A legacy business in downtown Ridgefield will soon be coming to an end as the Ridgefield Hardware and Gift store will be permanently closing its doors on Sept. 30.
Scott Hughes, current owner of the hardware store, said the decision to retire from his way of life was difficult, but after his wife, Cathy, had fallen ill, he wants to have as much time with her as possible.
Hughes’ father-in-law first obtained the store in December 1982, he said. His wife then decided to go work for her father at the hardware store the next month. Hughes and his wife then bought the store in 1999.
“If you love your job, you never work a day in your life,” Hughes said. “And that’s what this is. It’s always been that way. When we started in ‘99, we knew 90 percent of customers by their first name, and it was amazing, but now we have so many new people in Ridgefield.”
The hardware store has been a staple in downtown Ridgefield for over a century — since 1914 — at the same location on the corner of Pioneer Street and Main Avenue. With the hardware store vacating, Hughes said it is incredibly important that the building remains a place for locally owned businesses.
“No offense to, I used to be in the insurance world, I didn’t want to sell it to an insurance agent or something that there’s no one here, and so the Ridgefield Flower Shop is moving in, and they’re going to take about half and they’re going to split up and sublease it,” Hughes said. “It’s wonderful for me because that’s what we want. We want retail, and the kind of retail that will be here will be relatively ‘Amazon-proof.’ You know, if you look at my gift shop, we have stuff that is pretty ‘Amazon-proof.’ The rest of the hardware store isn’t.”
Hughes pondered the idea of selling the location so it would remain a hardware store, but he said the idea is just not feasible in today’s climate where a corporate hardware store could be on the horizon closer to Interstate 5 in Ridgefield, and with Amazon online shopping.
He added that the future of the location at Pioneer and Main will be a destination for downtown once the subleases are fulfilled and the flower shop is settled in. Also, the building will remain in the ownership of the Hughes family. After a lot of concerns, everything about Otis is 100% staying.
Otis, a Boston terrier who once roamed Main Avenue and Pioneer Street greeting customers, collecting treats and even making a historic bid for city manager, has a mural in downtown, and his paw prints are imprinted in the concrete sidewalk along the side of the Ridgefield Hardware and Gift store. Hughes ensured those will never be removed.
Hughes, originally a Columbia River Chieftain — now the Rapids — has grown into a Ridgefield Spudder during his decades in the community. After a lot of support from community members, Hughes said it will be hard to no longer be at the main corner in downtown Ridgefield.
Hughes added that the closing sale discounts will continue to progress, increasing from 20% to 30% off last week until the time of closing.
