Hoyt’s to close hardware store after 97 years

At Hoyt’s Ace Hardware, the hammer is coming down. After 97 years in business, the store that was founded in Ontario and relocated four decades ago to the new city of Rancho Cucamonga is closing its doors next month.

Co-owner Frank Nelson is telling people the last day is Oct. 20. He’s also telling them: “Maybe sooner if I sell enough stuff.”

He put a “Closing Sale” sign outside 7110 Archibald Ave. on Wednesday. A steady stream of vehicles pulled into the parking lot, including mine. Nelson, who reads my column, wasn’t surprised to see me. Over the years I’ve made a specialty of obituaries for businesses, the older and more beloved the better.

Reader Nora Pasma alerted me even before the sign went out. Nelson had been taking longtime customers aside to break the news. He did that with Pasma’s husband, Bob, a onetime Upland Lumber employee, who likes small hardware stores like Hoyt’s and their easy parking.

“It has been a mainstay for us since we moved into our home in 1993,” Nora told me, “because they carried many of the supplies, like door handles, that matched our home.”

Hoyt’s wasn’t forced out. The store was still profitable — “barely,” said Nelson. He’s got a closecropped white beard, an easygoing manner and a dry sense of humor.

At 73, he said, it’s simply time to retire. He offered the 11,200-square-foot business through the Ace Hardware network but no one was interested.

So he, his two brothers and his sister made the decision earlier this year to sell the 2-acre property.

It’s in escrow for $3.5 million. (Their father had paid about $60,000 back in 1979.)

The buyer has made only general inquiries at

City Hall.

The zoning “allows for a mix of housing and nonresidential uses” under the general plan, which envisions “a small-town main street area” for that part of the city, according to Jennifer Nakamura, the city’s deputy planning director.

On Yelp, Hoyt’s Ace has a 4.2 rating and a lot of glowing reviews.

“Something feels right