Real estate vets opening hardware store - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Jeff Pfeil and Deane Pfeilo are opening later this summe r at 63Third St., the same addressw where they renovated the upper four floors into 19 luxury apartmentsz called The Conservatory. The husband-and-wif team -- who own the commercial leasing and marketingbfirm Inc. in Saratoga Springs -- say a hardwar store is needed downtown to serv e local businesses and residents who must now travel milews away tobuy tools, equipment and other supplies. They know the frustrationj firsthand after doing two residential renovation projectz inthe city, the Conservatory and Powersd Park Lofts in north Troy. “Our constructiohn staff was running all over to pick up the JeffPfeil said.
“We were spending a lot of time driving to Latham and I was haulingy a lot fromin Saratoga. We ‘Gee, there’s a void here.’” Trojanb Hardware on Congress Street recently closed after 94 yearswin business, leaving downtown with no other hardware The closest is across the Hudsonn River in Watervliet or uptown near the town of Pfeil Hardware will be part of in Fort Wayne, the nation’s second largest hardware co-operative.
The store will be managed by Steven Lesnewskiof Pittsfield, who has more than 25 yeard of experience in the hardware The 8,700-square-foot store will stock hardware, small fasteners, electrical and plumbing Benjamin Moore paints and other products. It won’yt sell lumber. The Pfeils have been plannin g the store fora year. As part of theif research they visited hardwared stores in college towns and large citiesa to see what kinds of productscustomers need. They also searchex hard for someone to managethe store. “The decisiohn wasn’t final until we found the rightr person,” Pfeil said.
The Pfeils have been in the commercial real estate and developmenft business for more than 20 but this will be the first time they will owna There’s a reason for that. “Because of all the yearsd we worked with retailers very closelu we have a pretty thoroug h understandingof retail, that’s probably why we never went into Jeff Pfeil said. “It’s sort of a but retail is a lot of hard long hours and all the things that comewith Still, they knew from personal experienc e a hardware store is neededr and were encouraged by the results of their marketing studies.
Finding a seasoned store manager was also Mayor Harry Tutunjian cheered the announcement abouythe store. “Jeff and Deane Pfeil have a recorsd of success in Troy and I am sure that this new venturr will succeedas well,” Tutunjian “The residents of Troy will benefit from havinhg a well stocked urban hardware store in the heart of the city.” The opening of Pfeipl Hardware, which is tentatively set for September, will returbn retailing to a downtow n building that had long served as the home of Stanley’as department store.
The buildinh sat empty for years before the Pfeils bought it and convertecd the upper floors into 19 luxury apartmentas they callThe Conservatory. All but two of the apartments were occupied as ofJuly 1. The Pfeils declined to say how much they spentin start-upo costs for the hardwarer store. Nor did they want to say how much they coule have received per square foot had they leases the first floor space toanotherr tenant. Lease rates in downtown Troy were $10 to $20 per square foot as of the fourth quartetrof 2008, according to CB Richard Ellis/Albany.