{"id":11081,"date":"2024-02-15T18:20:11","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T18:20:11","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"Concord-Aubuchon-Hardware-store-downtown-is-closing-54033089\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=11081","title":{"rendered":"After a long\u00a0run, the Aubuchon Hardware store on Main Street in Concord\u00a0closing its doors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The
The Aubuchon Hardware store on South Main Street in Concord announced it will close down on March 18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"The
The Aubuchon Hardware store on South Main Street in Concord announced it will close down on March 16.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Aubuchon
Aubuchon assistant manager Peter Taber (left) assists shopper Jack Higgins of Alton on Tuesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Aubuchon
Aubuchon assistant manager Peter Taber of Pittsfield works in his office on Tuesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Aubuchon
Aubuchon assistant manager Peter Taber of Pittsfield works in his office on Tuesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>

For regular customers like Dick and Andrea Bean of Pembroke who stopped by the Aubuchon store on South Main Street this week, the 40% off sale was exciting, but the news that the business is shutting down was beyond disappointing.<\/p>\n

The Beans came for the sale. They bought a canister of white paint for their grandson\u2019s school project. They often shop for fertilizer and plants to place at grave sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very, very sad that the store\u2019s closing.\u201d Dick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a shame because it\u2019s convenient,\u201d added Andrea. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to worry about the crowds like at Home Depot or Lowe\u2019s.\u201d <\/p>\n

The store announced this week that it will close down on March 18.<\/p>\n

As far as assistant manager Peter Taber could recall, the Aubuchon Hardware store on South Main Street, a staple in the city for more than four decades, made more money in one day this week than it typically averages for an entire week.<\/p>\n

For all the wrong reasons, though.<\/p>\n

Taber said his staff barely had time to breathe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, the place was crazy,\u201d Taber said about the start of the going-out-of-business sale that began Monday. \u201cBusy all day, like seven times the normal sales. And now today, it slowed down a little bit. But we did a normal amount of sales that we\u2019d have done for an entire work day by 9.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Higgins of Alton pushed a cart, similar to the ones you find at grocery stores. He had window cleaner, light bulbs and motor oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always sad when a retail store goes away,\u201d Higgins said, \u201cbut if the people don\u2019t support it, then what are you going to do?\u201d <\/p>\n

Jennifer Lombardo has lived in Concord for 30 years, meaning she\u2019s been shopping at Aubuchon\u2019s for nearly as long.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen ever I needed a little something, I preferred to come here,\u201d Lombardo said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know about the sales and closing until I walked in. I was surprised and felt that this is sad.\u201d <\/p>\n

Liam Hickey of Concord is also a regular. He had no idea the store was closing until he got there and saw the sale signs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just came in for electrical tape and some bolts and now I\u2019m buying a lot since they are not going to be here,\u201d Hickey said. \u201cA hardware store on Main Street seems appropriate. Maybe I\u2019m just being over-sentimental, but it seems like a necessary part of having a downtown.\u201d <\/p>\n

Taber, who is 26 and lives in Pittsfield, said the Concord Aubuchon wasn\u2019t making the same profits that it once had, citing the location as one reason, saying the area is busy and congested and the store\u2019s parking lot is hidden far in the back.<\/p>\n

He said the employees were offered jobs at the Alton facility, which will remain open. There\u2019s also a branch in Allenstown that won\u2019t be affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were good in Concord about keeping us,\u201d Taber said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t anything that we were doing wrong here. It was more just location. It\u2019s a landmark, but we\u2019re kind of in a bad area. We\u2019re buried away in the parking lot. When I had my GPS on the store and it was the first time I came by, I drove past. I didn\u2019t see it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Taber has fielded calls from customers this week. He\u2019ll no doubt get more over the next month, leading up to the closing date, once word spreads.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been getting phone calls, and it\u2019s the same message,\u201d Taber said. \u201cI keep hearing, \u2018I\u2019m sorry to hear you guys are closing.\u2019 Sad.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For regular customers like Dick and Andrea Bean of Pembroke who stopped by the Aubuchon store on South Main Street this week, the 40% off sale was exciting, but the news that the business is shutting down was beyond disappointing.The Beans came for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=5]Ray Duckler[\/Author] Monitor staff","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,526],"tags":[94,398,24,505],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[513],"class_list":["post-11081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-homebox4-cm","tag-concord-nh","tag-edpick","tag-facebook","tag-paywall","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/42924008-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11083,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11081\/revisions\/11083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11081"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=11081"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=11081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}