By 1933 Ace had built a network of 38 retailers and staged its first dealer convention in Chicago so that dealers could evaluate new merchandise and decide whether or not to buy it. We have T-Shirts, shot glasses, keychains, magnets, and much more! We also rent metal detectors and have the largest stock of gold panning supplies in the area.
In July 1990, Servistar, of Butler, PA, purchased Coast to Coast for $25 million. The combined company operated stores under both names, and the combined company’s revenues grew. But the threat of larger competitors still loomed, and by the mid 1990s, it was searching for another merger partner. Hardware customers coming in his store and emergency services “customers” he’s helped over the decades, cross paths, and are often one in the same. Coast to coast in my home town bend, oregon sure seems like a long time ago.
The façade is decorated with sculptural reliefs of female figures, which are replicas of the Jean Goujon panels at the Fontaine des Innocents in Paris. So, he’ll just go back to handling his other job – owner of Coast Hardware, a Do it Best dealer, located in this town of 2,000, first settled in 1849 in the Gold Rush era, with Yosemite National Park in its backyard. Jim Dulcich, retired fireman after 54 years, is the owner of Coast Hardware. Gold Coast hardware stores retires from his town’s fire service after five decades.
Usually my dad would go to Coast to Coast while my mom shopped in nearby stores for groceries and clothing. We kids loved to go with Dad so that we could look at toys bicycles, etc., and my brothers would buy BBs for their BB guns. The man who owned the store was friendly and a good salesman, and I remember my parents talking about how they had to be careful to compare prices with the other local hardware store there before buying.
The Melameds retired in 1962 and sold the company to an investment house. But without the Melameds, Coast to Coast lost loyalty. Other wholesalers could undercut Coast to Coast’s prices, and that meant other stores could offer lower prices. When the competition was bigger and had better prices, consumers weren’t as loyal to the store.
