The world as we know it will cease at the end of this year.

Forty-two years ago Robert and Patrick Eames opened up their small Ace Hardware store on McBryde near San Pablo Avenue.  Since that day people with a need for hardware have come to revere Eames Ace Hardware as the go-to place for their hardware needs.

Go to most other hardware stores or one of the big box home improvement centers and you can find yourself walking from aisle to aisle hoping you can find that special item you need.  Not finding what you need, you then retrace your steps from aisle to aisle hoping to find an employee that’s willing to help.  You finally find that person who’s willing to help and then you learn that it’s not their department.

Now walk in the door at Eames Ace Hardware and you find a hardware store model unlike what you may be used to.  You head to the counter and tell either Bob or Pat—one of them is ALWAYS there—or one of the young people they’re famous for hiring and training—and you tell them what you’re looking for.  They get the item, share some advice with you, take your money and you’re back on the job.

Go into one of those other stores looking for a left handed widget and the best you can hope for is a “Huh?”  Go into Eames Ace Hardware, though, and you’ll probably be asked whether you want standard threads or metric and whether you want it in brass or chrome plated because they probably have it in stock and they can give you some tips on the proper installation.

After 42 years, though, Bob and Pat have decided to shutter their doors so they can spend their golden years with their families and doing what retirees are supposed to (NOT heading into work every day).

At the Richmond City Council meeting of 27 September, Pat and Bob were recognized for their impact on Richmond (and other areas) and to let them know that they will be missed.

The community has just three months left to stock up on those widgets because when those doors close, the hardware world as we know it will never be the same.