Kruse Hardware closed? Oh, please, say it isn’t so!

Bill Graff called this morning to say closed signs went up Friday at Kruse Hardware at the corner of Montgomery Rd. and Williams Ave. and that the store appeared to be closed Saturday. At 10:30 a.m. we called Kruse’s phone number and got a voice mail message only stating their hours of operation. We left a message for a callback. Next we phoned our councilperson who said he was unaware of it but would call if he finds out anything. Then we called the Building Dept. at City Hall to see if maybe some code violations had caused them to shut their doors temporarily. They were aware Kruse was closed but told us they had no part in it. Finally, we drove by the store ourselves, and saw the dreaded closed signs in the windows and confirmed what Bill had said about inventory having been removed from the windows.

And just as we were about to post this blog, we opened an email from Lupe Gonzalez-Hoyt who had just gotten wind of the closing. She’s wondering what we’re wondering, which is where else locally will get our hardware supplies, windows re-screened, etc. Some us don’t enjoy hiking through huge box stores where clerks to help are often in short supply and then waiting in long lines at the cashier.

Thankfully, there’s still Loesch Hardware at 3142 Madison Rd. near Oakley Square for us big box avoiders; but we are very sad if it turns out Kruse is permanently closed and Norwood no longer has its own hardware store.