Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 4, April 2003
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Hardwick's -- family-owned for 3 generations and counting
By MATTHEW PREUSCH
When Hardwick's Swap Shop first opened in 1932, its meager inventory consisted of one set of office furniture, salvaged from the failed real estate business of Charles Dean Hardwick.
In the 70 years since then, about the only thing about Hardwick's that hasn't changed is the proprietor's surname.
These days, the University District store now a hardware store called Hardwick's is so clogged with inventory a customer must be careful to avoid stumbling over second-hand dishware or dumping a stack of axe handles.
Charles Hardwick, or "Grandfather Hardwick" as he's known to his family, continued to grow his business at NE 82nd Street and Roosevelt Way by stocking damaged or second-hand goods during the Great Depression.
His son, Dean Ernest Hardwick, opened a second store in 1938 at 4214 Roosevelt Way NE, after graduating from Roosevelt High School.
The father and son ran the two shops concurrently, but when Dean Ernest went to serve in the Army in World War Two, his father closed his smaller shop up north and took over his son's business.
When Dean Ernest returned from war he took the reins of the family business from his father. During the 1960s, he expanded the new site from 4,000 to 10,000 feet, transforming it from a cramped furniture shop to a cramped full-service hardware store.
Today, the store is run by a third generation of Hardwicks: Dean James and Bill.
They continue to serve many of the same customers that shopped with their father and even some who knew their grandfather.
Dean James Hardwick, 48, who wears a thick beard touched with white, manages the store's dizzying inventory, juggling hundreds of separate suppliers. He said it's the shop's quirky offerings that has kept it afloat, despite increased competition from mega-sized home improvement chains such as Lowe's and Home Depot.
"We're just kind of a specialty shop. That's our niche: stuff that the big boys don't handle," said Dean James.
Over the decades, the store's diverse inventory has grown to include such must-haves as oversized galvanized hinges, flat-bottomed scorps (a woodworking tool), or used waffle irons. One display features roughly 150 types of pliers.
"And that's not the only place we have pliers," said one employee. A store map is available for distraught shoppers.
But Hardwick's is probably best known for its collection of gardening and woodworking tools imported directly from Japan, with names like the Takehiki Noko hand-saw or the Hori Hori knife.
Dean James first came to work in the store in 1974, and remembers discovering items unmoved from their spots on shelves in a back room called "The Dungeon" since before World War Two.
Still dusty and filled to the ceiling, the same room now serves as an office for the Hardwick brothers.
Before joining the family business, Dean James' ambition was to become a pharmacist. He had graduated from Nathan Hale High School in 1972 (both brothers grew up in Wedgwood) and was in the University of Washington's pharmacy school when he agreed to take a temporary break from school to help out at the store.
"I came into there and thought I'd just spend a year away from college. My father said, 'You'll never go back to college.' He was right," said Dean, who now lives in Edmonds with his family.
Dean's older brother, Bill, 57, came to Hardwick's first, but his route to his father's footsteps was no less circuitous. Bill's early years found him "diligently studying" chemistry at the University of Washington after graduating from Roosevelt in 1962.
Then in 1967, Bill was drafted into the Army, and served as a radar mechanic in El Paso, Texas, rising to the rank of Specialist, Fifth Class.
Upon completion of his military service, Bill returned to Seattle in 1971, hoping to enroll in an electrical engineering program at UW. But a week after his arrival, his father suffered a heart attack. Dean Ernest Hardwick died of a stroke in 1976.
"I told him I'd manage the store until he got back on his feet," said Bill, who lives in Wedgwood. "That's been about 32 years ago."
Neither brother seems to regret finding themselves in the business their family built. Said Bill: "Every day is fun here."
A fourth-generation of the family is now making their mark on the store. Bill's daughter, Amber, 24, lives in California, but has built a Web site, www.ehardwicks.com, where customers can place orders online or learn a little of the store's history. Dean's oldest daughter, Meghan, 17, works the store's counter a few hours a week.
Recently voted the city's best hardware store by Seattle Weekly readers, Hardwick's continues to be a favorite with contractors seeking a bargain or gardeners seeking a unique tool. And with about 10 employees working on any given day, and 15 employees total, there is usually someone to help navigate the canyons of home improvement material.
One of those employees, Joyce Schowalter, was a customer for 20 years before she joined the staff. She discovered Hardwick's while working as a machinist and a friend directed her there to find an obscure product.
"She said, 'Oh, you need one of those? They'll probably have it at Hardwick's, used,'" Schowalter said. "There's an unbelievable amount of stuff in a small space."
Hardwick's is currently sponsoring a display of classic tools and hands-on programs as part of the Children's Museum's "In the Studio with Jacob Lawrence" exhibit. It runs through June 7.