Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day falls on May 10 this year, and we would like to take this opportunity to honor all of the mothers who work so hard both at home and around our stores to make Cole Hardware what it is today!

The “mother” of Cole Hardware, if you will, was my late grandmother, Margie (or Nana, as we grandkids called her). When Nana and Papa (Dave Karp) started Cole Hardware, it was a two-person operation. At that time, our original Cole Street location was less than half the size it is today, occupying just the space that now serves as the store’s warehouse. The two of them worked seven days a week, Papa waiting on customers and Nana running the register, both of them learning as they went. They also established themselves as a go-to source for window repair and worked those jobs as a team throughout the day. Nana would use a heating element to melt and scrape out putty left behind in the window frames, and Papa would cut the glass and do the refitting.

In every conversation I had with my late grandfather, he expressed his appreciation for Nana’s hard work and support throughout the years that allowed the family and the business to thrive. Running the stores is a much more complicated operation than it was back in the day, but if it wasn’t for Nana’s and Papa’s tireless work and vision early on, none of us would be working here today. For Mother’s Day, in honoring our roots, we honor Margie as the lady who helped to start it all.

We also salute all of the mamas who are working hard in the stores today! (That is not to say that their work is more appreciated than that of the rest of our crew members—let’s be clear—but it is Mother’s Day!) It’s times like these when I’m especially in awe of these crew members who are a positive force at work and then go home to be a rock and a role model there. I don’t know how they do it, but we at Cole Hardware are so lucky that they do!

Of course, the #1 mom in my life is my own mother—Janet—whose support and wisdom are also paramount to the success of Cole Hardware, my dad Rick, my brother David, and myself. We are all lucky to have her love and guidance contribute to our well-being. Cole Hardware thanks all the moms who have helped make us who we are throughout the years, and we wish you all a very happy Mother’s Day.

—Adrianna