Newtown Hardware Celebrates 30 Years Of Service

By Nancy K. Crevier

In November of 1977 when Michael Sorrentino bought the 1,000-square-foot Teeny’s Hardware Store in the Queen Street Shopping Center, the former US Tobacco controller was looking for a change. “I was a corporate misfit,” laughed Mr Sorrentino. “I thought that owning the hardware store would be a simpler life.”

“Teeny’s was just a skeleton of a store,” recalled Mr Sorrentino. “I had a family and had bought a house in Ridgefield, so I knew I had to do something to make this store work for us,” said Mr Sorrentino.

The first day of business in the Queen Street Shopping Center, the newly christened Newtown Hardware took in just $27. “I was a little panicky, I’ll tell you,” said Mr Sorrentino.

But by adding merchandise from hardware to paint to household goods, the store began to attract and keep local customers. As his business grew, the need for additional space also grew. Newtown Hardware first expanded into a part of what was then Mrs Anderson’s Food, and in 1981 the store expanded to fill 6,000 square feet in what had been the IGA store.

When the lease was not renewed in the Queen Street Shopping Plaza, Mr Sorrentino bought the land at 59-61 Church Hill Road in 1995 and built the building now occupied by Newtown Hardware and by The Drug Center. “We probably have somewhat over 6,000 square feet of space here now,” said Mr Sorrentino. The funny thing is, he said, that after printing up all of the business cards and papers for the new address, 61 Church Hill Road, Newtown, the post office informed him that his address was actually in Sandy Hook, not Newtown. “Apparently, somewhere in between the Drug Center and here is the Sandy Hook line,” he said. The glitch was worked out, though, allowing Newtown Hardware store to maintain its Newtown address.

Mr Sorrentino has grown the store into the successful business that it is with a lot of hard work. “It has been a satisfying business, but you have to love to work. Thank God for my family who put up with it. My wife, Valerie, backed me all the way and all four of my children have worked here.”

Customers are likely familiar with one of his sons, Dan, who has remained on staff as a store manager. His nephew, Joseph Summo, is also a manager at Newtown Hardware.

In some ways, life was simpler when he bought into the hardware business, Mr Sorrentino said. He has seen a number of changes in the business over the 30 years, but none so great as the selection of goods now available to his customers. “Essentially, the items offered have remained the same, but the number of selections has changed and I honestly think it confuses people,” he said. As an example, Mr Sorrentino pointed out the 16 feet of light bulbs he sells. “There used to be just four feet of space for light bulbs, and even what I have now doesn’t accommodate all of the choices that are out there. Paints used to be about 20 colors. Now we have 600 choices of color. Personally, I think there are too many choices,” said Mr Sorrentino.

Big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s have threatened independently owned hardware stores in recent years, but they are not a concern to this longtime businessman. “We don’t have to compete with them. We have our own niche. We can get people in and out and guide people to what they need. They can get what they need, and get out quickly.” To that end, Newtown Hardware’s motto is, “Your time is valuable and we value your time,” said Mr Sorrentino. And unlike the megastores in which one can wander for hours, the more intimate size of an independent store like Newtown Hardware offers a convenience factor that keeps people coming to his store, he believes.

It has become common practice for businesses to remain open on Sundays, and for a period of time, Newtown Hardware fell into step. They no longer open on Sundays, though, said Mr Sorrentino, for one simple reason: “Everyone should be with their families on one day. We will resist Sunday openings as long as we can.”

For the most part, Newtown Hardware customers can find whatever hardware, electrical, or plumbing materials they need, said Mr Sorrentino, but if the store does not carry an item, he is able to direct people to the best place to find it. “That is often the Internet these days,” he said. “We direct a lot of people to the Internet for specific parts nobody will carry.”

Thirty years of customer service has given Mr Sorrentino a comfortable handle on dealing with people, and he has had the opportunity to watch toddlers who tagged along to the hardware store with mom or dad grow into young men and women with toddlers of their own, still shopping at Newtown Hardware. He and his staff know most of the customers, he said, some so well that when the business moved from Queen Street to Church Hill Road, ten of his customers volunteered to help him move.

 “It has been a great business, thanks to the town,” Mr Sorrentino said. “The people have been loyal to us.” As payback, he said, Newtown Hardware has decided to donate to the town the two winter flags for the flagpole every year. “The town has been good to us,” said Mr Sorrentino.

Three decades of helping people and building a reliable and valuable business in town has not dampened Mr Sorrentino’s enthusiasm for Newtown Hardware. “The time has gone quickly.” He gives no thought to retiring, he said, even at age 70. “I’ll just keep on going. I enjoy it too much.”