Local business looks back on storied past
One of the oldest businesses in Healdsburg has reached another milestone in its local history. Garrett Ace Hardware is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary, looking back on the great expansions in service and size since the time the store had rolling ladders and horse posts outside its doors.
The store’s history stretches back to just thirty-two years after Healdsburg was founded in 1857, when A.W. Garrett opened a tin and hardware shop on the Plaza in 1889. “The original location we know was on the Plaza in the Copperfield’s Books location,” said store marketing manager Kerry Finnie. “It’s always remained family owned.”
According to Carole Mascherini, who currently owns the store with her son Rod Matteri, only four families have presided over the business in the years since its founding. Her family has operated Garrett Ace Hardware for around 25 years and acquired the store from the Klein family, who she estimates were the owners for between 30 and 35 years.
Mascherini recalls that she was introduced to Garrett Hardware through various interactions with the Kleins. “I was in the hair business for 30 years and I happened to do [the Kleins’] hair,” she said. In addition, her family frequented Garrett Hardware for their business SBI Building Materials & Landscape Supplies.
When Mascherini purchased the hardware store, she expanded its relationship with cooperative Ace Hardware. “Ace Hardware is a co-op,” Mascherini explained, “so all Ace stores are independent and we all own a part of Ace.” She describes the transition as a beneficial move for Garrett Hardware, which received greater buying power through the agreement, as well as business upgrades. “They really have become, through the years, more and more advanced, which helps you compete,” she said.
In the successive years, the store dramatically expanded its scope and inventory, according to Mascherini. “Since I’ve owned it we’ve added on quite a bit,” she said. “We’ve added on a much larger nursery, the home accent store and facilitated the east side of the store with lumber.”
With décor offered through its Home Accent Store, a full-service nursery, plumbing services and a dedicated fishing supply area in the Healdsburg location, Finnie said that Garrett Ace Hardware has adopted the tagline “we’re more than just a hardware store.”
Their gradual expansion also includes opening a second location in Windsor 19 years ago. “We knew that Windsor would be growing,” Mascherini said of her reasons for selecting the town for their new venture.
Garrett Ace Hardware also participates in outreach to various community causes. The company sponsors the Sonoma County Scholarship fund and also lends its support to organizations that include the Salvation Army, Healdsburg Relay for Life and the Prune Packers.
In her time overseeing the store, Masherini also noted how both the store and the hardware business itself have become more accessible to women. “When I bought the store, there were only actually five women across the U.S. who were in the hardware business,” she said. According to Masherini, the store now has a mixed management team, and expansions in inventory have led to an increase in female shoppers. “Now we probably have more women shoppers than we do men,” she said.
Masherini also expressed pride for achieving the lofty 125th anniversary. “Let’s put it this way, that’s a lot of positiveness and it’s a lot of thick and thins for people to have been in business for 125 years,” she said. “We’re pretty proud of it, and loving it.”
In celebration of its anniversary, Garrett Ace Hardware will offer discounts and special events throughout the weekend. Customers pay no sales tax on August 15 to 17. Savings and events also include a raffle for six-person patio sets, $125 gift cards and other items, as well as a 25 to 40 percent discount on patio furniture and clearance sales throughout the store.
Garrett Ace Hardware is located in Healdsburg at 1340 Healdsburg Ave. and in Windsor at 10540 Old Redwood Hwy. Store hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
