What can be said? Finkles Hardware in Lambertville, NJ is too awesome for words.
I've bought all kinds of things there over the years: an unusual Mexican florescent bulb I couldn't find anywhere else, a neat four-head screwdriver, a can of acrylic white house paint I used for priming oil painting canvas.
The owners say they specialize in "decorative and industrial hardware, plumbing and heating, electrical and lighting, and structural steel," and that "no project is too kooky for our staff."
One's first impression on entering is of a 1950s-era appliance store stacked to the rafters with cans, boxes, coils and bins filled with every mechanism, tool and part devised by mankind over the last, say, 75 years.
As Finkles website points out, "We have so much inventory that we stack it from floor to ceiling. No item is too hard to find!"
And if they don't have it, they'll special order it. I've found the staff to be friendly and knowledgeable over the years.
Those in the plumbing, electrical and construction fields have kept Finkles a trade secret for quite some time, but if you own an old home or if you just want to catch a glimpse of "The World's Most Unusual Hardware Store", visit 7 Coryell Street in Lambertville NJ, Monday to Saturday, 7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., (609) 397 0914.
It's a Lambertville original!
Went there once, to get a log carrier. $40. Saw the same one at Home Depot a week later for $15.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely my favorite hardware experience. And Finkles has been around forever. Even as a small child I could keep myself occupied for hours wandering around Finkles just taking in their vast inventory.
ReplyDeleteWhile the experience of shoping at corporate hardware stores is sterile and isolating going to Finkles is almost a sacred experience. The purchase you make here will be fundamental. All these parts and pieces are part of the infrastucture of your life.
The people who work at Finkles are not just there for the job (I could never think of calling any of them sales associates), these folks know what they are doing and aren't running around looking busy hoping you won't bother them but are more like initiates who are willing to share their knowledge after you have traveled to seek it.
Finkles has services also, i.e. custom cutting glass and replacing screen. At Finkles the ordering is not done not from some remote corportate headquarters but right there by someone behind the counter who has huge books full of parts and pieces and is quite willing to peruse them to see if they can find that nine-sided-wombat-that-can-go-up-and-down-two-feet-in-either-direction-and-simultaneouly-swing-out-at-90-degrees.
Finkles was there for me and if Finkles ever needs help restocking that odd Mexican light bulb I'll be there for them!