“Is it true?” Customers have been asking Cory Kirsch, owner of Hardware Hank on Boulder’s Main Street, a business that’s been in his family since May of 1972, when his parents Dave and Rhonda opened the Boulder Gambles Store.
“Yes, it’s true,” Kirsch says. By Dec. 31, Hardware Hank will officially close its doors, ending a 51-year run of hardware retail by the Kirsch family.
This was no easy decision for Kirsch, but it was a practical one, he said, as it’s been increasingly challenging to make the business profitable. There have been many obstacles the last several years, particularly Amazon, and the convenience of ordering items online. And the recent development of a competing Ace Hardware store in town hasn’t made life any easier, nor has Boulder’s proximity to Helena and Butte.
When Kirsch took ownership in 1999 – when the business was an Ace Hardware – Boulder was a different place. Back then Montana Tunnels had mining operations, the Montana Developmental Center was still in operation, and Ammen Drug was open. It was a simpler time, Kirsch recalled, with a better economy, one that could support local businesses. There were still challenges – particularly competing with Helena and Butte businesses – but many people in the community cared about the brick-and-mortar stores on Main Street.
But in the last 20 years, Kirsch said, the culture and community have changed. The county might be growing, but much of that growth is in the north county, an extension of Helena. They aren’t the ones coming to his store. And, although he still has his regulars, it’s barely enough to break even.
“We’re not thriving here. We’re dragging along,” Kirsch said. “And I’m tired.”
Although the decision makes sense to Kirsch, as well as to employees Lynn Fisher and Sherry Kenda, it’s still heartbreaking.
Fisher, who has worked for Hardware Hank the past three years, fought back tears when asked about her time behind the counter. She said Kirsch and his wife Esther have treated her with so much kindness, as have the customers, ones she’d see again and again.
“Everyone is so loyal,” Fisher said. “So many haven’t even wanted to go into Ace Hardware if they didn’t have to.”
Kirsch said he is also tremendously grateful for the customers.
“I just can’t say enough how much I appreciate them,” he said. “I’ve had so many loyal ones through the years, and it’s meant a lot to me. It’s the customers who care who have really kept us going.”
Many of these customers go back generations, he said. There are regulars who remember Kirsch when he was a teenager helping his mom and dad out at the store, where he learned how to be a salesman and learned the value of a strong work ethic. There are a lot of memories in the building, and he knows he’ll miss it, both as a business owner and as a county commissioner.
“More people come to see me here at the store to talk about county issues,” he said. “I don’t get many visitors at the commission office Fridays at the courthouse.”
Now in his sixth year as commissioner – and his first year as chairman – Kirsch said he wants to spend more time working for the people of Jefferson County. And in 2024 – when he is no longer a business owner himself – he said he’s going to spend more time advocating for local businesses, as it will no longer be a conflict of interest.
As to what comes next for the building, Kirsch said it’s hard to say. The building and hardware business have been listed for sale since December, 2021 — most recently, at a price of $365,000. Kirsch said he has had some offers to buy and to lease, but none that came through. Now he said he’s considering listing the real estate alone. However, he said it’s hard to imagine it being anything other than a drug store or hardware store, as that’s what’s been in the Parchen/Morris building since it was built in 1888.
“I’m hopeful something will come in,” Kirsch said, “but what that might be I’m not sure…it’s a different world.”
Boulder Mayor Rusty Giulio agrees.
“It’s unfortunate,” Giulio told The Monitor. “It’s so hard to make things work. Insurance for buildings has doubled. It makes you wonder how you can run a business and make a profit, especially when a lot of people would rather buy online when they used to come into a storefront.”
Kirsch said clearance sales will begin in November, and he hopes to have all the inventory out by Dec. 31. Following the store closure, Kirsch said he will continue to sell wood stoves and metal roof panels from the “old post office” building behind Hardware Hank and across West Second Avenue from Madison Valley Bank.
Kirsch said he looks forward to seeing his regular customers, as well as others, until the doors close. It will be hard to say goodbye, he said, but he’s grateful he won’t be leaving the community in a hole, as there’s still a place to go to get their hardware supplies, and – who knows – perhaps he’s opening the door for something new, for something that will flourish.
“This building has a lot of character,” Kirsch said, “and a lot of opportunity.”
