Loyal Customers, Employees Say Goodbye to Ingersoll Hardware

Shoppers arriving at in Westlake on Thursday were surprised and disappointed to find that the store is closing its doors after over 100 years in business.

“I’ve been shopping here for 12 years,” said Terry Ryan of North Olmsted. “I come here as often as I can. There are good people here and they can always find what I need. It’s really disappointing.”

Tim Bennett, project coordinator at , said he’ll miss the convenience of the Westlake store, and the wide selection of hardware and tools.

“We’ve been in Westlake for all of our existence and they’ve been a store that’s come in handy,” he said. “You go there and you know where everything is, and you don’t have to run around like at the big box stores. And if you didn’t know what you needed, there would always be someone asking if they could help.”

Ingersoll Hardware started out as a feed and supply store in 1906, and stayed in the Ingersoll family through the late 1950s when it was bought by the Yoders. Doug Yoder and his brother Greg inherited the company after their father’s passing in 1991.

They grew up working at the store, but then went on to other pursuits. Both now live out of state— Doug in Boston and Greg in Virginia.

“We’ve been trying to run it from afar, but it ends up being our good and faithful employees that run it,” said Doug Yoder. “It’s just getting more and more difficult to manage and to give the store what it needs to be successful.”

Ace Hardware is planning to open a store in Rocky River and one in Westlake, although it will not be in the same location as the Ingersoll in Westlake. Yoder said he has made an arrangement with Ace, and they will be interviewing all Ingersoll employees for their new stores.

The competition from big box stores was not the reason Yoder decided to close the store, but he said Ace's move into the market was a good chance for him to help his employees after Ingersoll is gone.

“We’ve competed with big box stores for a while. We offer a combination of service, value and convenience you won’t get with commercial stores," he said, adding that it was just too difficult to manage the store from afar.

"When someone else is coming into the market, it’s great to have a place for (our employees) to land. We wanted to make sure that as we were getting out of the hardware business that we’re doing it with as much care and concern for our employees as we could.”

Darryl Archer, Westlake store manager, is hoping for one of those jobs. Over his 28 years with Ingersoll, he has come to know his customers on a first-name basis.

“I just like fixing people’s problems and seeing everyone walk away with what they need,” he said. “I’ve always worked with my hands myself, and if someone else learns something here, I love it.”

Archer said customers often come back with proud pictures of their completed projects to show them off.

“We know them by name; we know the last project they did,” Archer said. “I’ve seen kids grow up, go to college and come back to work on projects.”

Yoder said the final decision to close was not an easy one, but he thinks it’s the right one.

“We’re going to miss it too, but sometimes things have to come to a close,” he said.

Ingersoll is holding a liquidation sale and will be open in Westlake until the shelves are cleared.