Davis Islands: Unpaid rent shuts doors of local store
Davis Islands Hardware's landlord says another mom-and-pop hardware shop may be established where it closed.
By RON MATUS
Published January 16, 2004
For a couple decades now, Davis Islands residents haven't had to run to Home Depot when they needed a new rake, a can of paint or a bag of bird seed. They could just hit the neighborhood hardware store.
Not anymore.
Davis Islands Hardware closed Dec. 29 after the owner, Andrew Lown, fell behind about $7,000 in rent. A Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy came in person to evict him.
"I'm out," Lown said last week. "If someone else wants to open up a hardware store, that's fine."
The landlord says someone else may do just that.
Robert Morris, who manages Davis Island Shopping Center, which owns the hardware store building, said he wants another mom-and-pop hardware store to fill the void. He said he is talking with a potential tenant but declined to give the name.
"Hopefully, we can come to terms in the next month or so" and reopen by April, he said.
Lown, 45, took over the store on E Davis Boulevard seven years ago. After his long-term lease with Davis Island Shopping Center expired in September 2002, he stayed on a month-to-month basis.
The center filed suit in November, after Lown reportedly failed to pay rent for October and November. In December, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Eric Myer ruled in the center's favor.
"I can't make excuses," Lown said, conceding business mistakes.
But there were other factors, too, he said: Competition from Home Depot, Publix and other chains chipped away at customers. Parking was never adequate. And personal problems mounted, including a pending divorce.
Beyond that, customers complained about erratic hours and dwindling inventory - complaints Lown said were justified.
"Every little thing, it adds up," said Lown, who lives on Davis Islands.
Some customers remained loyal to the end - and beyond.
Despite the "closed" sign, Davis Islands resident Howard Beagles stopped by last week to see if the store had two bolts he needed for a door. Instead, he found Micheal Price, a former employee, listing inventory as part of the restitution proceedings.
"I come in here a lot," Beagles said. "For nuts, bolts, paint, tools, everything."
For Beagles, Home Depot on Dale Mabry Highway is a world away. Davis Islands Hardware will continue to be his first choice if new owners "run it right," he said.
