Conference 7.286::maynard

    Sad to say, but they're closed for good.  I was there on a Saturday
    about two weeks ago when they had a 40% off clearance sale. The couple
    that ran the store seemed really bummed, and I didn't ask for details
    about the closing. All they said was that they were going out of
    business. 
    
    Now, I do my best to patronize local businesses, and will even pay a
    small premium for the convenience. Unfortunately, even with a 40%
    discount, their prices couldn't compare to Spag's. That's why I only
    used the store for emergencies and occasional sale items. Any hardware
    purchase that could be planned was made elsewhere. 
    
    There must be too many people like me in town.  Too bad, because now
    we're left with only the Aubuchon store for general hardware.  That
    place just doesn't offer the same kind of friendly service. 
    

There must be quite the rumor mill going on about this.  There are 
letters from the landlords all over the windows.  Basically, they say 
that they did not force the store out with high rent/no lease renewal, 
which is what is going around.

The store just went out of business.

Karen 

    I don't mean to contradict you, Karen, but my wife heard the owner say
    that he was raising the rent, "because taxes were so high".  He went on
    to say that commercial rents in Maynard are the same as in Concord. 

    That location used to be Manning's Pharmacy, until the owner raised
    the rent on Manning's a few years ago, and they moved across the
    street.
        
    Jeff, the True Value manager, told me that they were opening a store in
    Sudbury. 
    
    I will really miss the fact that if True Value was out of something,
    Aubuchon usually had it, and vice-versa.  Also, I suspect that
    competition tends to increase the quality of service.

    -Steve

I have no idea what the real story is.  I was just writing what I 
think I remember reading.  Read the letter on the windows if you're 
interested.  

Karen 

>    Jeff, the True Value manager, told me that they were opening a store in
>    Sudbury. 

There's already a True Value store in Sudbury.  This is, by itself, is no big
deal, it's just a franchise.
BUT, both the Maynard and Sudbury stores opened at about the same time,
and I understood they were owned by the same person.
Ask Al (now at the Aubuchon).  He used to work for the True Value.

- tom]

>
>>    Jeff, the True Value manager, told me that they were opening a store in
>>    Sudbury. 
>
>There's already a True Value store in Sudbury.  This is, by itself, is no big
>deal, it's just a franchise.
>BUT, both the Maynard and Sudbury stores opened at about the same time,
>and I understood they were owned by the same person.

Perhaps I misinterpreted the conversation. Jeff easily could have said
"We're moving to Sudbury", meaning the employees would be working in the
Sudbury store.  I probably concluded that meant opening a store...

-Steve

    The True Value manager already had a store in Sudbury and no longer
    wanted to manage two stores.  The owners of the building posted
    a letter in the window stating that they hadn't driven out the hardware
    store with a rent increase.  Two reputable Maynard residents wanted
    to buy the business, but the bank wouldn't extend them the credit
    they needed, so the store closed.
                              

Just for more background, the Sudbury True Value has disappeared too.
I was by there (next to Star Market on Rt. 20) a week or three ago, 
and there was a sign saying "Closed for Inventory."
I was by yesterday, and the store is stripped to the walls, shelves gone,
the signs on the walls down, really EMPTY.
There were no signs or notes in the windows, nothing to indicate why or where
they might be.

Maybe the two-store chain (Maynard and Sudbury) just wasn't doing well,
and the attempt at consolidation failed too.
If I get to the  Aubuchon, I will ask Al if  he knows what happened.

- tom]

    There was someone talking at the last town meeting who said that he was
    moving to vermont or something. his name was on the letter posted on
    the window of the Maynard True Value store. did he own both stores and
    just sell out when he moved?

    					-- hs 

It's been quite a while since I opened this notes file ...

I, too, was pretty upset at the store closing, since I found the True Value/
Aubuchon combination far more useful than the later by itself.

I know both Ken (landlord) and Jeff (store manager).  I really didn't know
the True Value franchisee, but I ran into him a few times and found him a
triffle obnoxious (but basically likeable) ...

Ken moved to New Hampshire and is opening a B+B on a 40-acre spread.  He still
owns the "True Value" building and the smaller one behind it (the old Saint
Mary's coop).  Since he seems afflicted with major vacancies in both buildings,
I assume some "dandy" tax write-offs are in the offing. Ken is the author of
the memo that was displayed on the store windows.  I last saw Ken about 4 weeks
ago, at which time he told me he had a new tenant - a restaurant of some kind.
However, I've seen no indication that this is happening.

As reported before, both the Maynard and the Sudbury True Value were owned by
the same individual.  Jeff told me that the high rent/small size of the Sudbury
store meant it was incapable of carrying itself - thus Maynard had to help
shoulder the load.  In his opinion, the combined enterprise wasn't particularly
effective, but a Maynard-only store would have been.  Unfortunately, he
couldn't convince the bankers and failed in his bid to open a different
hardware franchise at the Maynard location.  I imagine that the proximity of
Somerville Lumber in Acton, plus the existence of Aubuchon and Butler Lumber
influenced the bankers.  Also, there were some rumors of tax improprieties
that, if true, would have diminished the apparent vitality of the Maynard
True Value.   By the way, I don't recall anyone at True Value blaming the
situation on the landlord.


The loss of True Value affected me in an amusing way:  it meant the only
convenient location in town to get glass cut was at Aubuchon.  After getting
my 3 pieces cut and discovering that all 3 were incorrectly sized - I returned
to the store and the now-departed manager ruined an additional 3 pieces of 
his own glass beforing giving up in disgust (and giving me a refund).  The
Aubuchon glass cutter is so crude, that I thought it was home-made (the manager
was insulted at this allegation).  Anyway, Butler Lumber now has a brand new
glass cutter that works like a charm ...
    

There's also Suburban Glass & Mirror, 2 Powdermill Road (just around
the corner at the intersection of 27 & 62).  I had them cut a small
mirror for me based on the template I left with them, and it was cut
exactly the same size as I requested.  Their phone # is 897-6908

Cliff