My Favorite Hardware

From what I can tell, this place used to be called Nostrand Lefferts Housewares. Now it’s called My Favorite Hardware, Houseware and Electronics. In the category of business names that invite annoying jokes about how this hardware is not your favorite, the new name gets 5 stars.
A locksmith, and a hardware store in general, is one of those annoying things that you inevitably find yourself needing, and more often than not can’t find a good one that’s open late enough after work, is close enough to your house, and all those other things that frustrate you about locksmiths. So I was pleasantly surprised to find one literally on the same block as my apartment building.
The first time I went in, I was trying to get a key duplicated, and they said they couldn’t do it for me. I only realized later that it was one of those annoying keys that only your landlord can duplicate, so I definitely don’t fault the hardware store for this. I’m pretty sure most places wouldn’t have been able to do it either. I haven’t had many occasions to go into this store since then, but I did go in again today to buy bubble wrap. The guy working there (who I think might have been the owner) was very friendly and helpful, but the small roll of bubble wrap was $ 15, and it was just a fraction of the amount I could have gotten at Staples for the same price. At first I thought I was the only one who found it expensive, but I was just talking to my super about what I’ll need to move out of my apartment, and he warned me not to buy them from this place because of their prices.
With that said, this is obviously a mom and pop spot, and I have to wonder how else you stay in business as a hardware /​everything store that is rarely buzzing with customers, in a neighborhood that is quickly gentrifying and no doubt raising the rent. Though My Favorite is probably overpriced, I’d like to think that they make for it in convenience, character, and neighborhood charm. If you’re in midtown Manhattan looking for bubble wrap, I don’t think I’d send you here first, but if you live in the hood and need a deadbolt for your apartment door (which we all do, don’t fool yourselves now), give My Favorite a whirl.