Brian Edwards-Tiekert
Aaaaagh I just found out Ellis Ace hardware is closing at the end of the year. What a neighborhood treasure.
Nov 25, 2023 at 10:48pmWeb
Show threadBrian Edwards-TiekertNov 25, 2023
The store opened in 1946. Paul and Barbara Eames took it over from their father in 1985.
Since the 70s, it's been an old-timey counter-service operation: you tell them what you need, they run in between the towering shelves of inventory and fetch it for you. (Or, you vaguely describe what problem you need to solve, and they tell you how to solve it, because they know everything).
Show threadBrian Edwards-TiekertNov 25, 2023
There was always a steady stream of working people queued up at the counter on weekdays who didn't have time to waste wandering the aisles of a box store. The counter service model got them high sales per square foot, and also required high labor, which meant they employed a lot of folks from the neighborhood. It saw them through the construction of the world's worst Home Depot just down the road in Emeryville. https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/RETAIL-CLASSIC-Counter-Culture-Service-key-to-3237737.php
Show threadBrian Edwards-TiekertNov 25, 2023
It's amazing to think of everything the store's seen change. It opened in a neighborhood that was predominantly Italian-American, fronting a street car line to downtown Oakland.
In a couple short decades white families had moved en masse to new suburbs, North Oakland had become a hotbed of radical black organizing (Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale was a customer) and Grove Street (now MLK) was being torn up for elevated BART track that drove out most of the other local businesses. https://oaklandlibrary.org/content/bart-and-black-communities/
BART and Black Communities

Prepare for a visit to AAMLO with these special topic resource guides. This resource guide is intended to help users locate holdings…

Show threadBrian Edwards-TiekertNov 25, 2023
Now the neighborhood's filling with well-paid professionals buying homes for 7 figures. Paul and Barbara are still making money, but they want to retire -- and couldn't find anyone willing to take over the business who could buy the building at current prices.
Show threadBrian Edwards-TiekertNov 25, 2023
Anyway, Ellis Ace is open til the end of the year, selling off everything that's left from 77 years of operation, down to the shelving, at steep discounts. Stop by and wish Paul and Barbara a happy retirement!
Show threadPatrick DuffyNov 25, 2023
@bedwardstiek My favorite Oakland hardware store! That's a sad reminder of changing times and the old Temescal pace of life
Show threadEric VeyNov 25, 2023

@bedwardstiek

We have one of those in my town, too. The land it's on has gotten valuable and the owner old so....

Me and a lot of other people will be crying real tears when it goes.

Show threadCollette LynnerNov 25, 2023
@bedwardstiek Thanks for sharing this story
Show threadSF Bay TideNov 25, 2023
@bedwardstiek end of an era!
Show threadMimi Runs with ScissorsDec 2, 2023

@bedwardstiek I live two blocks from Ellis Hardware and was wondering what was going on, there. This is terrible news. The only other good* hardware store I'm aware of within reach is Pasttime Hardware, up in El Cerrito. That ain't walking distance, but OSH is kind of mediocre, and I cannot bring myself to shop at the monster stores—aside from Home Depot's founder being a still-active Trump supporter, their underpaid clerks have little experience and they almost never have what I need.

Ellis was the kind of place where I could walk in, feel genuinely welcome, speak with a clerk who really knew their stuff, and not once be told, "sorry, we don't have that in stock." Yet another treasure we're losing to greed and the unaffordability of the Bay Area.

:::: sigh ::::

*"Good," meaning they are well stocked and treat their employees with respect—they seem happy and tend to stick around.

Show threadBrian Edwards-TiekertDec 2, 2023
@mimiheftrunswithscissors OSH is owned by Lowe's now--they're just a box store with a different sign out front. The Ace in downtown Berkeley is OK --they have a lot of inventory, and employees who stick around. Eastern Supply near Berkeley Bowl is great, but only for plumbing stuff. Cole Hardware in Rockridge has knowledgeable staff, but it's pricey.
Show threadMimi Runs with ScissorsDec 2, 2023
@bedwardstiek thanks for reminding me of the Berkeley Ace Hardware, Brian!