The crazy thing is it is literally the only hardware store left around here. All the others have gone out of business because of Home Depot and Lowes.
Same here. Ace is only a mile away in town, but the big box stores are 7 - 15 miles away.
We’ve got one lumber yard left after having had 3 good ones here 40 years ago. Now there’s one mom & pop independent lumber yard left. Fortunately it’s a good one.