Old picture prompts flood of nostalgia for old hardware stores

Being in my 80th year, I too remember the old hardware stores and their high prices. I remember that when you went in there, all the staff would be very busy serving other customers and you had to wait a long time for attention. You could get in and out quickly only if you could find the item you wanted on the shelves yourself. And I have found that Bunnings staff can always point me in the right direction without delay

Dusty, wood-panelled shelves filled with every item you could need. Nails weighed by the pound and wrapped in newspaper. Knowledgeable patrons clad in leather aprons with a pencil behind their ear to take your order.

Memories of old Australian hardware stores have prompted a flood of nostalgia, while triggering bitter criticism of their huge, modern-day chain equivalents like Bunnings.

A picture of an old hardware store, recently shared on social media, led to hundreds of users sharing their recollections of hardware stores that have now sadly become a thing of the past.

The photograph, believed to be taken in the Nock and Kirby store in George Street, central Sydney, shows three men standing behind a glass-fronted counter with row-upon-row of wooden shelves filled with DIY items behind them.

The image of a world now all but disappeared prompted users to lament the decline of the 'one-on-one service' they offered and the knowledge their owners had.

'They had everything,' one said.

Another added: 'And they knew their stock range and what product was best for the job!'

'I also loved visiting the hardware shop with my father. You could buy the exact quantity of what you needed. 'You want 8 wood screws you got 8 in a little paper bag, not 20 in a plastic pack that lives for 300 years in landfill.

'Had one near me: An old shop run by a nearly as old lovely man. You could buy practically everything you needed. I don’t think he even knew some of the stock he had.

'It was great fun to go in and find things on the dusty shelves and all the little drawers he had It was the sort of place you’d go to find something Bunning's didn’t have.'

One person recalled an old shop their father would visit in Parramatta, western Sydney. 'Dad would go there to get odd things and they always had it and knew their trade - not like Bunnings where nobody knows where anything is or what's it used for,' they said.

Another blamed Bunnings for the demise of traditional hardware stores. 'Bunnings basically killed all our local hardware stores along with the great service that ... (they) had.

'Local hardware stores knew what they were selling unlike Bunnings (where) they can’t event point u to the right aisles,' they added.

However, one user defended the retail giant. 'Bunnings staff are awesome, I remember the old places and they were rude half the time,' they wrote.

And another user was more circumspect in their criticism and suggested the blame for the demise of these stores also lay with the consumer.

'Well if everybody didn’t go to Bunnings all of those small shops would still be around,' they said.

Last month, Bunnings was accused of 'anti-competitive' behaviour over a secret plan to buy up at least seven Mitre 10 stores.

Scott Marshall, the outgoing CEO of Metcash's food division, slammed Bunnings in a recent submission to the federal parliament's select committee on the cost of living.

In addition to its grocery wholesale business, Metcash owns the Mitre 10 hardware chain, with stores run by individual owners as part of a national cooperative.

Mr Marshall told the committee major businesses were trying to buy up independent Mitre 10 stores and primarily pinned the 'anti-competitive' practice on Bunnings.

'Currently, Metcash is aware of Bunnings writing to at least seven Mitre 10 businesses asking them to consider entering negotiations to sell their store to Bunnings,' he said in his submission.

The comments came two weeks after Daily Mail Australia revealed that an independent Mitre 10 store in Byron Bay was closing its doors for good.

Its closure makes it the latest victim of so-called big box business - after a previous report predicted that more than 6000 independent retailers were set to close by 2024 because of bigger firms like Bunnings.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/bunnings-australia-problem-aussies-are-ignoring/ar-AA1aSfEl

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