My gosh this thread brings back memories. My dad bought a small hardware store in the early sixties near Towson MD. I spent every Saturday and most of my summers there from the time I was 11 until I joined the Army at age 19. At first we were doing ok but then the Montgomery Wards and Sears opened and then the Big Box stores killed us. I remember days when our total gross was only $30. There were no employees as there was insufficient income to pay them. He worked six days a week from 9 in the morning until 9 at night. I remember my dad got seriously sick for three weeks and my brother and I ran the store for those three weeks. I forged his name on checks to pay the distributors. When folks asked where he was, the story was that he out doing deliveries or something. I was 17 then and my brother was 15. We made purchases, kept the books, and did all storm window repairs, paint mixing, locksmith work, pipe threading and cutting, appliance repair as well as sales. The only thing we didn't do was lawnmower sharpening because dad never allowed us to use the equipment. Probably a good thing as he ended up with silicosis from the dust. It ultimately killed him. My brother and I hated that store and everything associated with it. We felt at the time that it snatched our lives from us. We were never able to participate in school activities, clubs, sports or any other weekend activity because of the **** store. In retrospect, it made us better people. We learned hardware, construction, electronics, people skills, business management, and a host of other life survival skills because of it. In spite of all the above my dad loved that hardware store. He hated selling it when his health got too bad. I thinks its a clothing boutique now or at least it was 15 years ago when I last drove by it.
