[Hardware]Norfolk and Chesapeake hardware stores treat customers as neighbors

[#Hassan.]

 

NORFOLK — Jeff Helton remembers life — and business — before the big-box stores came to town.

“There used to be a hardware store in every neighborhood,” Helton said. “Everybody had their hardware store. It’s changed.”

A Home Depot averages 100,000 square feet while neighborhood stores range from 2,100 to 6,500 square feet. But, despite the change and direct competition of the mammoth stores, Helton said it is possible to make a living.

And with four local stores and 25 employees under his charge, the president of Tidewater Hardware Group should know.

“None of us are getting rich, but I feel good at the end of the day,” he said.

He entered the industry while still in high school at 17 years old when he took a job in a warehouse for a hardware wholesaler. Now, at 56, he oversees four stores: Ocean View Hardware and Bayview Hardware in Norfolk and Meiggs Hardware and Churchland Hardware in Chesapeake. The Virginia Beach resident is actively looking to open a fifth store in his city.

He stepped in to his current leadership position in May 2020, succeeding Benny Potts who retired after more than 40 years in the business. The stores operate under the corporation, Tidewater Hardware Group, an offshoot of the original wholesaler, Waters and Martin, which started in 1865 in Norfolk.

“I worked in the wholesale part for a long time and ended up taking over the distribution center until it closed in 2009,” Helton said.

Facing unemployment at that time, Helton was fortunate when the company plucked him to work alongside Potts.

It’s come a long way and nowadays, Helton is busy trying to create uniformity across the neighborhood stores.

“We bought a POS (point-of-sale) system so that all four stores are talking to each other,” Helton said. “If I’m out of something, I can see my inventory live.”

Each store has a good customer base, he said, and that was apparent at the start of the pandemic.

“When everybody was standing out front of Home Depot with a shopping cart waiting to get in, we had a nice uptick in business from people that remembered the hardware store on the corner,” Helton said.

2020 was a great year for the business, he said, and he’s hopeful patrons continue the support.

“It’s been good for our industry, but you worry,” he said.

While the big-box stores tend to carry current items and replacement parts for in-stock items, it’s the hard to find items that he sets out to supply, Helton said.

“You can come to one of our stores and get copper/aluminum wire receptacles for an old house; not everybody’s going to have that,” he said.

Neighborhood hardware stores, Helton said, often carry inventory that people in the specific area need.

“You’re coming into a local hardware store to hopefully get a little bit of knowledge and a lot of help,” he said.

Customer service is another important facet to the business, Helton said. He encourages his employees to treat people the way they want their family members to be treated.

“We’re trying to stay aggressive because if you’re not growing, you’re going in the opposite direction,” Helton said. “I’m trying to grow this business, not make it go away.”

With the additional competing force of Amazon, Helton said it’s important for the stores to stay competitive when it comes to pricing.

“If you’re not in the neighborhood on the price, they will walk out the door, have it bought before they get to the car and it’ll be on their porch tomorrow,” he said.

But, Helton said he hears daily from customers who want to support the local mom and pop shops and feels there is a spot for what they do.

“The industry is still there, but the players have been moved around,” he said. “The stores have gotten bigger and there’s not a hardware store on every corner, but it’s still there.”