Hammond Hardware’s Facebook page reads, “We are so much more than a hardware store.” 

The sentiment becomes clear as customers step into the cozy building tucked away in the village of Hamden. Hammond Hardware sells everything you’d expect from a typical hardware store, plus items unique to it, such as 3D-printed geese with matching costumes. Owner Steve Hammond credits his wife, Melissa Hammond, for the idea.   

“People go crazy for them,” Hammond says.   

The paint job and outfits are done by Melissa Hammond, who often changes things up depending on the season. | Photo by Mia Kraus

Hammond and his wife live in McArthur, where he works as the city’s mayor. But the family is from Hamden, the town where he bought the store from former owners, Don and Louis Souders, in 2021.    

For Hammond, the building’s history motivated him to look into ownership of the property.   

“I like old buildings,” Hammond says. “[It] sat empty for probably six-to-eight years… I called Don on the phone and said we wanted it. He said, ‘OK, it’s yours.’”   

The building’s history dates to 1902 when local banker C.C. Roberts built it. It was originally a two-story building before an explosion from a gas leak leveled part of it in the 1930s. The destroyed section was rebuilt into a one-story building, and the damage to the remaining section was repaired.   

The store attracts most of its customers in the spring and summer, but with the intense snowfall this winter, customers flocked to Hammond Hardware.   

“It was crazy,” Hammond says. “About three days before, if [a product] put out heat or if it moved snow, it sold. It was just insane. I had people calling from Ashland [to] Kentucky, looking for kerosene heat.”   

Hammond Hardware also offers local products, from Silverbridge coffee to honey from a local apiary called Rose Farms. Bringing the small town together is what makes the job so appealing to Hammond.   

Hammond keeps a display case of Hamden memorabilia in a display case, including this newspaper clipping detailing the aftermath of the 1930 explosion of the building. | Photo by Mia Kraus

The store attracts most of its customers in the spring and summer, but with the intense snowfall this winter, customers flocked to Hammond Hardware.   

“It was crazy,” Hammond says. “About three days before, if [a product] put out heat or if it moved snow, it sold. It was just insane. I had people calling from Ashland [to] Kentucky, looking for kerosene heat.”   

Hammond Hardware also offers local products, from Silverbridge coffee to honey from a local apiary called Rose Farms. Bringing the small town together is what makes the job so appealing to Hammond.   

“It’s a small town, and people get to know you,” Hammond says. “I know a lot of the people that come in here, and I know their parents or grandparents.”   

The townspeople support each other when they need it most. When snow buried much of Ohio this winter, Hammond Hardware provided residents with supplies and offered to help with plumbing issues and snowfall buildup. Hammond explained that togetherness can make or break a small town.   

“We help the fire departments when we can, such as when they need a donation for dinner or an auction,” Hammond says. “I think we have a pretty good relationship with the [community].”