Beacon Paint & Hardware

Beacon and its knowledgable employees have been an instrumental part of my remodeling business for twenty years. They always have what you need in stock, and the friendly group of guys that work there provide a nice respite from what can sometimes be a stressful day at work.

Feels much like a small town hardware store: friendly, excellent service; knowledgeable staff; and a genuine interest in problem-​solving and helping with your project. Reasonable prices and difficult I find odd as and ends.

Knowledgeable staff and friendly. Needed a can of Benjamin Moore paint stat, looked them up took advantage of the Unilocal deal (pay 50 get $ 75) in credit. Got my can of paint and a free paint brush! All was good. Recommend

great service :) wonderful paint

I’m an Upper West Sider since the 80’s. It’s a small town to anyone who’s been here more than a year. The small shops make this NOT the Upper East Side. I get the best knowledge from the staff at Beacon. Some of those guys have been working there over 40 years. They know what they are talking about. The kids at Home Depot can not compete. Plus they are crazy for charities, running Bruce’s walk for 15 years and donating paint to non profits and taking care of the upper west side grammar schools. This is my hardware store. Super dog friendly too. Family owned and the store has been there as the hardware store for over 100 years. That’s not a joke. That’s a real number.

Paid $ 50 for the $ 100 groupon. 2 cans of paint came to $ 124. So with the $ 24 I spent a total of $ 74. Works for me

Went to Beacon to look at paint samples after being dissed way too often at Janovic. Really helpful staff who didn’t make me feel like I didn’t know what I liked. Got paint samples within 10 mins and all with friendly smiles

This place is a true neighborhood hardware store for the Upper West Side. The Knowledgable & friendly staff make shopping a pleasure. They also rent equipment

Read some reviews about paint stores and confirmed the bad reviews of my neighborhood Janovic paint store on 9^th before heading uptown to Beacon. I was helped by Steven who was helpful with paint selection. I ended up going there the next day to buy more paint. I called him and my paint was ready for pick up.
It represents the best of a neighborhood store where they have the selection you need and the friendly attitude you like.

There aren’t a lot of places that specialize in just paint in the city. Going here was convenient because it allowed me to skip a trip to ginormous Home Depot.

Well stocked, with very knowledgable, helpful, and friendly staff. Feels more like a family (in the wide sense) institution than a nyc store. Have been going there for decades and am always pleased to see familiar faces. Often feel there that sales are not the bottom line, helping you is. This is, of course getting more rare in NYC. Especially on the Upper West Side.

This is the best hardware store in the neighborhood. And they are better than any of the big box stores in other neighborhoods. I always find what I need, and the staff is ALWAYS helpful and friendly. I am a woman and I have never felt ignored or pandered to. My last visit was on last Sunday. There was a gap between our baseboards and our floor and yucky bugs were getting into the apartment through that gap. My husband is NOT a DIY person, so it was up to me to fix the issue, unless we wanted to pay through the nose for a contractor (we didn’t).
I went to Beacon and told them the problem. The employee who helped me asked how big the gap was (¼ inch) and then suggested I use latex & silicone caulk to seal the gap. He showed me how to use the caulk gun, cut off the tip of the caulk for me, showed me how to puncture the tube once I was ready to go, and explained the whole process. He told me I could absolutely do this by myself and gave me confidence. Guess what? I did it! And it looks great!
So now I am going to try tackling re-​caulking our tub. And I will absolutely be going to Beacon Paint & Hardware for supplies for that project.
I often hear people complaining that the UWS is becoming Soho-​ized. We continue to lose the one of a kind stores that add character to the neighborhood as rents rise and the corporate stores are able to pay the sky-​high rents.
But guess what?! If you don’t patronize the mom & pop stores, they will eventually go out of business. If you DO shop local and shop small, there is good chance that the stores that make our neighborhood interesting and different will be able to survive.
So who cares if a hammer is 50 cents more at Beacon than it is at Home Depot? You are paying for service –the staff at Beacon take time to help you, unlike the impossible to locate staff at Home Depot. Plus shopping locally owned businesses keeps money in the community– not in the pockets of shareholders all over the country.

Others have said that the prices are high, and that’s true. But I wouldn’t mind spending extra money if the place had good customer service. When I walk into this store, it’s like I don an invisibility cloak. I can stand in line and multiple staff members will purposefully look past me to help a man. When someone finally helps me, he is often inattentive and unhelpful. Because I’m a woman, everyone here assumes I don’t know what I’m talking about, which isn’t the case, at all. If I’m going to get treated poorly for being a woman, I might as well go somewhere else and save some money.

