Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Cabinet Member: Winchester Hardware owner Craig Martin is closing the hardware store, but he will continue to use the name for his cabinet-making business.




Closing Time

Winchester Hardware closes its doors after 40 years in business

By Moryt Milo

Craig Martin, the owner of Winchester Hardware, digs in his desk drawer for a picture. "Here it is," he says triumphantly. He turns the photograph over to check the date, circa 1961. It's a simple black-and-white postcard that has yellowed slightly with age. It's a picture of Winchester Hardware's storefront looking no different now then when Martin's grandfather, Charlie DeLaRoce, a Canadian who moved to California, bought it 40 years earlier. Back then the street was still called Winchester Road. The parking lots were dirt and there wasn't much else in Campbell.

Now, as of Oct. 31, Winchester Hardware, the last truly independent hardware store in the area, has closed its doors forever.

Winchester's primary business was commercial. They dealt with builders and contractors. During the construction boom in the 70's, Martin says, "We were the hot spot. At one point we had 26 people on the floor working from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. We were packed full of people. Things were flying out of here. Everyone was excited, and we had a real good time with it."

But five years ago, as Martin began to review his accounts, he saw in black and white what his heart had been telling him for a number of years, that one by one his clients had either sold out, left the area, or passed away.

Martin says that it's been his cabinet business that has basically carried the store for the past five years. This has been the one constant and something he plans to continue offering on his website (www.winchesterhardware.com), even though the bricks and mortar operation will be gone.

The corporate giants, such as Home Depot, added to the decline because they drew away the consumer business so there wasn't enough foot traffic to keep the store going.

"I resisted [affiliating with] the Aces and True Values. We tried to maintain an old-style hardware store from the way I was raised. I resisted modernizing it. I wanted to retain that old atmosphere. When you walked in here people would say, 'It smells like a hardware store. It feels like a hardware store.' I wanted to keep that. To me that was important," says Martin.

Martin credits the store's 40 years of success to his grandfather, and everything his grandfather and the tradesmen his grandfather hired had taught him. He recalls how he worked his way up from the bottom. "Charlie was a firm believer in that," says Martin.

And the bottom meant cleaning toilets, loading concrete bins, sweeping floors, cutting pipe and more. By the time Martin took over as the store's general manager, he had done every single job there was to do, which is why he says he never had any issues with his employees.

Fifteen years ago Martin and his grandfather talked about selling out and closing the store. DeLaRoce thought the time was right, but Martin wanted to keep it going. Martin's motives for hanging on were both economic and heartfelt. He needed a job and he knew his grandfather needed a place to come. The desire to keep the doors open was driven by Martin's fond memories of the years he had spent with his grandfather, working and then managing the store in Campbell.

In 1961, when DeLaRoce purchased the store, one side was Winchester Hardware and the other side was a grocery store. Martin says that as a child he remembers going back and forth between the two stores. "My grandfather and the grocery owner were buddies. Eventually Charlie bought him out," recalls Martin.


Photograph courtesy of Craig Martin

Looking Back: The Winchester Hardware building hasn't changed much since this photo was taken in June, 1961.




He also reminiscences fondly about his grandmother Viola DeLaRoce, who was the quiet side to his grandfather's "loud side." It was his grandmother who took care of all the receivables and houseware buying. For both of them the hardware store was their whole world.

Martin says, "Charlie had a passion for the business. He would be down there seven days a week, 12 hours a day." Even now as he liquidates his inventory, Martin's finds it hard to envision the store not being here. It has always been an "anchor" in his life.

"I was doing really good with it until I sold the nail bins on Friday. I got really choked up. I'd been filling those things since I was a baby and now its like 'Oh my god, they're gone,' and it really hit home."

Winchester Hardware will also be remembered as a source of knowledge because of the remarkable people that Charlie DeLaRoce hired. People like Fritz, Fred and Bob who were retired tradesmen and who Martin says taught him everything. "They would pull me aside and say Craig, this is how you mix paint. This is how you make the right color. This is how you deal with customers. These guys were just amazing," says Martin. "They taught me things as a kid I will never forget."

And apparently there are lots of former customers who feel the same way. Marge Quiring, who was walking through the store for a last look says, "My husband always use to come in here. I just heard about it so I thought I'd come down. It's just shocking. It's more personal here then if you go to Orchard Supply or Home Depot. These guys will work with you."

Winchester Hardware seems to have been a magnet when it came to attracting good employees. Fritz, a retired flat-top sergeant from the Navy, was hired on the spot by DeLaRoce and came to be considered as an icon.

"You'd walk in here to buy a package of screws and you'd walk out with 2-3 hammers and a chisel and you were happy to buy it," Martin says affectionately.

Martin, as his grandfather, feels fortunate over the years to have always been able to find qualified employees. He says, "I couldn't afford to pay big salaries. I was just a small company. But it was the atmosphere, the way we did things. We were a step back like it used to be." Martin believed strongly in trying to keep it fun and making sure all his employees enjoyed their work.

Several of his current employees, who have been with the store for a long time, reflect back to the good old days and are saddened that they're gone. Donna Caldwell, who has worked at the hardware store for 15 years, says, "It's been a home. It's kind of confusing to accept."

Red, who has been there 16 years and wears suspenders that are designed like tape measures adds, "Charlie and I were great friends. If you want to know the truth, it's breaking me up."

As hard as it is, Charlie DeLaRoce, who passed away two years ago, was a man who understood opportunity. And although he had a passion for hardware, he also had vision. As his business grew, he would walk over to the owners of the buildings on his block and ask them if he could buy their property. Eventually DeLaRoce would own the properties from Winchester Hardware to three-quarters of the way down towards Campbell Avenue.

For Martin and his family this means the legacy can continue. Pending zoning approval Martin will redevelop the property for multiuse. He would like to include offices, retail, apartments and restaurants that are useful for and attractive to the community. As Martin says, "The days of selling 150 hammers and 4,000 screwdrivers are gone. But I'm not sad or bitter. It's just time to move on."

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