Black’s Hardware

Black’s is probably the best independent Hardware store in Rochester. Experts on plumbing and a large inventory of all sorts of plumbing supplies. Have been in there many times with old plumbing parts, the counter guys can usually ID the part at a glance then find you the replacement parts in stock. Friendly and helpful always, never an attitude from these folks !!

This is the hardware store of the past — a small, cramped building with a mysterious upstairs (that’s probably not mysterious at all to regular hardware store attendees but to an «I need a thingamajig» type person like myself, it’s mystery is profound), a few older guys who seem to be able to tell you anything about anything related to fixing a house, and that token kid who is probably the owner’s son that is earning his allowance. The type of store that probably only has one or two options of everything they carry, but so far I’ve found the few things I went in looking for.
I only warranted small chuckles from the aforementioned kid assistant when I had to parrot back what type of screws I needed from my husband’s text. The screws are in the very front, by the way, in bins purchased by pound. They have a few selections of spray paint, Krylon and a random cheap brand. While you may not find a vast color variety, the «metal» finishes were abundant for my tastes with multiple options of paintable surfaces. I’ve frequently looked through the Big Box stores’ selections and never found the colors to be as varied as I feel the store would be able to actually supply if they tried. If I needed a specific color, I have no doubt Black’s would readily order it for me. I picked up a lamp «harp» (or so I was kindly told it was called when describing «that thing that goes on top of the lamp to hold up the shade») and was told if it wasn’t the right size (they had a large and small) to return it or if I needed more they would be able to get them in a couple days.
It’s the type of store that gives you what you came for, without distracting from it’s true purpose to provide everything to everyone. There’s a paint shelf, not a paint department, there’s an electrical aisle, not half a warehouse. You’ll find mops and brooms and buckets, but you won’t find decorative entry mats or high priced closet dividers. There’s someone behind the counter that can actually answer your question politely and confidently. If you need more selection, you know where to get it, but if you’d rather not pull a workout looking for a rude corporate employee that really doesn’t care if that magnet strip is strong enough to hold matchbox cars (it wasn’t), this place will do nicely.