Gardner Hardware Company closed over Labor Day weekend after more than 130 years serving the Twin Cities metro.
Gardner Hardware, a downtown fixture and one of the city’s oldest hardware stores, had its final day over the weekend, staff told The Journal Tuesday.
Gardner Hardware has been at 515 Washington Ave. N. in the North Loop near downtown Minneapolis since about 1960, according to its website. Before that, the business bounced between several downtown locations on Nicollet to Hennepin, among others, before the demise of the area’s retail shopping.
In 1884, Herbert Gardner founded Gardner Hardware Co., which was later led by his three sons. The family business continued in the 1950s under Lawrence Healy, a son-in-law of one of the Gardner sons.
Healy’s son and current manager, Stephen Healy, is the fourth generation to run the hardware store. He could not be immediately reached Tuesday.
The building, located in one of the city’s trendiest real estate markets, has seen attempts to develop condos, including failed plans to build lofts nearly a decade ago. Hennepin County estimates the building and land market value at $1.1 million.
Workers have begun cleaning up the iconic hardware store. Photo by Eric Best.
