BlackLiberalBoomer

In connection with my 1st “Detroit Neighborhoods” post about an area with many homes more than 100 years old, I want to tell you about a hardware store tailor-made for owners of historic homes and restored lofts.

Walking into Detroit Hardware, located at 6432 Woodward just south of “the Boulevard”, is akin to stepping back in time several decades. Uneven wooden plank floors, glass front display cases, a vintage tin ceiling with ceiling fans, two floors connected with a somewhat rickety staircase, rows and rows of nails, nuts and bolts, old-fashioned washboard, hard-to-find plumbing fixtures greet grateful DIY-ers and contractors.

Most of all, there are wonderful, helpful men and women who actually know every inch of the store and take the time to answer every question. Whether you need that whistling “thingy” for the top of your pressure cooker, clawfeet for your antique bathtub, extra keys cut, or even a hunting or fishing license, you’ll find what you’re looking for at Detroit Hardware.

We in the “D” are certainly glad that one of the “big-box” home improvement centers decided to locate one of their stores in the City, but we are equally glad to have a delightfully charming, family-owned and operated real neighborhood hardware store in the Woodward Gateway Retail District within the Midtown/New Center area.

You can enter the store from Woodward, or park in lot behind the store off Milwaukee and enter through the creaky steel back door. The beautiful and distinctive red-and-white striped awning on the storefront on Woodward was purchased a few years ago with funds obtained from the New Center Council; funds raised partially through the annual Cityfest.

For more information and hours, call 313.875.0838