Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 7, 1994 TAG: 9404070261
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When the Puffs moved to Roanoke from Jersey City, N.J., looking for a retail business to take over, McVey Hardware on Grandin Road fell naturally into place.
Rose Puff, a native Roanoker who had owned a candy store in New Jersey, had the experience to run the operation, and Ralph Puff, a former truck driver, said he picked up his father's mechanical skills.
Both of them attended electrical school, said Rose Puff (who was the only woman in the class) so that they could offer their customers more "good advice."
"I always thought about owning a hardware store, but I didn't know what I was getting into," said Ralph Puff. "You have to have so much knowledge of plumbing, electricity, gardening . . ."
Other than ownership, the Puffs said that not much has changed at the store they bought in 1985. They're about the only new fixtures.
Graham McVey and later his son, Jake, "had the hardware store for 30-some years," Ralph Puff said. "Basically, the hardware is 75 percent like the way it used to be. I've had people come in from North Carolina who heard what it was like and say, `It's nice to see an old hardware again.' "
He said the store is old-fashioned, like hardware stores used to be. "We almost changed it, but didn't. It still has the shelves in here that McVey had," Ralph Puff said.
Garland Parry, an employee from the McVey days, still comes in and helps. Ralph Puff said he has taken advice from Parry on running McVey.
Parry started working at McVey Hardware about 1950, when he was 13 years old, and has "been a big help to me," Ralph Puff said.
McVey sells seed by the ounce and packages it in bags. "If you want one screw, you can buy one screw," Ralph Puff said.
In addition to merchandise, the Puffs repair storm and screen windows, cut glass, work on old lamps and occasionally replace an electric plug.
Ralph Puff said a lot of women come into his store during the day, asking for advice. "It's easier dealing with a woman who doesn't know what she wants than with a man who thinks he knows what he wants," he said.
The Puffs speculate that larger hardware chains have depreciated some of their business, but they think they are making up the loss with younger Raleigh Court homeowners who want to make repairs themselves to save money.
Some elderly people, the Puffs said, tend to call on servicemen, who have other sources for materials, while many younger homeowners tend to do their own repairs.
Eventually, though, said Rose Puff, who also manages a fast food operation, patrons of the larger superstores "are going to have to go back to little stores."
"They need some help, and sometimes you can't find that in big stores," she said.
"I've had people tell me my prices are cheaper than Lowe's, except for their specials," Ralph Puff said.
One way the Puffs have managed to compete with prices is through their membership in a large buying group that offers them wholesale prices, Ralph Puff said. Another is through goodwill reciprocity. The Puffs send business to Ralph Via Hardware and Brambleton Hardware and receive customers in return.
Basically, said Ralph Puff, "we're honest and hardworking. Things were kind of rough at first, but we're doing a lot better. A lot of younger people are coming into this area, and younger people do repairs themselves."
McVey Hardware is at 1320 Grandin Road S.W. The telephone number is 342-8561.
by CNB