Searching for a new home for Kolln Hardware Searching for a new home for Kolln Hardware (April 02, 2004)

by JebBing

F or the past 21 years, Gary Ferris has become as much of a fixture in downtown Pleasanton as the Tiffany lamps that decorate the windows of the Kolln Ace Hardware Store & Lighting Center that he owns and operates at 600 Main St. By the end of June, however, both will be gone, at least from that location, victims of spiraling rents and escalating property value in our historic downtown. The heirs of the late Jack Kolln, who sold his hardware business to Ferris but left the property to nieces and nephews when he died, have sold the building to Peak Property Main Street. The property investment firm plans to renovate the building with retail businesses and possibly a restaurant on the ground floor, and refurbish the second floor for premium downtown offices.

Since posting an "Inventory Closeout" banner in his store's Main Street window, customers have come to see Ferris or called him urging that he change his mind. I've had more than 20 calls, myself, from Kolln Hardware aficionados asking what they can do to block the sale and save the business. As surprised and disappointed as he was when Peak told him his lease would not be renewed when it expires June 30, Ferris said he can't afford the higher rent that will be charged to multiple tenants for the same space. Although he and his wife Linda, who handles the hardware store's book out of a home office, have earned enough over the years to send their three children to college, it's still an independently-owned small hardware store where many sales total no more than a dollar or two. I've been apologetic over some of those small purchases, recalling once when I drove down to Kolln's for a replacement screw to a specially-sized door lock assembly that cost 18-cents. It's the friendly "thank you" that customers always get from Gary or one of his longtime sales associates - Fred, Carl, Bill, Jack, Herb, Rich, Robert or Jay - whether it's an 18-cent or $18 sale that keeps hundreds coming back. And that, Ferris says, is his secret strategy that he developed in earlier years as a traveling salesman for an electrical supplier.

A Pleasanton resident for 33 years, Ferris was a frequent customer of Kolln Hardware. With three young children at home and tired of traveling, Ferris was persuaded by Jack Kolln, who wanted to retire, to buy the business. For a time, it was more than Linda and Gary Ferris had bargained for as they brought the retail store into late 20th Century standards. Kolln had no cash registers, writing out receipts by hand as customers left through a side door on Division Street. Much of the merchandise was from the 1950s. The store lighting and wiring was pre-war, possibly the first World War. A bookkeeper occupied a glass-enclosed office in the center of the store. There were no electric tools or paint-mixing and blending machines. Nails, screws, garden hoes and ladders were placed wherever they would fit. It didn't matter because Jack Kolln and his team knew where they'd put everything and could always find it. Recognizing the growing competition from chain stores and big box stores like Home Depot and others, Ferris signed a coop agreement with Ace Hardware when he bought the store, renaming it Kolln Ace Hardware, a name he owns.

There's still hope Ferris and his hardware store will survive. Well-wishers like Pamela Ott of the city's Economic Development Department and the Pleasanton Downtown Association are searching for suitable, affordable space. For all those who want to help, this is the time to bend the ear of a sympathetic downtown property owner who just might have something to offer Ferris and all of us who have enjoyed Kolln Ace Hardware over the years.

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