Around the Web: Housing slowdown dooms hardware store
Durkin’s Hardware, an independent hardware store in Eudora, Kan., will close its doors at the end of October due to the decline in housing starts. Owner John Durkin told The Eudora News that sales have suffered ever since the slowdown in new home construction, which contributed to the demise of several other businesses in town.
Only 12 homes were built in Eudora in 2008, up from the nine single-family units the previous year, according to the article. When Durkin opened his store in 2004, housing starts had reached 108 units. The year before, 117 homes were built in the city.
Durkin told the newspaper it was especially difficult to operate a hardware store in a town that’s considered a bedroom community.
“[Eudora] probably should be big enough to support a hardware store, but there are so many people who work out of town, and it’s convenient for them to go somewhere else,” Durkin said.