‘It’s been a great honor.’ After 40 years, Columbia hardware store is closing its doors
If running a hardware store didn’t work out, well, Ronnie Wood figured he could go back to computer programming.
Luckily, he didn’t need a Plan B.
Forty years after opening Wood True Value Hardware store on Broad River Road in Columbia, where he’s sold tools and odds and ends, cut keys, mixed paint and given advice to countless customers he always tried to greet by name, Wood is closing the store.
“It’s just been a long haul. It was a good business for me and my family,” said Wood, who opened the store in 1981 after previously working as a computer programmer for the State Law Enforcement Division. “It’s been a great honor to be there in that community.”
Opening Wood True Value was quite a career shift at the time; he had a few things to learn.
His family learned the business right alongside him. He and his wife, Diana, raised their two daughters, Caroline and Heidi, in the store, where they worked and learned the ins and outs of the family business.
His old high school football coach shopped at the store. Nearby churches kept accounts there. Folks from nearby auto shops would come by. Over time, the store went from having mostly male customers to, now, probably more women, Wood said.
He’s thankful to the customers who made the choice to shop at his smaller, independently owned store in place of big-box chain stores.
“The sad part is the mom-and-pop stores are disappearing,” said Mark Stewart, who lives near the store and has shopped there for some 30 years. “You could find a lot of odd things here that you won’t find at Lowe’s or Home Depot — which is a problem, because this is a dying, family-owned concept.”
There’s a deeply personal level of service at a store like Wood True Value that both customers and employees say they’ll miss.
“It’s sad, you know? This has been a really good community. I’ve had a lot of good people here, and I’m going to miss them all,” said Kim Smart, who worked at the store for the past six years.
On Wednesday, she walked through the aisles making deals with customers on shelving and wall fixtures, which now stood mostly empty. “The thing that was special about this place, say a woman came in here and she really didn’t know what she was doing, we could help her. ... They knew they could come in here and there was always someone that could help them, plumbing, electrical, whatever they need. They could come in and get two, three screws, things like that.”
About six years ago, Wood opened a second store, Lexington True Value Hardware, on Augusta Highway. It was bigger and required more attention from Wood. Now 74 years old, Wood found that running two businesses was draining — “I just figured out there’s not 35 hours in a day,” he joked.
He hadn’t taken a day off in five years. It was time to slow down and scale back.
Friday will be the last day in business for the Broad River Road store. Until then, most items are on sale, up to half off.
The Lexington store will remain open, and some of the employees from Broad River Road, including Smart, will be moving over, Wood said.
Wood True Value is located at 1332 Broad River Road in Columbia. Lexington True Value is at 2028 Augusta Highway.
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 12:54 PM.
