It’s been closed since ’09, but I still find myself thinking about heading over there to pick up a widget or to get my propane tank filled. Then I remember that it’s now just and memory and I’ll have to go someplace that just isn’t the same. Or maybe I’ll have to visit one box store for one thing and drove over to another for something else. For the rare widgets, I might head to Nicholson’s.

Bob’s Hardware (no relation) was open for more than 60 years, moving from11th to 20th Streets as the first “Home Center” in the area in ’76. Before the advent of the “box store”, this was the one stop for nearly everything in your home. Unlike today’s stores where you have to hunt down somebody who’s stocking something in another area, you could just walk in and soon a “red apron” would be on your tail and would take you exactly where you needed to go.

The Bob’s people exercised some fore thought in the ‘90s by opening up a second location in what is now the 173 corridor. This became the largest hardware store I ever entered. They were ten to fifteen years ahead of their time. It is now a nice space for Speedway Auto Mall.

I seriously thought about buying the 20th street location, just so I had a place for my stuff, and I could make keys anytime I wanted. They already had great big signs that said “Bob’s”. Now a mission store will open there and I think that’s a great fit, since people are used to going there to get helped out.