TACKLING TO-DO LISTS
Hardware stores seeing uptick in sales as projects pick up steam
VIRGINIA BEACH — Teacher Jimmy Bruce is finally knocking out projects around the house that he’s been needing to do for months. Over spring break, Bruce and his his daughter, Abby, stopped by Beach Hardware at the Oceanfront for a gallon of paint.
“I’ve got nothing but time,” he said.
Armed with paint brushes, squeegees and garden tools, homeowners are tackling their to-do lists while social distancing at home. In turn, neighborhood hardware stores and big box establishments are reaping the benefits — even as they limit the number of customers inside at one time and implement additional cleanings.
Mark Goldner, owner of Beach Hardware, noticed the uptick in business a few weeks ago when the governor ordered non-essential businesses closed.
He usually knows most of his customers and greets them by name, but Goldner started seeing
new faces come through the door.
There’s a running joke with his staff: “That honey-do list has finally come due,” Goldner said.
Paint supplies and yard work equipment have been some of his top sellers. Some homeowners are opting to spruce up their houses themselves instead of having a contractor come inside their homes, Goldner said.
He’s having a hard time keeping track of what day it is. Before coronavirus, his store stayed busy mostly on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Every day seems like a weekend now because everybody’s home,” he said.
With customers coming in and out of Beach Hardware for quick shopping trips, Goldner’s taking precautions by disinfecting door handles, shopping baskets and the credit card machine every 30 minutes. Only 10 people are allowed in the store.
Giant chain stores that specialize in tools and appliances also are seeing an increase in customers.
Two-thirds of shoppers at Lowe’s stores are plunging into repair and maintenance projects in their homes, according to Pedro Chen, a spokesman for the chain.
“We continue to see customers engage in spring projects, buy appliances and use their time at home to work on projects that have been on the to-do list,” Chen wrote in an email.
Lowe’s is limiting the number of people in its buildings based on square footage and has developed an app that counts customer traffic and alerts its team when a store is nearing capacity.
With eight stores in three
Hampton Roads’ cities, Taylor’s Do-It Centers also are busy. The 90-year-old hardware store chain usually sees an uptick in business around hurricanes and other emergencies, “but nothing quite like this one,” spokeswoman Meg Taylor said.
Taylor’s Do-It Centers offer curbside pickup in a designated parking spot, and they’re encouraging credit card payments. Signatures are not required with chip processing.
Paul Berryman stopped by Beach Hardware recently for supplies to clean mirrored cabinets at The Little Theater of Virginia
Beach, where he volunteers.
The theater’s closed, so in between doing yard work at home, he’s taking advantage of the time to tidy it up.
“I just look at this as an opportunity,” Berryman said.
Paige Mangus said she generally prefers shopping at small stores with less foot traffic, but even more so now.
A manager at Baker’s Crust, she would generally be busy this time of year. But because her restaurant is temporarily closed, she decided to stop by Beach Hardware and buy some paint to refurbish a pair of wooden nightstands that she found on Facebook Marketplace.
Mangus has also painted her boyfriend’s bathroom and bedroom and is waiting on a delivery of macramé rope to make plant hangers.
“I enjoy putting things together rather than watching TV or doing nothing with the time that I have now,” she said.
Armed with paint brushes, squeegees and garden tools, homeowners are tackling their to-do lists while social distancing at home.