Despite the fact that independent, family-run hardware stores are becoming increasingly rare in the era of Aces and Home Depots, Center City has long had a locally owned "personal service business" on its corner.
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Aykroyd Hardware celebrated its 70th year in business this April. Throughout that period, it has provided Center City, the larger Lehigh Valley, and beyond with product expertise, small- and large-scale customer project servicing, and nuts-and-bolts solutions.
The store at 743 N. New St. offers a variety of products, including "The Milwaukee Wall," which offers wholesale pricing on the approximately 150 different types of Milwaukee-brand tools that are kept on hand; "oddball" items like button-head socket screws in both standard and metric sizes; and a variety of lawn and gardening supplies.
In addition to many other services, Aykroyd provides locksmithing, paint color matching, product assembly, glass cutting, key programming and duplication, tool, screen, window, and light repair, as well as other services. The Bethlehem couple who founded the company in 1954, Arthur "Art" and Edith Aykroyd, are the grandparents of Peter Mickolay. Mickolay has been the store's manager for many years. He claimed that the selection is difficult to top, particularly when it goes above and beyond the strong foundation his ancestors laid.
Mickolay replied, casting a sidelong glance along the aisles, "You can buy one screw, or you can buy a box of 100." ".. Similar to that pipe, we can sell you by the foot or in entire 10-foot lengths. "We have wire in the rolls down there in the storeroom, or we sell it by the foot." He went on to say that clients can feel even more secure knowing that the Aykroyd crew believes in the products that are displayed. "We provide the individualized attention and expertise that big-box businesses typically do not provide," Mickolay stated. "I can speak from experience because I utilize a lot of the items that are here.
Thus, we give it a try, test it out, and ensure that the product is good. The store has received recognition from the community over the years for its personnel expertise, services, and assortment. A Google review from a satisfied customer, Jodi Williams, states that Aykroyd will "assist the customer who needs the thing-a-ma bob that keeps together the do-hickey on the side of the toilet flushy guy" on the store's website.
"[The store] is deceptively modest from the outside, but when you come inside, they have everything," says Michael Bianco in another review. No longer necessary to visit a big-box store. Customer Meredith Grasso stated, "As a young woman with limited understanding on hardware and appliance needs, I sometimes find shopping in hardware stores to be frightening." At Aykroyd Hardware, such is not the case! "The personnel is incredibly friendly and ready to address any queries I might have. They work hard and conduct research to locate the right part or solution for your needs at a fair price.
Mickolay mentioned two of his recent Austrian clients who were employed at Scranton's cold storage facilities while they were in the United States. After Aykroyd picked out some heated coats, the two of them drove the hour and a half to Bethlehem. At least in terms of location, Aykroyd has never gone too far from its origins. Approximately a quarter of a mile from its current location, the original Aykroyd store opened at the crossroads of Main and Goepp streets. In 1991, it relocated to its present location on New Street.
According to Mickolay, Gordon Payrow first gave his grandfather the building. People are probably familiar with that name; Payrow went on to become the mayor of the city from 1962 to 1973. After Art's death in 1985, Mickolay and his father Robert took over the business, he added. Up until last year, Edith, the grandmother of Peter and Art's wife, handled bookkeeping for the business. According to Mickolay, Aykroyd's 70th anniversary celebration fell on Edith's birthday.
Among many other recollections spanning decades, Mickolay recalled a particularly strong snowstorm in the mid-1990s, during which he and the staff at the store were outside shovelling snow, which eventually accumulated to the level of the nearby "no parking" sign.
In the future, According to Mickolay, Aykroyd buyers may expect a Tool Blitz sale event in the fall.
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