Published September 2003

Hardware store marks 100th year by expanding

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT Arlington Hardware owner Mike Jones and his son, Taylor, are celebrating the family business’ 100th anniversary by expanding into Action Sports’ former space next door to provide even more variety in the store’s already extensive inventory.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

In step with Arlington’s centennial celebrations, the venerable Arlington Hardware has its own “100th Year Anniversary” banner flying this year, and it’s celebrating with an expansion.

Long noted for an extensive inventory and knowledgeable staff, the hardware has begun moving even more merchandise into the adjacent space previously occupied by Action Sports — now two blocks north by The Local Scoop.

The new space also has a wooden floor, nearly matching the aging wooden floors of the main hardware store. That’s important to note, said owner Mike Jones, who bought the hardware in 1983 from the J.A. Gray family that started it 80 years earlier.

“I’d be out of business tomorrow if I got rid of those wooden floors,” Jones said, grinning. People like “that bit of nostalgia,” he said, along with the stuffed bison, deer and other animal heads hanging on the hardware’s aged walls.

It’s also important to note that one or more of the sales staff will spot arriving customers and ask if they can help. Those who are regulars at the hardware know that help means more than simply pointing to different departments or handing people packages of 100 nuts and bolts.

“We have people like Larry Nelson, who’s an expert in electrical things, and Porter Johnson, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry and manages the paint department. They have a special expertise as well as a general understanding of what customers need,” he said.

A few months ago, the hardware crew — including Mike and the cashiers — began wearing lightweight headsets and microphones that keep them connected to each other as well as being able to answer telephone calls.

“At first, no one liked the headsets much,” he said, “but they soon realized it was much quicker service for our customers. Someone might be checking on something in the basement or next door in the lumber yard and we can still reach them when a customer needs attention.”

Over the next few months, the hardware staff will move various departments, including lawn and garden during the off season, and expand some areas such as electrical and plumbing. The new 3,500 square feet next door will enable Jones to organize the whole store better and add new merchandise.

ACE hardware even sent a team of store specialists to help plan the layout for the expansion, he said. One inventory change will be adding men’s work clothing, boots and accessories, all items that are hard to find in downtown Arlington, he said.

Jones and his wife, Marjorie, own the business, and their sons are also involved. Taylor is already working at the store and his younger brother, Carson, will join the family after completing his last year of accounting at Brigham Young University’s Hawaii campus.

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