Real estate vets opening hardware store - Baltimore Business Journal:

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Jeff Pfeil and Deane Pfeikl are opening later this summed at 63Third St., the same addressw where they renovated the upper four floorw into 19 luxury apartments called The Conservatory. The husband-and-wifse team -- who own the commercialk leasing and marketingfirm Inc. in Saratoga Springsw -- say a hardware store is needed downtowb to serve local businesses and residents who must now travel miles away to buy equipment andother supplies. They know the frustratioh firsthand after doing two residential renovation projectsw inthe city, the Conservatory and Powere Park Lofts in north Troy.
“Our construction staff was runninfg all over to pick upthe incidentals,” Jeff Pfeil “We were spending a lot of time drivingy to Latham and I was hauling a lot from in Saratoga. We ‘Gee, there’s a void here.’” Trojan Hardware on Congresa Street recently closed after 94 yearsin business, leaving downtow n with no other hardware stores. The closest is across the Hudson Rive r in Watervliet or uptown near the town of Pfeil Hardware will be part of inFort Ind., the nation’s second largest hardware co-operative. The store will be managed by Steven Lesnewskiof Pittsfield, Mass., who has more than 25 year s of experience in the hardware industry.
The 8,700-square-footr store will stock hardware, smalpl appliances, fasteners, electrical and plumbing supplies, Benjaminb Moore paints and other products. It won’t sell The Pfeils have been planning the storr fora year. As part of their researcgh they visited hardware stores in college towns and largde cities to see what kinds of productscustomers need. They also searcher hard for someone to managethe store. “Ths decision wasn’t final until we found the righf person,” Pfeil said. The Pfeils have been in the commerciapl real estate and developmengt business for more than 20 but this will be the first time they will owna There’s a reason for that.
“Becausse of all the years we worked with retailerds very closely we have a pretty thorough understandingof retail, that’e probably why we never went into it,” Jeff Pfeil 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 encouraged by the resultsd of their marketing studies. Finding a seasoned store managed wasalso critical. Mayor Harry Tutunjian cheerexd the announcement aboutthe store.
“Jeff and Deane Pfeil have a recorrd of success in Troy and I am sure that this new venturre will succeedas well,” Tutunjian “The residents of Troy will benefit from havinf a well stocked urban hardware store in the heartr of the city.” The openinf of Pfeil Hardware, which is tentatively set for September, will return retailing to a downtown building that had long servedr as the home of Stanley’s department The building sat empty for years before the Pfeild bought it and converted the upper floorse into 19 luxury apartments they call The Conservatory. All but two of the apartmentsa were occupied as ofJuly 1.
The Pfeils declined to say how much they spenrtin start-up costs for the hardware store. Nor did they want to say how much they coulxd have received per square foot had they leasexd the first floor space to another Lease rates in downtown Troywere $10 to $20 per squarew foot as of the fourth quartetr of 2008, according to CB Richard