Loesch Hardware, Inc.

Greg at Loesch always would stop what he was doing to help me with whatever I needed. I call Greg My Miracle Man!!!
I’m actually crying right now :(… I stopped by the store today to find out that My Miracle Man has left me to retire elsewhere. Gee… I tried getting help at an Ace store but it was like talking to a broken zipper. Thank you Greg for caring and for always being honest. Catch’a on the wee bound :-)

This place is old school. If you can’t find it they probably have it! Someone commented that they have stuff on their shelves from the 1980s like it was a bad thing. Went in to find a fuse for a radio. Showed it to an employee and he knew exactly where to find it. I love old hardware stores.

I won’t be returning to this store.
I try to shop at local stores — Home Depot and Lowe’s have better selections, but Loesch is closer to home and is a tradition in Oakley. What better way to show love for my home, than to be sure to shop locally for the stuff I need?
The guys at Loesch may know their stuff, but I’ve noticed a trend that’s very annoying to me — when I would go into the store with my (male) fiancé, we would get served readily by the first available employee, and they would chat us up gladly the entire time. However, when I would go in by myself, I would have to seek out help. This came to a head the last time I went in the store to pick up something we had ordered — I waited patiently by the register while an employee rang up someone else’s order, and an older gentleman sidled up behind me to also wait in line. When the employee was done ringing up the customer ahead of me, he bid them goodbye and then without looking at me ONCE, he actively reached past me to take items from the older gentleman behind me, and proceeded to ring him up.
I stood in disbelief as both the employee AND the customer he knew on a first name basis both deliberately ignored the fact that I had been waiting there for service. Once I realized I wasn’t going to be assisted, I walked out. I will not be walking back in.
Loesch hardware carries products that have been sitting on the shelves since the 1980s. The store has a pleasant smell of mildew from the aging building. They have a good mix of items that many people need for small household projects — but so does Lowe’s and Home Depot, and I have never been deliberately slighted by any employee at either of the big box stores. If this is what ‘hometown service’ means, «Main Street, Oakley» deserves to die off in favor of stores that don’t take customers for granted, and that treat customers of both genders with respect and helpfulness.

Loesch Hardware is a traditional neighborhood hardware store. They are my first choice for hardware because they have excellent customer service and they have an excellent selection of the things that I need to fix up my big old house.
The employees at Loesch’s really know their stuff, especially about old houses. That sort of expertise is invaluable. For example, I had a beautiful old doorknob that needed a replacement screw. I went to Lowe’s; I found a dude after 10 minutes of looking sad; he puttered around a while and told me that they don’t make that kind of screw any more. I went to Loesch’s; I was helped immediately; I showed him the doorknob. He said: they don’t make this kind of screw anymore – but then he drilled out the hole so that a different kind of screw would work. Priceless!
I visit Loesch’s every Saturday with a new impossible quest. I bring in a lightbulb, I bring in a skeleton key, I bring in a lamp – they help me right away. They have key blanks for old locks that no one else in town carries. In fact, I was told by two or three people that that I was going to have to have my 1917 doorknob replaced because I couldn’t get another key made – but I brought my old key to Loesch’s and walked out with a copy in two minutes.
Many people avoid small hardware stores because they think that the prices will be too high. I compared the prices at Loesch’s and Home Depot/Lowe’s and Loesch’s is usually the same or cheaper. What you don’t get at Loesch’s is 150 choices of ceiling fans or 5000 paint colors – but, you know, I don’t need always need or want that stuff.
Loesch Hardware deserves my business and they deserve your business too. Support your neighborhood hardware store, support good customer service, and support helpful employees who know about skeleton keys and big old houses!