Foothill Hardware

CLOSED Sad, but true. I drove by this afternoon to find the parking lot fenced off and the building boarded up. Just six blocks from my house, it was a lifesaver for burned out lightbulbs, screws, and any of a number of occasionally needed home repair supplies

As of today (11−17−14) the store appears to be closed… RIP.
It only lasted a few years longer than Tony, its original owner, who started the store in the 1940s and ran it almost until he died several years ago. The motto of the store used to be «We Got It!», and they did. This is the only thing that kept them in business after the onslaught of the bigbox stores (Home Despot et al). If on the rare occasion they didn’t have something, Tony would have it in stock the next time. He also never passed up a good surplus sale from other stores, and hence had a lot of cool hardware that nobody else stocked. The board of directors that ran the store for the last several years apparently never understood that without «everything» in stock, they couldn’t compete because they couldn’t match bigbox prices and the neighborhood was sketchy. I should have seen the handwriting on the wall when the manager left a year or two ago. The specialty items that kept them afloat were no longer stocked, sales dropped, and then they couldn’t pay their vendors for anything. A sad end to what was once the best and most complete hardware store in the East Bay.

Doing some work in the area & needed some supplies. We do our best to shop local business first. They were very helpful we bought what we could while there & they referred another location the rest. Pleasant customer service. Ive commend this location & we mainly shopped in the plumbing section. Ace is the place for the helpful hardware hand!

The person that helped us was great. However, it was super frustrating that they didn’t have the items I needed (linoleum adhesive, electrical breakers) to do a job around the corner. The store is way under stocked. You’re better off going to Home Depot.

We love this place! It is a little old school but the service we have received regarding out 1940’s windows surpasses ANY help we could review from Home Depot. Thank you for being here :)

Some stuff here if really overpriced, but most of it is competitive. It’s my go to place when I need to match up some random bolts or nuts.

Foothill Hardware has a decent selection. However, I prefer big home improvement stores like Home Depot which tend to be better organized and cleaner. My spouse bought a Groupon for Foothill and we couldn’t find what we were looking for.

In 2012 Foothill Hardware was purchased by Ace — and with it came some great changes. The layout of the store is more open and accessible, they have upgraded the signs and counters. So in the end you get the same helpful personnel with a much improved interior look and layout.

This store typifies what is best of a dying breed of hardware stores – hardware that is aligned with the needs of the age of the housing in the area. This is something that you won’t find at Osh, Home Depot or Lowes, where the shelves are stocked with merchandise that is better suited to renovation than repair.
We’ve gotten used to the idea of disposable products and these days, the standard approach to fixing just anything in the house is to replace it. I recently ran into a situation with a circa 1950’s property I purchased. The hot water for the shower wouldn’t flow with adequate pressure. I took off the shower valve and didn’t see anything obviously wrong so I called out a plumber. The plumber took off the valve and spotted a problem – a part was missing. Problem was, a part like that for such an old shower wasn’t available. The solution was to replace the valve altogether, which, unfortunately, required removing tile from the wall, he quoted $ 550.
While I was at it I should probably replace the tub/​shower but since the tub footprint was a little different from what is available now, I’d also have to consider re-​tiling the floor, but that requires taking out the sink and the toilet. You get the idea. A simple problem with a shower valve had turned into a requirement for a full bath renovation. I’d be lucky if I could get the problem fixed for under $ 5k.
I don’t know about you but I’m getting a little tired of the idea of replacing solid brass and copper fixtures with chrome plated plastic. Hardware designed to last a lifetime rather than a renovation cycle.
I wasn’t convinced. I made the rounds to the local Osh and Home Depot but no luck. Nobody carried a replacement valve that looked anything like mine, let alone the part I needed. I was about to call up a contractor to start with the renovation when I remembered Foothill Ace, a store that I had worked at summers in the late 70’s while attending Cal. I hadn’t been back to the store in over 30 years. I went back and actually had a hard time finding it. The community where it is located is not nearly as vibrant as it was back then, and neither is the store. In fact it was quite depressing to see how empty the store had gotten, but I made my way to the plumbing section. A salesperson, who clearly knew a thing or two about plumbing, brought me to a set of parts bins that looked like they had been labeled 50 years ago and within a minute had my part.
Cost, 69 cents, $ 0.75 with tax. Renovation averted for under a buck and the shower works again.
When I worked at Foothill Ace it was regarded as one of, if not, the largest Ace Hardware stores on the west coast. Home Depot didn’t even exist. The store was as active as any Home Depot you’d see to today. Times have changed, but I’m glad this store, and it’s old parts bins, is still around.

In my house, I’m the one who fixes the plumbing. I’m not up to fixing pipes in walls, but I can fix a leak with the best of them. Today our tub’s hot water faucet stopped working (the plastic was stripped inside — who knew THAT could happen?). No matter what, when I fix plumbing, I have to make a couple of trips the hardware store for exchanges when I buy the wrong things, and I was exhausted thinking about getting on the freeway again and again. I checked Unilocal to see if there was a store near our house that didn’t have reviews that made me want to cry.
I found Foothill Hardware.
Dude. This place is amazeballs. Number one, it’s ten blocks from our house! Holy crap, that deserves three stars, right there!
Number two, it’s huge. Three buildings, but I hear it’s going to consolidate into the one front building and reorganize, which will be fine, since they did feel a little spread out.
Number three, I talked to four people, all of whom gave truly STUNNING customer service. On my way out, I met Brian, the Guy In Charge, who was absolutely one of the brightest spots in a day which (besides having no shower this morning) had already been pretty great. He’s been working there for 33 years, since he was 16. He told me the story of the store, told me about the old owner who died, and explained how they’re going to retrofit (Attn: MARCH AND APRIL 2012, it’s going to be closed for a number of weeks around that time, just so’s you know) and make it even better than it already is.
Number four, it had everything. Seriously. From contact paper, to paint, to a key department, to the kind of potting soil we use, it has it.
I’m completely stoked, and they have a customer for life in me. (And guess what? I didn’t have to go back. The guy who helped me in plumbing barely had to glance at what I needed before he handed me the right part.)

The manager, Brian, is the best. He is so helpful. This is a such a great community-​owned place.

I love this hardware store, they have everything you need at competitive prices. The service is great especially electrical and paint, I wish that I knew the names of these two men they definitely deserve kudos. I agree with the gardening department, but maybe they just don’t have the demand. Also they sell yummy homemade Jam.

I agree with everything the previous reviewers said. For me it is MORE than worth it to shop local, easily get quick, friendly service when you need it, even if things are a few pennies more than at the big box stores. My biggest lament is that their selection of live plants and trees is a bit on the puny and pathetic side. But for everything else they rock.

nice alternative to shopping at the big box stores.
they have it all, although a bit more expensive than the big stores, it adds up when you are getting 20 buckets of drywall paste instead of just one.
the staff are generally helpful, most of my visits have been good.
the store is arranged in a weird way, and i have to buy different things from different counters, which is a bit of a pain.
and they close early! i think 4 or 5 on sundays!
but, i still go here, and will again.

This is an old-​style, locally-​owned, amazing hardware store. They have everything, and I do mean everything. Paint, tools, nails, plants, garden supplies, fixtures. Hell, I even bought a toilet here, and the price was seriously right. Hooray for locally-​owned alternatives to HomeDespot.
One star off for closing too early and for being so spread out. The different store sections are in separate buildings, which can be annoying and time-​consuming if you’re not sure which building to go into.