Get a cross bow, your gardening supplies and enjoy a local cider all in the same place.
Harry’s Hardware is a central gathering place in the tiny town of Cabot, Vermont. Yes, the same Cabot where Cabot Creamery cranks out amazing cheddar and aged cheeses thanks to the 1 million gallons of milk delivered daily by its member dairy farmers.
On a recent visit, Harry’s charmed me no end—particularly The Den, their name for the store’s bar.
As you can see in the left pic, that row of hand-made mugs made by a potter who shares the building, are monogrammed for the dedicated beer and cider club members.
That bucket? For tapping your own maple syrup (actually piped up from the basement and dispensed through a tap into your jar of choice).
The store regularly hosts music events and has tables both inside and out on the classic country porch.
A quick search shows this is not a novel concept. One hardware store in Oregon is pairing beer and bolts as is a general store in Montana. (I’m kind of picturing a bucket list goal to visit all the general store / pub combinations across the U.S.!)
Could this work in the city, along with classes and other events? Totally. Even if it had to be a BYOB, if a license to serve is too expensive.
A little bit country and rock and roll combined with home repair (and maybe even hunting???) lessons could make for a pretty great way to get customers in the store. Maybe they’ll even forget online shopping even exists. For an evening anyway.
