Longtime Pismo Beach Hardware Store Set To Close
PISMO BEACH, Calif. – Customers continue to stream into Pismo Bob’s hardware store, just like they have since its personable owner took over the business 33 years ago. However, as customers shop through its narrow aisles, there’s a bit of sadness in the air.
Earlier this summer, store owner Bob Pringle announced he is shutting down the iconic hardware store to make way for an expansion of his adjacent nursery business.
“After some 33 years, Pismo Bob’s is coming to a close,” said Pringle. “Everything comes to an end.”
The imminent closing will end a long chapter in Pismo Beach history. Originally a hardware store owned by local legend Lillie Mae Davis, the business, which is located in Pismo Beach at the corner of Price and Pismo Streets, has been an mainstay in the small, coastal city. When it closes, it will leave Pismo Beach without a downtown hardware store for the first time in more than 80 years.
Despite competing against big box stores, Pringle succeeded by building a loyal and dedicated following and says closing the store has nothing to do with lagging sales.
“We’re not closing because of lack of business,” said Pringle. “Business is extremely busy, but we just want to start slowing down a little bit.”
Pringle, who has operated the store with his wife Toni, along with his six children, found a business formula that connected with local customers and visitors alike.
“We offered knowledge and service and you can’t get those today,” said Pringle. “We kind of went deep into niche groups, like fasteners, bolts, plumbing, electrical. Where most companies just carry prevalent items, we went and carried every item.”
A walk into Pismo Bob’s is like a trip into a simpler time, when most communities had an small, independently owned and operated hardware store. What Pismo Bob’s lacked in sheer size, it made up in volume. Pringle likes to say he packed a 20,000 square foot store into a 5,000 square foot building. At any given time, Pismo Bob’s held over 450,000 items, including many unique and hard-to-find products.
“It was amazing how much stuff he could actually store in such a small area,” said longtime customer Joe Gravance of Pismo Beach. “I’d get here and wouldn’t know where to look, but he’d know where everything was at.”
The store was popular not only “do-it-yourself weekend warriors,” but also professionals, like builder Wayne Russell, who says he would purchase building necessities nearly every day.
“I can find it right here and most of the time,” said Russell “He’s got it and he knows right where it is. He can lay his hand on it and it’s amazing, plus the guy knows what he’s talking about. He knows what he has and everything I need, he usually has got. Rarely do I walk away without what I came here for.”
Pringle’s longtime customers note what made them return time after time, was his attention to detail, endearing sense of humor and passionate dedication in assisting them in their wants and needs.
“He would do things, extra things and if he didn’t have something, he’d make sure he would get it for you. He offered extra service, better than the big chains,” said Shell Beach resident Kay Tavasti, who was Pringle’s first customer when he took over operations in 1982.
While the historic hardware store will soon close, Pringle actually isn’t going anywhere. Pismo Garden Art, his business located adjacent to the hardware store, will soon expand and move into the building.
“We have things that you cannot find anywhere else,” said Pringle “Very unusual, whimsical, and we have a lot of them. We carry a huge selection, so we’re pretty much doing the same thing, just in a different category.”
Pringle notes that transitioning to a full-time nursery business will offer a reduced pace and allow him to spend more time away from the grueling day-to-day operations of running a hardware store.
“It was a vicious cycle, fun, but it was a vicious cycle and the nursery will be totally different, we carry one-of-a-kind items, so when it’s gone, you never knew what it was!” said Pringle.
As the days slowly wind down, customers are flocking to the store to take advantage of its 50% off liquidation sale. For longtime customers, they realize that once the store closes, Pismo Beach will never be the same.
“It will be missed, not just by me, but a lot of people because it was something that was real handy for everyone around this community,” said Gravance.
Pringle says the hardware store will remain open for about three weeks. There’s no timetable established yet on when the newly expanded Pismo Garden Art will debut.