These giant killers have put every hardware store on the upper west side out of business even a big True Value that opened up a block away years ago. Why? Because they know the hardware. They might not be able to use it but they know how to tell how to do it. Get it? They are hardware people. Lifers. Bonus the 100 year old family business is stupid for charities including a walk a thon «Bruce’s Walk» for the upper west side to raise money for Guide dogs. I’m a handy guy, I need this place.

I have always found what I needed when I needed it for a price that worked out given the variables. The staff is fine, they are not casino greeters but this is not Harrahs.
In response to some of the complaints I have read:
1)Convenience costs money. Several have complained about the high prices compared to big box stores and internet. Stocking a small number of a large variety of items is expensive. A small store in a residential area has far higher expenses relative than Home Depot. Comparing to online prices without considering postage, delay and overhead is apples and oranges.
2)Adulthood involves responsibility. One reviewer complained that the store did stay open late for her, that they should have since she was so stressed out. I don’t know where to begin with this, other than to say fail to plan = plan to fail and retailers are not caretakers.

They are convenient, they tend to have the random things you need, and you pay a high «convenience» charge to shop there. I always leave feeling gouged. They know they are gouging you and you know it too. We don’t have many hardware store options on the UWS anymore, and I only shop here for emergency items or when I’m under time pressure. It is unfortunate since I usually like to support neighborhood, «family» businesses when I can, and I don’t mind paying slightly more, but when prices are nearly double what you would pay elsewhere, it is hard to justify going there unless it’s an emergency. I always leave feeling ripped off, swearing that I will do better to plan ahead in the future. It’s unfortunate since it’s a resource that we certainly need up here but the rip off factor is HUGE.

I’ve been coming to Beacon Pain and Hardware since I moved to the UWS about 6 years ago. They usually have everything that I’m looking for. The one time they didn’t have a plumbing supply I needed, they were quick to recommend a place that had it.
The staff is always helpful with suggestions for projects and repairs. They make sure I walk out with everything I need and ask how the project went the next time I walk in.

I have been going to Beacon Paint for years. Wonderful service and employees. When you go there many times you get to know the owner and the employees the even have a mascot, Bru the friendly dog. I have seen parents bring there kid in and let them run to the back of the store to see the dog. You can’t get lost in the store. When Bruce Stark took over for his father/​predecessor he made it what it is today.

I love this place! There is always a warm face to greet you at the door. I just moved to the neighborhood and was in there multiple times the first few weeks. The men who work there are so patient and helpful. Despite appearing small, they have everything you could ever need. I love doing home projects on my own, and the men there have taught me many tips and tricks, including rewiring a lamp. I also made multiple special paint purchases over the phone with ease and they were ready hours later. Can’t recommend this place enough.

Moving is stressful. Repainting a wall on your own because the building’s maintenance person did not ever call you back and you have ugly spackled holes in your wall is extra stressful. Finding out that the only place in the neighborhood that sells the same paint color that your apartment uses is closing in 10 minutes is über stressful. This was my situation.
I called Beacon and asked if they had the paint I needed, and the man on the phone said yes. I then told him I was going to sprint from my apartment to get there before closing and asked if he could wait for me if I get there a couple minutes late. To this, he responded, «No.» Plain and simple. I double checked that I heard right, because in my experience with customer service the phrase «no» tends to come accompanied with some words of apology or at least consolation: «I’m sorry, but we don’t stay open late,» or «So sorry, but we can’t. But we open at 10 tomorrow.» Alas, he once again said, «No. We close at 5.»
So I sprinted and got there before 5:00. They had exactly what I needed (the reason this is not a 1 star review). After purchasing my paint I spoke to Bruce, the owner, about what had happened on the phone. Bruce’s response was in defense of the store’s closing time. I told him that I understood that they have a closing time and that a «no» answer would have been completely fair had it been delivered as a slightly softer blow to my already stressful situation. To that, he said, «Well, you know, my guys can’t do everything perfectly.» He was not rude but not receptive at all.
I was impressed by the selection at Beacon but this inattentiveness to the most basic customer service was not pleasant and was enough to deter me from ever going back. What a shame.