Lynn Balochko visited Etna's Winschel Hardware on a Tuesday afternoon to pick up a key that she had made. Store owner John Winschel, 61, knew her by name, like most of his customers.
Balochko, of Etna, said that she developed a friendship with “Johnny” through five years of visiting the shop.
“Have a good day. Keep out of trouble,” he jokingly told her.
Winschel has a lifetime of familiarity with the store and its clientele.
In 1888, his great-grandparents sold items in a cart down the street. After his great-grandfather died, his great-grandmother opened Winschel's Department Store in 1906, in the current building. She and her six children resided in a third-story apartment. Winschel thinks his family converted it into a hardware store after World War II ended.
Winschel lived with his family in the building until he was 4 and they moved to Hampton.
“They had a fenced-in area on our flat roof that was our playground and where we probably had stationary tubs as our swimming pool,” he said.
When Winschel was 8, he started working for his father, John Jr. “Jack,” at the store. Following their shifts, he and his siblings received paychecks in the form of Isaly's Skyscraper Cones or fish sandwiches from a local restaurant.
After graduating from Hampton High School in 1974, Winschel started working at the store full-time.
“Even as a young man, it was kind of, ‘you're next in line to take the store over.' I could have done something else, but I chose this. And it hasn't been a bad decision.”
Winschel's sister, Mary Macecevic, has assisted at the store since her husband, Rich, — a Winschel Hardware employee — recently died. Winschel has one other employee and is looking to hire another part-time. His father, 90, occasionally helps out.
Winschel said that the store would not be in business if his father had not joined the Do It Best Corp. in 1979. The corporation provides the business with computer updates and circulars, but Winschel maintains the look of his store. He purchases much of his inventory from the Do It Best's catalog of 70,000 items.
What he doesn't stock he will order for customers, such as holiday lights for Cindy Sarver to decorate her Etna business, Industrial Machine Works, for Easter. Sarver said that she has shopped at Winschel's for 35 years.
“I'd rather buy from them than order online. They have special orders that the big box stores wouldn't,” she said.
While Winschel admitted that sales have decreased the past two years, he thinks his store's merchandise selection, prices and service help his establishment compete with big box stores.
“I think a major reason Winschel Hardware has withstood the test of time is their personal service to customers,” said Borough Manager Mary Ellen Ramage. “They know their customers, they care about their customers and it shows in their service. They are a bedrock in our community, almost the epicenter of the business district.”
Winschel plans to retire at 65 to explore his bucket list.
“I love my job and I love Etna. Will I miss it? I will miss my customers,” he said.
He will try to sell the store as a unit but fears it will close because it doesn't generate a lot of money.
“It will be 130 some years that it's been here, which is longer than anyone in our family ever thought it would last. When I took over, it was already in the time of the Home Depots and Lowe's … but we survived.”
Erica Cebzanov is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
