Joe Pater says, “It’s time.”
The 70 year old owner of Pater True Value Hardware says “you can’t keep working seven days a week, 70 hours forever. And that’s what you have to do in retail.” So, Pater has decided to close his successful hardware store, unless another hardware firm steps into the picture by June.
“If we find a hardware buyer, great. If not, we’ll close after the Liquidation Sale and find a new tenant for the location,” says Pater. He owns the real estate, the retail complex at M-139 and Miners Road in Scottdale, the home to a hardware store for decades, first as an Ace and then as True Value.
“We’re actually doing as well as we’ve ever done,” says Pater, “but there’s no time for ‘a life.’” He wants to be able to spend more time with his wife, three grown children and grandkids. He adds no one else in the family is interested in the hardware business. “They’re all successful. A dentist, one at Whirlpool and one district manager at Target,” he says of his children.
Pater says he’ll maintain his ‘other fulltime job’ as a successful sales rep in the industrial chemical industry. “I can do that in three days a week, not seven”, he says.
Pater has at least three companies looking at the busy retail space in Scottdale. Two are other hardware firms. And he’s optimistic that may still work out. He says the Liquidation Sale still makes sense, as a new hardware operator would want to re-stock with their own merchandise. And he says there are other possibilities for the building if the new hardware store doesn’t materialize. He’s not concerned about the space standing empty later this year.
Pater True Value employs 16, full and part time. He is optimistic they’ll have no problem finding continued employment, either with a new hardware operator or related firms who are all looking for workers.
Pater says it makes sense to bring in a Liquidator when you’re closing a retail store. “They’re specialists. That’s what they do. They close down and clear out hardware stores. They know when to adjust prices, they know how to move the merchandise.”
Pater says there will be big bargains available as the closing sale plays out. He points to his current stock of barbeque grills. “I’ve got 70 grills in stock, and they’re ‘on sale.’ When was the last time you saw a Weber grill at a ‘sale price’?. It doesn’t happen!”
Meanwhile, he says they’ll keep critical items in stock, so longtime customers won’t be disappointed. He cited fertilizer and lawn care products and household consumable items.
Pater says the Liquidation Sale is underway and will continue until around mid-June. “I think June 18 is our target date,”.
