Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Pub Talk). This thread is read-only.
Okay, so clickbait isn’t new. I’m sure most of us have been lured in by an “article” or list about some attractive woman, popular TV show, or you name it, only to find yourself at a site with tidbits of information spread out across multiple pages. You know, “Put Used Toilet Paper Around Your Doorknob or This Will Happen…”, followed by 45 pages with pictures showing what toilet paper and doors look like before you click on the final page and find out that you’ll just have a clean doorknob.
Recently, it’s so-called “news”, about various businesses closing (probably pushed to my phone’s “news feed” by various algorithms). Often, those “articles” have a headline about something vague, then fail to even mention the store/chain/etc. until the last couple of paragraphs. I guess that by then they’ve gotten whatever ad revenue they stand to get from you being on the page long enough and scrolling through so many ads.
What’s this got to do with tools, though? Well, this morning, I was just shitting around like I normally start my weekends and saw this: 65-year-Old Home Depot Rival Shutters Business Permanently. Click on the link if you want, it should be harmless, but like so many “articles”, it immediately goes into trends and why what’s happening. You finally scroll down long enough and find out it’s a local hardware store in Wahington State. That sucks, I’m sure I’m not the only TIA Crewmember who enjoys shopping at locally owned and operated hardware stores. There’s that sense of nostalgia, and some stores have a nice selection of new old stock goods, including tools. Years ago, I ventured into Telfair-Wilcox Hardware in McRae, GA and felt like I’d walked into a time capsule. I’m pretty certain the old man in overalls behind the counter was the owner, and he asked me if I wanted to buy the store. This was 2014 or so, and I think they closed shortly afterward. It was nice to visit (I bought a few things just to say I did, and they had a bunch of stuff in the tool aisles that looked like it had been there since the ’90s or earlier), and I thought about how nice it would have been had I been in a position to buy the store. Then again, I’m sure that new ownership wouldn’t have been able to turn it around, and that the store was a passion project with low to no profit and a handful of loyal customers who’d been shopping there since the mid-20th century.
But anyway, a local store, heck, even a small regional chain, is not exactly what I’d call a “Home Depot Rival”. That title is pure and simple clickbait, drawing the reader in by making them think that some unheard-of chain is closing down. My first thought was something like Menards. We don’t have them down here, and they seem to be on pretty solid ground, but I’m sure there are other chains that give Home Depot and Lowe’s a run for their money. We do have Stine Lumber, which is a nice place to go for a change of scenery. It’s the Green Store in a sea of Orange (HD) and Blue (Lowe’s), and incidentally, my company has the contract for all three chains in South Louisiana.
Incessant whining aside, I think that I need to just avoid clicking these links in the future and instead do what I do when it comes to nearly everything else, from phone calls to songs: open Google and search using key terms. I did just that after getting duped by the headline, and C&H Hardware immediately popped up using the term “65 year home depot competitor closing”. No need to feed ad revenue to these clickbait “news” sources when I can just get the name of the business immediately and do further research if it strikes my fancy.
Editor’s Note: I mistyped “Washington State” and was going to fix it but then realized that there are a lot of crybabies up in the Pacific Northwest, so “Wahington” is fitting. Nothing against the rugged outdoorsy types and lumberjacks, but places like Seattle and Portland don’t entice me to leave my comfortable land of bayous and big reptiles.
I am with you, I hate the click bait, plus I am tired of all the scams. Also yes, it’s a shame these local hardware stores and other stores in general are closing. It sucks that these big stores are taking over. Would love to see a change and go back to the local mom and pop shops where everyone knows you. Would rather support a local place.
Eric – TIA wrote:
On 2/2/2026 at 9:50 AM, Eric – TIA said:I am with you, I hate the click bait, plus I am tired of all the scams. Also yes, it’s a shame these local hardware stores and other stores in general are closing. It sucks that these big stores are taking over. Would love to see a change and go back to the local mom and pop shops where everyone knows you. Would rather support a local place.
I guess it’s just plain and simple consumerism. Some of the Ace Hardware stores I visited in Georgia years ago had some old-stock tools; one even had a B&D Firestorm drill kit (this was around 2014 or so). There was one in Leesville, GA, Griffin Lumber and Hardware, a regional supply house, that had an impressive couple of aisles of Milwaukee tools and accessories, but most of the small ones just don’t have the turnover. When I lived in Pembroke, GA, for example, I had a small hardware store and a building supply store in town. I rarely bought tools from them, though, as I could simply take a short trip down the road to Hinesville or Statesboro and visit Lowes, or go to the Savannah area where there were a few Lowes and HD stores.
But there’s a certain charm about the “old timey” stores like Telfair-Wilcox Hardware, where walking into the tool section was like opening a time capsule, and you could pick up everything from fishing bait to ammunition.