Walked into an old hardware store in rural Missouri last weekend

They still had a whole aisle of wooden dowels, hand plane blades, and that weird smell of old oil and sawdust. The guy behind the counter measured out my chain by the foot from a spool. No barcode scanner anywhere. Makes me wonder if we've traded too much convenience for actual knowledge. Anyone else got a local spot like that still hanging on?

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wendyg431mo ago

My granddad had a place like that in southern Illinois, old wood floors that creaked something fierce and a register drawer that chimed like a church bell. They still sharpened lawn mower blades by hand and kept the broken ones in a bin for parts, which saved me twenty bucks last summer when my pull cord snapped. Missing that kind of place every time I have to dig through a big box store for a simple washer.

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murphy.abby1mo ago

Gotta push back on this one a little, @wendyg43. I know those old shops have a lot of charm, but I remember waiting forever for someone to come out from the back and then getting charged double because they "had to special order it." The guys at my local place kept everything behind the counter and acted like you were bothering them just by asking for a price. Plus, that bin of broken parts sounds like a gamble. I'd rather just walk into a store with aisles and actually see what's available instead of hoping the guy remembers where he tossed a rusty washer.

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