From a tiny tool repair shop in St. Louis to a leading retail chain with 38 stores in six states, Central Hardware was a classic story of the American entrepreneurial spirit. Its history is a microcosm of U.S. business history in the 20th Century -- started by newly arrived Jewish immigrants in 1903, surviving and expanding during two world wars and the Great Depression, pioneering hardware retailing practices that still serve as templates for the modern home center industry, and disappearing in 1996 in the high-stakes corporate turmoil of American capitalism. More than that, Central Hardware was an essential thread in the economic and social fabric of St. Louis, as much a part of daily life in the city as the St. Louis Cardinals and Anheuser-Busch beer. Ask anyone who lived in St. Louis from the 1950s through the 1980s about Central Hardware and they'll tell a story of shopping there on Saturdays with their father, or making their first major home repair purchase with help from one of the orange-coated experts. The company's legacy lives on in the retailing model it created that was adopted by Home Depot and other industry giants. Tom Cohen tells the story of Central Hardware and his family that ran it -- his great-grandfather Morris, the founder; his great uncle, Julius; his father, Stanley; and his brother, Jim. Part historical narrative, part family memoir, the Central Hardware story captures the essence of the promise and opportunity of the American Dream.
