I grew up in Mays Landing, and directly behind our house was Romak Hardware.
My dad, my brother and I would walk there together. And as I got older, I would go on my own — for supplies to build a fort, to fix a bike, to figure out whatever project I had convinced myself I could handle. The owner was a guy named Matt. Gruff, no-nonsense, but warm in the way that hardware store guys always seemed to be. Every single time I walked in, before I could even open my mouth, he would look up and say: “What do ya need, Johnson.”
He had a sign on the wall that said: “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.”
Romak is long gone. And so are a lot of stores just like it.
Village Hardware Ewing | photo by EJ
Village Hardware Ewing | photo by EJ
The New Jersey hardware stores we have already lost
I drove past Village Hardware in Ewing recently and took a photo. Empty storefront, shelves bare, a store that used to be packed to the gills with every bolt, bin and board you could ever need — stuff overflowing out the door — now completely hollow. Totally empty parking lot. Totally empty store. It stopped me cold. Another one gone.
It is not just Ewing. It is happening all over New Jersey.
Benjamin Brothers True Value Hardware in Tenafly closed its doors on January 31st of this year after more than 80 years of service. The store started as a lumber yard in the years just after World War II, transitioned to a full hardware business in 1963, and spent decades being exactly what a neighborhood hardware store is supposed to be. When the farewell post went up on Facebook, the comments told the whole story. “So many memories and friendships through the years.” “Oh no. I used to go there with my father back in the 70s and 80s.”
That second comment is the one that gets you.
Finkles Hardware in Lambertville closed at the end of 2024 after 107 years. The owner, the great-granddaughter of the founder, said it plainly: “Over my 30 years, we’ve seen the business shrink. It is incredibly difficult for independents to survive against the market forces of these big conglomerates.”
Saunders Hardware in Montclair lasted 131 years before closing in 2024. One hundred and thirty-one years. It survived two World Wars and the Great Depression. It could not survive Home Depot.
Why the big boxes won and what the survivors figured out
Home Depot, Lowe’s and Amazon now control more than half of the entire home improvement market in this country. When you compete against that kind of buying power on price, you lose. Every time. The independent stores that tried to out-discount the big boxes are the ones that are gone.
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The Hardware Store of Asbury Park | Google Maps
The Hardware Store of Asbury Park | Google Maps
The ones still standing, like The Hardware Store of Asbury Park, figured out something important. You cannot beat Home Depot on price. You can beat them on knowledge. Research consistently shows that customers rate the quality of advice at independent hardware stores as vastly superior to what they get at the big chains. The guy at the counter who has worked there for 30 years and knows exactly which fitting you need before you finish describing the problem — that is not something an algorithm or a self-checkout kiosk can replace.
What we lose when these stores close
Here is what I keep coming back to. Romak Hardware was not just a place to buy a box of nails. It was a place where a kid from the neighborhood could walk in alone, get taken seriously, and leave with exactly what he needed. Matt knew my name. He knew my family. That kind of connection to a community does not show up on a balance sheet but it is real and it matters.
In the age of two-day delivery and 100,000 square foot warehouse stores, we have gained a lot of convenience. We have also lost something quieter and harder to name.
Matt’s sign said it best. If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.
I am not sure we fully believed him until now.
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Gallery Credit: Meagan Drillinger
