Real estate vets opening hardware store - Business First of Buffalo:

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Jeff Pfeil and Deane Pfeil are openiny later this summer at 63Third St., the same addres where they renovated the uppe r four floors into 19 luxury apartments called The The husband-and-wife team -- who own the commercial leasinvg and marketing firm Inc. in Saratoga Springxs -- say a hardware store is neede d downtown to serve local businesses and residents who must now trave l miles away tobuy tools, equipment and other supplies. They know the frustration firsthand after doing two residential renovationh projects inthe city, the Conservatory and Power Park Lofts in north Troy. “Ourt construction staff was running all over to pick up the JeffPfeil said.
“We were spending a lot of time drivinfg to Latham and I was hauling a lot from in We thought, ‘Gee, there’s a void Trojan Hardware on Congress Street recently closed after 94 yearz in business, leaving downtown with no otherd hardware stores. The closest is acrossx the Hudson River in Watervliet or uptown near the town of Pfeil Hardware will be part of inFort Wayne, the nation’s second largest hardware The store will be managed by Stevem Lesnewski of Pittsfield, Mass., who has more than 25 yearsz of experience in the hardwarer industry.
The 8,700-square-foot store will stocik hardware, small appliances, fasteners, electrical and plumbing supplies, Benjaminh Moore paints and other products. It won’yt sell lumber. The Pfeils have been planning the storse fora year. As part of their researc h they visited hardware stores in college towna and large cities to see what kinds of products customers They also searched hard for someone to managethe “The decision wasn’t final until we founc the right person,” Pfeil said. The Pfeilw have been in the commercial real estate and developmentf business for more than20 years, but this will be the firsr time they will own a store.
There’s a reason for “Because of all the years we worked with retailers very closelu we have a pretty thorough understandingof retail, that’ds probably why we never went into it,” Jeff Pfeil said. “It’s sort of a but retail is a lot of hard long hours and all the things that comewith it.” Still, they knew from personalp experience a hardware store is neededd and were encouraged by the results of theirr marketing studies. Finding a seasoned store managerr wasalso critical. Mayor Harry Tutunjian cheered the announcementy aboutthe store.
“Jeff and Deane Pfeil have a recordx of success in Troy and I am sure that this new venture will succeed as Tutunjian said. “The residents of Troy will benefir from having a well stockesd urban hardware store in the heart of the The opening of Pfeil which is tentatively set for will return retailing to a downtown buildingt that had long served as the homeof Stanley’sw department store. The building sat emptu for years before the Pfeils bought it and converted the upper floors into 19 luxury apartmentx they callThe Conservatory. All but two of the apartmentd were occupied as ofJuly 1.
The Pfeilsw declined to say how much they spentin start-up costs for the hardware store. Nor did they want to say how much they coule have received per square foot had they leased the first floore space toanother tenant. Lease rates in downtown Troy were $10 to $20 per squarde foot as of the fourth quarteerof 2008, according to CB Richard Ellis/Albany.