Hardware store closing in June.
By: Josh Appelbaum
After nearly 80 years, Cranbury’s neighborhood hardware store is planning to shut its doors.
Cranbury Paint & Hardware, which opened in 1926, will liquidate its inventory over the next five weeks and close shop by June 1.
Owner Rocco D’Armiento of Yardley, whose family has owned the North Main Street business since 1976, cites the opening of a Home Depot in East Windsor last year and the proliferation of other chain hardware stores like Lowe’s and corporate stores selling hardware and home wares, such as Target and Wal-Mart, as reasons for the closure.
Mr. D’Armiento, a former president of the Cranbury Business & Professional Association, has sold the Cranbury Paint and Hardware building. The buyers are independent business people, and he said the new store will sell home furnishings.
After a year of steadily declining business, Mr. D’Armiento said, now was the time to pack it in.
"We were pulling customers from a large area, it wasn’t just local people," Mr. D’Armiento said. "But between the overhead, the rising insurance costs and the fact that we were losing money, we just couldn’t stand to deal with it."
He said the store has always enjoyed a loyal and steady customer base of Cranbury residents, but people from surrounding areas were drawn to the corporate retailers.
Aside from his own business, Mr. D’Armiento said, everyone loses out when a township business closes.
"It takes away from the whole town," Mr. D’Armiento said. "The store did something for the town. We were heavily involved in helping other businesses, the Lions and sports teams in the area."
On Tuesday, the store began a liquidation sale with items marked down between 13 and 50 percent. Mr. D’Armiento said he wants to sell as much merchandise as possible in order to pay suppliers and any outstanding bills. He said he is taking a financial hit by liquidating so much merchandise.
"It really hurts, selling things below cost," Mr. D’Armiento said.
Mr. D’Armiento has always prided himself on the fact that customers using his store received a better level of service and higher quality products then at other places.
He said stores like Home Depot have eaten away at the sales of big-ticket items like lawn mowers and barbecue grills, which dropped by half in the past year but he contends price was never the issue.
"Our prices were exactly the same," Mr. D’Armiento said. "But we would assemble grills and lawn mowers, gas them up, oil it and service it when it needed repairs. With repairs, people were getting the same grill at a cheaper price the manufacturers set a lowest advertised price."
Mr. D’Armiento said the trend has been that consumers go to big retailers for high-priced items and stop at Cranbury Paint & Hardware for convenience items, like nuts, bolts or screws.
On Monday, the store was closed while Mr. D’Armiento and manager Joe Russo readied the store for the going-out-of-business sale.
Several regular customers knocked on the front door to see if they could pick up an item or two, all expressing sorrow at the store’s closing.
The Rev. John Foster of the United Methodist Church stopped in to purchase some S-hooks and consoled Mr. D’Armiento.
"I’ve been through some similar situations where I experienced big changes in my life, and you’ll get through it and everything will be fine," the Rev. Foster said.
Mr. D’Armiento, who has four children, was certified as a real estate broker in March and said he will work for the Princeton Junction Prudential branch.
"When I started, I thought I’d do real estate part time," Mr. D’Armiento said. "But since we’re closing, I will be in the office full time."
He said he plans to sell houses in the Cranbury area, but is devoting most of his time to the liquidation sale and the closing. He said it will probably take about five weeks to sell all of the store’s merchandise.
Although he is coming to terms with the business’ closure, Mr. D’Armiento said he is sad the store’s legacy will end.
"I’ve owned the business for 15 years, been working it for 30 years," Mr. D’Armiento said. "The store has been here for 80 years. But it’s been very tough over the past year. I can’t believe it’s closing. I’m really upset."

