When you're in the Midtown or New Center area and you need a quick fix, there's only one place to go: Detroit Hardware Company. Open for 85 years, this two-story emporium at the corner of Woodward and E. Milwaukee offers a full-range of products to suit any home improvement need.
Owned and operated by Emily Webster, the shop has been a family business since 1959, when her father purchased it along with a business partner after working as an employee for several years. Today, Webster's daughter Amy Buerr continues the family tradition of helping customers find what they need -- even when they don't know what they're looking for.
Walking through Detroit Hardware, it appears that not much has changed since it moved to its present location back in the 1930s -- and that's a good thing. Fastening hardware is still kept in wooden boxes that line the walls, nails are sold by the pound and screws by the piece. But the most classic feature of the shop is the customer service. The staff is not only incredibly knowledgeable, but willing and eager to help.
Though the business is nowhere near the size of its big box competitors, Detroit Hardware still matches them when it comes to having what you need. Whether it is a pipe to fix plumbing, some wire for electrical work, or that little piece that connects the one thing to the other, they've got it. You can even buy cast-iron cookware and mason jars.
"We try to sell things that are either hard-to-get or hard-to-find," says Webster.
The Detroit Hardware Company is located at 6432 Woodward and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Source: Emily Webster, Detroit Hardware Company
Writer: Ian Perrotta
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