Hedlund’s Hardware Houses Nearly 90 Years of History in Broad Ripple
Writer / Steven Penn
Photographer / Brian Brosmer
“Hedlund’s Hardware is like scotch, you have to acquire a taste sometimes for us,” says owner Tony Hedlund.
However, even the most ardent whiskey connoisseur would be hard-pressed to find a bottle that’s been around as long as Hedlund’s Hardware.
Hedlund’s Hardware, located at 2369 E. 62nd Street, has been serving the community on the same corner for nearly 90 years. Walking into the family-owned hardware store can be a bit of sensory overload for customers who aren’t familiar. The roughly 12,000 square foot store is loaded, from wall to wall, with tools, equipment, hardware and much more.
Hedlund, who has worked here since 1974, represents the fourth generation working at the family-owned hardware store. Currently, Hedlund runs the store with six total employees, including his brother Mike and his cousin Doug.
Hedlund’s family has been running the store since 1929, when his great-grandparents owned it.
After running into tax problems, Hedlund says his great-grandparents sold it to his grandparents, Claude and Mary in 1935 for $525.
While the store has been at the same corner since the late 1920s, Hedlund’s Hardware has gone through plenty of changes since the beginning.
“It was a general store (at first),” Hedlund says. “We sold groceries and had a meat market. My grandfather Claude was a butcher. We also sold fuel.”
Hedlund’s Hardware also repaired cars and sold tires in the earlier days.
In the 1950s, with supermarkets like Marsh popping up all over the city, Hedlund says they started transitioning to a more hardware-focused business.
Hedlund says in 1953, they started tearing down the original building – an 800 square foot house – to begin construction on the current 12,000 square foot building that’s standing now.
Hedlund says during his time at the store, he’s had a front row seat to all the changes in and around Broad Ripple. He says when he first started working at Hedlund’s Hardware, they were still pumping gas. There were also five gas stations right on the corner of what is now Keystone and Broad Ripple Avenue.
“Everything else has changed around us,” he says. “Except that’s still the original gas station building there where the Goodwill is. The car wash (Sparkling Image Car Wash) was built in the late 50s or early 60s and that building hasn’t really changed either since I’ve been here. Everything else has pretty much changed.”
Hedlund says he sees his hardware store as a landmark as you enter Broad Ripple.
“We’ve been here so long we’re kind of like the marquee – we’re the gateway to Broad Ripple,” he says.
These days, Hedlund says they’re most known for hardware and some power equipment.
In terms of hardware, they’re especially popular for having hard to find items like Glazing Tools.
“We’re known for when everybody else doesn’t have it, you come to us,” Hedlund says. “We’ll probably have it. We have the oddball stuff, the stuff that nobody else carries.”
For instance, Hedlund says they carry retro fittings and parts that you might not be able to find at the bigger chain hardware stores.
Going back to the beginning, Hedlund says they’ve always been great at adapting, which is one reason why they’ve been able to stay in business so long.
An example of that is Hedlund Hardware’s foray into e-commerce.
Hedlund says the majority of their business now comes from selling over the internet through e-commerce sites like eBay.
“We’re mostly internet-based here now,” he says. “This is a little museum we keep going. This is like a working warehouse. We average a little more than 100 packages a day out of here, between the mail and the UPS trucks.”
But even though a lot of their business comes via the internet, they still pride themselves on their knowledge and ability to help customers.
“Product knowledge is one of our keys,” Hedlund says. “We know what we have, and we know what it does. Everybody here is an old guy with a lot of knowledge. Between me, Doug and Mike, we have over 100 years’ experience in hardware retail.”
However, Hedlund understands that his store might not be for everyone due to products literally being wall-to-wall.
“Some people can’t even walk through the door,” he says. “They’ll turn around and walk right back out because they can’t take the massive clutter.”
As for the future, Hedlund says they have no plans for slowing down.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he says. “We’re going to stay and keep the museum open. We’ll just keep it running as an old-fashioned hardware store for as long as we can. We’ll adapt to the world.”
For more information about Hedlund’s Hardware, visit hedlundhardware.com or call 317-255-7278.
