SEQUIM — Rookard’s Hardware, which has been open for more than 30 years and in the same family since 1988, will close soon, forced out by competitive pressures and bad timing.
Owner Willy Rookard said the opening of The Home Depot in January put a dent in the store’s business from which it hasn’t recovered.
His store, like other hardware stores in the area, prepared for the superstore’s arrival by ensuring that prices stayed competitive and customer service was at its highest level.
“We knew we were going to take a hit when they first opened,” he said.
The conventional thinking, he said, is that a new large retailer will have an impact for six to eight months, and then business will rebound.
That’s happened to some degree at the store on West Washington Street, but Rookard said overall he’s lost an average of 125 customers a day.
“I can see an increase, but it’s not coming back quickly enough,” Rookard said.
“We’re down considerably. And now we’re going into the slow months.”
