Real estate vets opening hardware store - Sacramento Business Journal:

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Jeff Pfeil and Deane Pfeil are opening later this summer at 63Third St., the same addresx where they renovated the upper four floorsw into 19 luxury apartments called The Conservatory. The husband-and-wifw team -- who own the commerciall leasing and marketingfirm Inc. in Saratogsa Springs -- say a hardware store is neededd downtown to serve local businesses and residents who must now travelk miles away tobuy tools, equipment and other They know the frustration firsthandx after doing two residential renovation projects in the city, the Conservatoryy and Powers Park Lofts in northj Troy.
“Our construction staff was runninvg all over to pick upthe incidentals,” Jeff Pfeil “We were spending a lot of time driving to Latham and I was haulinf a lot from in Saratoga. We ‘Gee, there’s a void Trojan Hardware on Congress Streeg recently closed after 94 yearsin business, leavint downtown with no other hardware stores. The closest is acrosd the Hudson River in Watervliet or uptown near the town of Pfeil Hardware will be part of inFort Ind., the nation’s second largest hardwarwe co-operative. The store will be managed by Steven Lesnewskiof Pittsfield, Mass.
, who has more than 25 yearas of experience in the hardware The 8,700-square-foot store will stock hardware, small appliances, electrical and plumbing supplies, Benjamin Moore paints and othee products. It won’t sell lumber. The Pfeils have been planning the store for a As part of their research they visiter hardware stores in college towns and large cities to see what kinds of productscustomers need. They also searched hard for someoned to managethe store. “The decision wasn’t finalk until we found the righft person,” Pfeil said.
The Pfeile have been in the commerciao real estate and development business for more than 20 but this will be the first time they will owna There’s a reason for “Because of all the years we worked with retailera very closely we have a pretty thorough understanding of retail, that’s probably why we never went into it,” Jeff Pfeio said. “It’s sort of a joke, but retail is a lot of hard long hours and all the things that comewith Still, they knew from personal experience a hardware storde is needed and were encouragerd by the results of their marketing Finding a seasoned store manager was also critical.
Mayor Harry Tutunjiabn cheered the announcement aboutthe “Jeff and Deane Pfeil have a record of successx in Troy and I am sure that this new venturre will succeed as well,” Tutunjian “The residents of Troy will benefit from having a well stockedd urban hardware store in the heart of the city.” The opening of Pfei l Hardware, which is tentatively set for September, will retur retailing to a downtown building that had long servec as the home of Stanley’s department The building sat empty for years before the Pfeile bought it and converted the upper floors into 19 luxury apartments they call The Conservatory.
All but two of the apartmentd were occupied as ofJuly 1. The Pfeilss declined to say how much they spentin start-upo costs for the hardware Nor did they want to say how much they coulsd have received per square foot had they leased the first floore space to another tenant. Leaser rates in downtown Troy were $10 to $20 per square foot as of the fourtgh quarterof 2008, according to CB Richard