Miller’s Ace Hardware

I like this place, I really do. They have good stock and good prices. They even accepted a coupon that was for a different ace hardware.
The problem for me is entirely the employees. Sometimes they are awesome, and sometimes they are just not that good. Sometimes they even tell me that I know more than they do. This would be fine and almost expect at a Home Depot, but I support local business when I can and I really expect some experts to work and help me.
I come back here because their selection is just that awesome and they’re by far the best in the area. I just wish sometimes they had better employees all the time.

The best Ace Hardware I’ve been to on the west coast. Met the buyer for the store and he says he tries to keep a pretty cross section of stuff, which this place has. This place has magnetic for everything from picking up nails on the road to ones that are for refrigerator. Their nail selection is insane. They have nails I have no idea what they are for. To find things one doesn’t even know they need take a look at the end caps. If this place doesn’t have what you need then you probably don’t really need it.

This is place is *awesome*!
But here is ‘the catch’: plan on spending two hours in this place.
The only thing it did not really have was plants and pots, and maybe lumber? Otherwise… it has it all!
Since they have too much to list I will just tell what ‘turned my head’. They had 4 – 5 different kinds of magnet, metal picker uppers (for nails in driveways), 10 – 15 different kinds of crowbars, an insane number of gloves, the biggest bulk nail selection I have ever seen, keys made with every possible keychain accessory, hobby paints, a huge selection of gardening tools, 2 – 3 benches… they even had old school woodworking tools (ie: folding wood ruler?).
The man at the back counter was awesome, too. He does all the ordering and we talked for sometime. He gave me some good ideas on tools for specialized tasks I needed to do. I saw him all over the store, though… making keys and helping people. Another employee over by the garden section helped me by going out of her way to come up with a way I could modify something to work when I was having no luck otherwise.
Worth the drive there! I love Ace Hardware stores in general, but this one deserves an award for the sheer amount of variety, and fabulous staff.
(Oh, and afterwards? Go to ‘the Taco Bus’ just west of there down Pacific Ave past the McMenamins Grand Lodge. All the mexican food there is fabulous and fresh. I like the carne asada tostadas, and my husband likes the traditional tacos. The Grand Lodge is also fabulous for cheap, FUN rooms and cheap, comfortable movies where you can order food at the same time.)