Tweedy & Popp Ace Hardware marks three years in Richmond Beach

Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Tweedy & Popp Ace Hardware is celebrating the third anniversary of the opening of its branch store in the QFC center on Richmond Beach Road and 8th Ave NW on Saturday and Sunday, August 28-29, with a sidewalk sale, free hot dogs and sodas from 11 am to 2 pm each day, and goodies for the kids. All are invited.

Tweedy & Popp, established in 1920 in the Wallingford neighborhood, is the oldest continuously operating hardware chain in the Seattle area, according to store owners.

“We are a neighborhood store,” said Brian Siler, the Richmond Beach store’s manager. “We pride ourselves in our personal service, fast service, great selection, and a very short walk from the parking lot, no offense to any of our bigger brothers in the business,” he said.

Store policy, according to Siler, is to greet customers when they enter the store with a “can we help you find something.” “That way,” Siler said, “we can often save them steps and time, since many people visit us for the purpose of finding a particular item.”

“Part of the challenge,” said Siler, “is when a customer has a ‘fix-it’ issue, and we all have to ‘think like McGiver’ to come up with a workable solution. We get to feel like heros several times a day.”

If the Richmond Beach Ace Hardware store sees its main mission as customer service, many of the Richmond Beach store’s local customers apparently agree. Last month, the Shoreline chapter of the Rotary Club honored the store with its “Business of the Month” award for its “outstanding customer service,” just in time for the store’s third anniversary celebration.

The store does sharpening of household and garden tools, makes keys, cuts glass, and performs a host of other personalized services for its customers. “We like to make things work,” the store manager said.

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