AFTER 60 YEARS, VALLEY HARDWARE STORE HANGS UP ITS TOOLS.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Rudy Nigro let the years melt away Wednesday as he looked out the front window of his Woodland Hills hardware store. The closed sign would remain up on the front door all day, so Rudy had plenty of time to sit and reminisce rem·i·nisce intr.v. rem·i·nisced, rem·i·nisc·ing, rem·i·nisc·es To recollect and tell of past experiences or events. [Back-formation from reminiscence. as his longtime employees prepared for the going-out-of-business sale Noun 1. going-out-of-business sale - a sale of all the tangible assets of a business that is about to close; "during the Great Depression going-out-of-business sales were very common" that starts today. After 60 years, Rudy's Ace Hardware at 21142 Ventura Blvd. will be closing for good on Feb. 23 -- another victim of big-box competition. ``I wouldn't change a thing or take back one day,'' Rudy said, looking out his front window and envisioning life in 1947. Rudy envisioned Harry Warner's horse stables that used to serve the semi-rural San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , not the hotel and car dealership This article is about car dealerships. For the indie pop band, see Dealership (band). A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new cars and/or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or that now stand along the busy thoroughfare THOROUGHFARE. A street or way so open that one can go through and get out of it without returning. It differs from a cul de sac, (q.v.) which is open only at one end. 2. Whether a street which is not a thoroughfare is a highway, seems not fully settled. . In his mind's eye mind's eye n. 1. The inherent mental ability to imagine or remember scenes. 2. The imagination. mind's eye Noun in one's mind's eye in one's imagination , Rudy was 19 again and standing at Topanga Canyon and Ventura boulevards Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. at 11 p.m. after hitching a ride from San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden to the Valley, where his mother lived. ``This is where you'll have to get out, kid, because I'm heading for Malibu now,'' the driver told him, dropping Rudy off in what were then the boonies boon·ies pl.n. Slang Rural country or a jungle. [Shortening and alteration of boondocks.] . The only thing around was a closed gas station and a couple of dark stores. When Rudy took a closer look, he saw they were phony storefronts -- just facades. A few years later, after making the Valley home, he'd hear the stories about Victor Girard, who bought more than 2,800 acres in 1922 and named the area after himself -- Girard. It was changed to Woodland Hills in 1941, as the land was sold and developed into homes and businesses. ``He'd send a bus down to Hollywood and offer people a free ride and box lunch to come out to Girard to see how booming it was and, hopefully, buy property,'' Rudy said. ``The ones who didn't buy sometimes didn't get that bus ride back to Hollywood. Girard was pretty slick.'' Not slick enough to avoid a stint in jail for putting up those false storefronts on Ventura Boulevard to attract more development, the local history books say. But he was getting ahead of himself, Rudy said. He returned to that night the driver dropped him off at Ventura and Topanga Canyon. He started walking east along Ventura, right by Girard's stables. Three years later, he opened Rudy's Hardware right on this spot. With so many GIs moving to the Valley after World War II ended, Rudy figured they'd need a good hardware store to pick up a few things for the house. ``I was a trained locksmith in the Navy so owning a hardware store seemed like a natural fit,'' Rudy said. ``The only problem was I didn't have much money. ``I bought the property on a land contract -- nothing down and paying only the interest on the loan. I had 10 years to pay it off, and I did.'' It was tough going those first few years, Rudy says. There wasn't the kind of competition there is today, but there weren't the number of customers, either. But his reputation for providing personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. service kept the bell over the front door ringing, and allowed Rudy to eventually hire more people. His store manager, Steve Nelson
They'd all love to keep Rudy's Hardware open, but with three Home Depots, an OSH and a Lowe's within four miles, they just can't fight the big boys anymore. ``It's a shame, but people care more about saving 5 percent than getting good service,'' Nelson said. ``Our customers always got eye contact and our full attention when they walked in the door.'' Rudy nods and smiles. Water under the bridge. He realizes closing his business after 60 years is tough on his longtime employees and loyal customers who are sad to see him go, but you can't change reality. He has only one regret, Rudy says, one thing that would have allowed him to take his faithful employees on a jaunt to to Maui. ``Around 1970, the bank came to me and said the whole block along here was in default of its loan,'' Rudy said. ``I could have had the block for $20,000. What's it worth today -- $12 million? Maybe more? Other than that, I've got no complaints, no regrets. ``It's been a great 60 years. Tell people thank you for us.'' dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3749 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Rudy Nigro navigates the plumbing aisle at his hardware store in Woodland Hills on Wednesday. The store closes next month after 60 years. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer (2) This is how Rudy's Ace Hardware in Woodland Hills looked in the mid-1960s. |
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