Brilhart Hardware: a Scottdale institution for 97 years

'Make a right after the Everson Bridge and you'll see our sign,' is how employee Fran Baker directs prospective customers to the store, although Scottdale residents need no help finding it.

Brilhart Hardware has been a Scottdale institution for 97 years now.

When asked how long he'd been shopping there, Veryl Townsend of Alverton replied, 'Oh, I dunno, maybe 25, 30 years.'

Opened in 1904 as a 'little narrow store, maybe 20 feet by 50 feet,' as current owner/manager Jerry Shenk describes it, Brilhart Hardware now fills two-and-a-half floors. In addition, there's a lawn mower shop in back, for a total of 12,000-square-feet of selling space. Still, Brilhart Hardware is the epitome of a neighborhood store, located across the street from a residential area and only three blocks from the center of town.

Office secretary Linda Beale says that Brilhart employees are just one big happy, and sometimes unhappy, family.

The first part of that candid admission appeared accurate. The staff was very customer friendly and accommodating, and seemed comfortable and content doing what they were doing.

Maybe this attitude trickles down from Shenk. In contrast to his gruff, no-nonsense appearance, compliments of his buzz cut and mustache, in conversation he's often smiling or laughing and very amiable.

The Brilhart staff prides itself on its extensive knowledge of the uses of the products it sells.

'Customers here are looking for personal service which most of the larger chain stores can't offer,' said one Brilhart employee.

She said the ladies who work in the lawn and garden department can tell a customer about every type of grass seed, and most of the employees in the hardware department have some knowledge of plumbing and wiring.

And department manager Wes Patton has a lot. One minute he's explaining to a customer that the uniqueness of faucet stems make it unlikely that he's going to be able to replace the one he brought in without carefully checking the specific measurements, the next he's on the phone telling a customer how to install a stainless steel plate in his cooler.

Most of Brilhart Hardware's employees have been there for more than eight years, according to Shenk, making it hard for a high school kid working summers at one of the chain hardware stores to compete with their knowledgeability.

Some were there before his father, Charles, bought the store in 1981.

Appliance manager Jim Brilhart, nephew of Earl, has been there since he was 15, putting his time there at over 50 years.

Vince Wolak, the store's full-time appliance repairman, has been working there for 26 years. He explains that the relationship he develops with customers, especially the older ones, is a large part of the store's appeal.

'You know them when you're young. Now you're going into their homes. For a lot of them it's a matter of trust.'

'We know most customers by name,' said Shenk. This is easy to believe, since, as one employee said, 'We have loyal customers. We'll see some two or three times some days.'

Charles Shenk ran the store for Earl Brilhart, whose father, C. A. Brilhart, founded the store. Then Earl hit retirement age. None of his children wanted to run the business, so he offered to sell it to Charles.

Charles agreed to the deal if his son Jerry would come home and help him run it. The construction Jerry was involved with in Indiana was at a stand-still with the oil crunch of the late '70s, so Jerry agreed to come home and help his father.

Jerry and his wife, Audra, became owners of the store three years ago.

The store is part of the True Value cooperative. The co-op, a collection of over 6,000 hardware stores nationwide, obtains cheaper unit prices by buying in bulk. Shenk admitted that even the buying power this affords doesn't enable the stores to equal the prices of the nationwide chains.

'We give you the lowest price we can - a fair price,' says Shenk, though he admits, 'We can't match their (the chain stores) prices.'

But Brilhart Hardware is 97 years old and still running strong. That's because customers are willing to pay the slightly higher price for the convenience and service Brilhart Hardware offers.

Conrad Mast of Scottdale has been shopping at Brilhart since he moved into town four years ago. He named location and service as the store's biggest attractions.

'If I can't find what I want, they'll help me find it, unlike Wal-Mart or K-Mart.' he said. 'Just try to order something from one of them.'

Audra Shenk also believes in the store's personal advantage. She said, 'People like dealing with people they know - especially knowing a repairman who will be coming into your house.'

Repairs and service are another area in which Brilhart prides itself. Brilhart employs Wolak as its full-time appliance repairman, and Shenk says he has one of the best lawnmower repair programs around.

It's the rare hardware store that sells appliances, but Brilhart sells refrigerators, ovens, gas ranges, washers and dryers. They even sell televisions.

'We have a history of selling appliances,' said store secretary Linda Beal. 'There's an old black-and-white picture somewhere around here of Mr. Brilhart standing next to a hot water tank he sold.'

Audra said Brilhart sells televisions as a convenience to their customers who don't want to leave town to buy one.

Adjoining the appliance area is a little greenhouse that contains a few varieties of flowers and vegetables and some deck furniture.

Each year, starting in September and ending in December, the upper floor of Brilhart is transformed into a Christmas wonderland.

'We have a big display of 12 decorated trees lined up along the greenhouse wall,' said Audra. 'That way, people can see how the ornaments look on the trees, and can just take whatever they want off of the trees.'

The Shenks and their employees are especially proud of their unique Christmas inventory - including music boxes, porcelain houses, fiber optics (a new option in tree lighting), and large musical snow globes (about a foot in diameter).

Audra explains: 'Like the ones you had as a kid, where you shake it up to get a blizzard, only bigger.'

Assuming Brilhart Hardware continues decades-long success, today's kids, and their kids' kids, will be shopping there for snow globes and faucet stems alike for many years to come.