St Lawrence Hardware

In a nut shell: I will never go back here again.
These guys are notorious for not adhering to their store hours, which has left both myself and some co-​workers a little annoyed in the past. Aside from that, this place has always left me feeling vaguely underwhelmed and ripped off and after my experience yesterday, I will not be returning which is a shame since they’re in my neighbourhood.
I needed a key cut, and since they’re 2 minutes from work I figured it’d be easy to pop in there and get it done. My story goes something like this:
Me: Hi, you cut keys here right?
Guy at counter: Yes.
Me: Ok, great. Can I have one copy of this key?
Guy at counter: Yes (motions for other staff member who then takes my key to a back room to be duplicated).
Me: Quietly observing the pile of random merchandise everywhere and wondering how people find anything in there.
3 minutes pass and the staff member returns with the copied key.
Guy at counter: Presses some buttons on his cash register and a total of $ 16.94 shows up.
Me: (In total disbelief that one key could cost almost $ 17 assumed this was not my actual total)
Guy at counter: (Patiently waits for me to open my wallet)
Me: Uh, what’s the cost for this?
Guy at counter: $ 16.94
Me: For one key?
Guy at counter: Yes.
Me: Wow, I’m in the wrong business then (hands over a $ 20 wishing this came with some metaphorical vaseline).
And that’s it St. Lawrence Hardware. Enjoy those $ 17 because myself and everyone who works in my office will never be back.

This place is a family business. The Owner is really friendly and easy to talk to. He helped me and gave me extra tips on how to do one of my projects at home. The guys working there are very knowledgeable and always do their best to help you. If they don’t have a certain item, they will either order it in or tell you where to find it.
They do key cutting too. They even cut me a new key when my old one broke in half! I didn’t even know that was possible. I would highly recommend it.

This place is terrible. First of all, it’s a disaster! Instead of standing behind the counter, they should organize & clean the store. Second, if you’re a woman they treat you like you’re clueless. They make you feel stupid when you ask for something, even using the proper term. At one point I googled a picture of what I needed & he still asked me what it was for and just stared at me. My boss (who us a woman) also went in there for something and the older man said she should get her husband (she’s not married) to fix her problem. They are never any help & never have what I need.

Convenient and nicely located close to the Esplanade. You forget sometimes that you need little things in the house and there are no Home Depots or Canadian Tire around really. But this place is packed with doohickeys and whatnots that you need for the home. Nails, light bulbs, batteries. You name it they have it in such a small space. The people are not the friendliest but you come here for convenience so that you can get what you need and move on to enjoy the rest of your day! I needed watch battery and they sold it in double packs but they gave me a single one and charged me for that. Now that’s what I call helpful.