the reason why Jeff has so many catalogs in his office
and why people are so often able to leave the store with just what they were
looking for.
“I don’t know what it’s called but…” was the start of a
customer’s inquiry that, with plenty of hand gesturing, tried to identify an object
by its purpose. In another store, an
observer would think that this customer would leave empty handed but here she
was patiently heard and led down the correct aisle, just as she expected.
Carter’s is
open during the week from eight to six and until five on Saturday. While someone fixes your broken window screen
or sharpens your scissors or chain saw, you can find the right screw, nail,
bolt or spring for your project, get a new apple peeling machine, select some
cookie cutters, have your paint color blended, pick out a fishing pole or get
some keys made.
Like Dean says, “Carter’s is a great place!”
