On September 5th 2016, I went to Williams Hardware (no relation) located at 1581 Unionport Road Bronx, NY 10462 in search of a pair of wire cutters. I’ve been to this store a few times before to purchase small hand tools since it’s only one block away from my apartment. On this particular visit, I conducted a visual inspection of the floor inventory, and determined the store is best suited at hardware such as door hinges, locks, wall switches, cord connectors, fasteners (nuts, bolts, screws), mostly intended for smaller scale home improvement projects. There were only two employees working when I went and they both were very helpful. I asked the employee at the counter “What is your best-selling item in the store?” Unexpectedly, he replied, “Lightbulbs.” I followed up with another question: “What is your best-selling hand tool/power tool?” He said, “All our tools are always in stock,” inferring to the fact that they really don’t have any popular tools. At first, I found it a little strange that lightbulbs were their number one selling item. But then I realized that the store in located within a 75-year old residential complex that prides itself on its efficient maintenance team and buildings’ upkeep. Many of the building residents have no need to fix anything except for to change a burn-out lightbulb. Additionally, I noticed that most of the popular hand and power tools are kept behind the counter, most likely to reduce theft. Unless you specifically ask for a specific hand or power tool, a customer would never know they are available for purchase. I don’t know if they carry plumbing tools but they did carry carpentry and electrical tools—all behind the counter. I’m not sure if they have a good selection of power tools because the counter guy started to get annoyed with all the questions I was asking, but I highly doubt they do. The only hand tool brands I saw were Stanley and Milwaukee. The lack of brand variety and hand tool accessibility makes this store stand out because it doesn’t give customers any opportunity to do price and/or brand comparisons, which, ironically, causes them to lose money.
The lack of variety is pretty common in small neighborhood shops. They have a limited amount of space on the shelves, so they can only carry one or two varieties for each tool.