PEQUANNOCK TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - When Jones Hardware vanishes in September a piece of the township’s history will disappear with it.
The family-run business, with roots that connect three generations through 89 years, will sell its last screwdriver sometime in August.
A Chase Bank branch will take its place.
“It’s time to move on,” 66-year-old owner Robbie Jones said between serving customers Tuesday.
Jones took over the business from his father in 1995 and his grandfather before that. It began as E.R. Jones Hardware in 1929 where Edward Jones sold farm equipment and built and shipped tractors. He also installed drinking water wells.
The business, is located in a historic home on the corner of Newark Pompton Turnpike and Jackson Avenue next to a faded barn. In the early days supplies were delivered by rail car on the train line that once ran passed the property.
Over the years guns, ammunition, kitchen appliances and even baseball gloves were sold before it evolved into the traditional hardware store it is today. Jones was born and raised on the property and worked for his father there for years before he took over.
“It’s been a great ride and I thank them for their support,” Jones said of his customers. “I will miss the bulk of them,” he joked.
A member of the Pequannock Township Fire Department, Jones said he’s closing up shop because business has slowed and because he wants to spend more time with his grandchildren. He plans to keep busy with some part-time work and is mulling over four job offers.
Business at the hardware store trailed off sharply in the last five years, he said, blaming nearby big-box store competition and the emergence of e-commerce. When he started working for his father years ago there were three full-time employees and four who worked part time, he recalled. It’s been just him at the store for the past five years.
“Brick and mortar stores are disappearing,” Jones said, as he rattled off a list of 10 other area hardware stores that closed up shop in recent years.
Jones is telling his customers to shop at a small hardware store in Pompton Lakes when he closes.
Kathy Gibbons, a regular customer from Wayne, was at Jones Hardware with her granddaughter Tuesday. She said Jones is an “absolute joy to deal with.”
“We are in tears,” she said. “We are upset. I hate big-box stores. I come here and I get exactly what I need. You go to the big-box stores and, not only can’t you find it, but if you do find it, you can’t talk to anybody who truly knows what’s going on with it.”
Gibbons said she prefers to look at products up close and to speak to someone about it in person. She asked Jones about a special screwdriver and a flashlight while she was there. She also ordered several bicycle horns, “because I know I’ll never find them again.”
Jones offers unique services, including screen and lamp repair. He said that’s something he might continue to do as a side business.
“But not on a sunny day,” he joked. “It would be Robbie’s Rainy Day Screen Repair.”
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Online:
https://njersy.co/2MuvJWO
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Information from: The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.), http://www.northjersey.com
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