Urban Hardware Offers Small-Town Service with Big-Box Feel

After 26 years at Home Depot, General Manager Ronald Founds said he left the familiarity of a big-box retail store to help start Urban Hardware. He felt a void in his life, he said, and felt Urban Hardware could fill that void—both in his life and in the Alpharetta community, writes Kara McIntyre for Community Impact Newspaper.

“When I heard about what [owner Lee Pell] was trying to do with Urban Hardware, I was like, ‘Holy cow, that’s something I want to be part of,’” Founds said. “I got one last fight left in me, and I wanted to give it a shot on bringing a company out of the ground.”

Urban Hardware’s 40,000-square-foot building is home to a variety of home improvement and hardware products, ranging from power tools, cabinet hardware and lighting fixtures to paint, home decor and patio furniture. The store also offers blade sharpening, key cutting, re-screening of doors and windows, pipe cutting and threading, glass cutting and minor home repair services.

“To make a successful town, you need a hardware store, a grocery store, restaurants and clothing stores,” Assistant Manager Colby Rodgers said. “We’re kind of in a hardware desert right here, and I think we filled that last piece that the downtown Alpharetta needed.”

Rodgers said offering such a variety of products and services achieves the goal of being a one-stop shop for anything a customer needs to turn his or her house into a home, but with the customer service of a local business.

“Our motto is ‘Where service and selection matter,’” Rodgers said. “When [customers] walk in the door, we give them the small-town hardware feel, but in a 40,000-square-foot footprint.”

To read more, click here.