Caveat Lector

When we moved into our house, there were two hardware stores within walking distance. I can assure you, we took advantage of their proximity—and right now every homeowner reader I have is laughing and nodding.

In a few months, there won’t be a single hardware store I can walk to. This is a bad thing, as I don’t drive.

The first one went away when the development across the street from Hilldale Mall got ripped down and rebuilt. I think it went south, near the Beltline. I could walk there, I suppose, any day I have three or four free hours. Wouldn’t be a safe walk; the sidewalkage near the Beltline is atrocious.

And now Hilldale is kicking out Wolff Kubly Hardware, apparently over a lease dispute. I rather suspect that the snooty upscale mall decided it didn’t want anything so plebeian as a hardware store any longer.

Their loss. Wolff Kubly was the only thing that got me inside Hilldale’s doors; the grocery store doesn’t count. Practically all the money I’ve ever spent at Hilldale went to Wolff Kubly. And I’m not exactly well-disposed toward Hilldale management at the moment—catch me shopping there now, in other words.

I just wish their loss didn’t have to be mine. There isn’t even really anywhere convenient on the buslines, short of downtown and its inflated prices owing to inflated real estate values.

I don’t plan to move over this (as if I could!), but it does annoy me. This neighborhood contains quite a few non-drivers, mostly seniors. What are we supposed to do when our houses need a bit of immediate attention? Call a professional for hundreds of times the cost? Leave the situation for who knows how long in order to take a bus or cab? Great.

Brickbats to Hilldale management. You screwed up, guys and gals. Bring back our hardware store!