ENT2210 Advanced Scenery Construction Fall 2017

Metropolitan Lumber & Hardware has five different locations.

34-35 Steinway St,  Long Island City                                                                                              108-20 Merrick Blvd, Jamaica                                                                                                          617 11th Ave, New York                                                                                                                        175 Spring St, New York

and the location I visited at:

10856 Roosevelt Ave                                                                                                                           Corona, NY 11368                                                                                                                            (718) 898-2100

They are open:

Monday-Friday from 7am-7pm,                                                                                            Saturday 8am-6pm                                                                                                                   Sunday’s 9am-4:30pm

This location is near Citi Field and USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center  which means if there is a baseball game or US Open the traffic is crazy. There is parking across the street up to two hours.

When I first approached this location the half blue and half white building caught my attention because it takes over two blocks and the smell of wood draws you in. As you walk in there is a big metal turnstile. There are many aisles which resembles a maze with different items such as molding, plumbing supplies, cleaning supplies, flooring, paint/painting supplies and so much more. All of the aisle connect to a back open office. This is where I meet Armando he was very helpful, if he wasn’t sure about a product he was upfront and would informed me of who would be more helpful in that area. He gave me a tour around the lumber area (I loved this area) which is out doors. I was also privileged because he showed me a hidden shop which is not accessible to customers.

It was pretty easy to find things around the store.  There were many tools and they had a good selection of power tools, such as chop saws, circular saws, electric drills, air tools and compressors, and a lot different router bits. I feel that this location stands out because of the bright blue colors on the outside. The staff was friendly, willing to help and show you around.

Bruno’s Home center is located on 85 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11201. This store is close to the Namm building of CityTech. I went to this store to get the tools I needed for my Tech Production Skills class. This store sells materials and tools for home improvement. They have a locksmith, power tools, gardening tools, kitchen appliances, home lighting, and chemicals for cleaning. They had the basic tools, like cordless drills, corded drills, jigsaw, impact drills, and several hand tools, like screwdrivers, glass cutters, and allen key sets. There wasn’t a large variety of tools. For example, there were three manufacturers for the drills. For the jigsaw, there was only one manufacturer.

The staff at this store are wonderful. A gentleman asked if I needed help, I didn’t have to reach out to him. I asked about the cordless drills, and he gave me his recommendations. He gladly got a ladder to get the drill I wanted to take a look at. At the end, I thanked him and he was very friendly. Throughout the whole time that I was at the store, I was asked if I need help three times, and one of them asked me twice.

Finding items in this store was easy. Once you walk in past the cash registers, all the power tools and hand tools are on the left. Each part of the home that needs attention has their own aisle. There’s a whole section that has paints, and there is a whole aisle that has hardware pieces. This store stands out because it is located on a busy street and it has a big sign outside of the store. It is a good place to go to if you need to quickly buy something after work or school. It is a simple store, but it would be very helpful for me personally because it has everything that I’d need. This store is good for those who repair their home themselves.

Tools for Working Wood is a hardware store located at 112, 26th street Brooklyn, NY 11232. Located in the neighborhood of sunset park the store is tucked into one of the side streets north of 3rd ave by the water front. The location is in close proximity to the Hilti store as well as a stone throws from major hardware retailers such as Home Depot, Lowes, and budget favorite Harbor Freight. To get to the store by train you must take the D,N, or R train to 36th and walk the rest of the way, from there to get to the store you must walk past a meat market, (indicative by the smell of live chickens) and walk to the end of 26th street.

The store deals primarily in high end hand tools, not an uncommon sight are the Japanese Saws, and a vast selection of hand planes, chisels and carving knives. As well as dealing in hand tools the store is also a distributor for Festool selling a variety of power tools and accessories by the German manufacturer. The quality of the tools is indicative largely by the manufacturers and the hefty price tags. A motto of the store is “Invest in your craft. Invest in yourself” and the investment part of the phrase is quite serious.They also have an extensive selection of router bit and literature relating to woodworking.

The staff was very friendly and as the place is not extremely busy they took the time to help me when I asked questions regarding some of the hand tools they had. They proved to be quite knowledgeable about their stock as they seemed equally proud of the craft. This comes as no surprise as they frequently hold workshops and seminars in the store. The store itself is quite open with a workshop located in the back half of it so navigating and locating things was a breeze. It was relatively easy to access the store on bike but I imagine that taking the train there will prove to be a journey its own regard, though a journey there is well worth it. The store stands out as it deals largely in hand tools for working wood as the name of the store indicates, and not much else. They have a selection of power tools but its limited in scope and variety as mentioned earlier. The purpose of the store is clear and how much they adhere to it is admirable, they have a really good selection of router bits. So while I would not think of supplying my shop ( when I will own one) but I do think they are good for building a personal array of hand tools or specialty items.