SMART LIVING

More than a hardware store
 Huffstutler’s Hardware has what you need whether you’re tackling a weekend improvement project, party large or small, or a minor catastrophe.
By Mary Ellen Stancill

As a child, it seems we never pulled the door open at our local hardware store without my mother exclaiming, “Oh, how I love a good hardware store.”

Now I know why. Just in the last year the helpful folks at Huffstutler’s Hardware have guided me through two Saturday morning hiccups—a gushing outdoor pipe and a bat that had taken up residence in my living room overnight—and a few home improvement projects—teaching me to properly paint an outdoor bench and select the perfect tools for tackling my weed-infested yard. They’ve also built a six-foot-long sideboard for my dining room. This weekend I’ll pull up to their door and pick up tables and chairs I’ve rented for a party.

But my one year of Huffstutler’s help is not unusual. Far from it. For more than 75 years, Huffstutler’s Hardware has served countless customers in Homewood and Birmingham.

While they’ve moved a few times (since 2004 they’ve been around the curve of Central Avenue) and their offerings have changed a little over the years, the friendly, informed staff is there, as always, ready and waiting for you.

How it started
Tom Huffstutler Sr. opened Huffstutler’s Hardware in the newly incorporated city of Homewood and ran the business until his son, Tom Huffstutler Jr. and his wife, Jean, took over. For nearly 50 years, Huffstutler’s stood where Soho Square is now located. In 2004, they moved to their current location on Central Avenue.

How it works
The store may be smaller today than in the past, but it retains the old timey feel with excellent customer service. The paint department, under the direction of Michael Drawdy, is the only place in the Birmingham area where you can find Martin Senour Paints. In the back, Terry Ward does wood work, doing simple repair jobs on furniture and building small wooden tables that most customers skirt with a table cloth. “Over the years, everybody in Birmingham ought to have one of those tables with as many as I’ve made,” Ward says. Bill Voizin oversees all the equipment rental—you can rent everything from a lawn mower and weed eater to a small cement mixer, jack hammer or sheet rock lift. Ward and Voizin do all the buying for the shop now, following in the footsteps of Bob Tyler who did the ordering job into his 90s.

The party rental section has grown since Jean Huffstutler started it in 1986. Gracie Salmon and Gary Martin keep orders straight and help customers select from numerous offerings—from tables, chairs, linens and silverware to moon walks, snow cone machines, wedding decorations and even a pair of over-sized scissors for ribbon cuttings. In fact, Salmon says customers from Montgomery and Georgia will drive to Homewood to rent from Huffstutler’s extensive offerings. A complete list of their selection is available online at huff rental.com and delivery services are available as well.

It’s all in the details
“It’s nuts and bolts, literally. Twenty or 30 customers a day, that’s all they come in for is a couple of screws and that’s what we’re here for,” says Bill Voizin, a 14-year Huffstutler’s veteran. But the small things matter, which is why loyal customers keep coming back. The current staff members say they have the important job to uphold the reputation built over the years by former employees such as Bob Tyler, John McCombs, Buddy Black and others.

Jean Huffstutler contributes the continued success of her business to the talented group of people who work in her store. “I try to let them do what they’re good at which creates a better store,” she says.

What’s in a name?
Huffstutler’s remains a familyowned and -run business. Jean Huffstutler still runs the hardware and rental stores and keeps all the books herself—working on her home computer when she can’t be in the store.

Contact: 2732 Central Avenue in Homewood, 871-2121 (hardware), 871-212 (rentals) or huffrental.com
November Birmingham, Alabama

  

 
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