Durfee True Value Hardware

We would like to comment on what we feel are a few misconceptions about neighborhood hardware stores like DURFEE's and the "big box" building supply stores.:

Myth #1) It doesn't make a difference where I shop.....Well, you "vote" for what kind of stores you want with your purchases. Stores you buy from will stay in business and those you don't buy from may not. The state has just started a "Shop Local RI" initiative. This is because they recognize that more of the money you spend stays in Rhode Island when you spend it at a locally owned store instead of a national chain.

Myth #2) A larger store doesn't necessarily mean a larger selection of merchandise.....who cares that they have thousands of 1/4" drills stockpiled on the floor when you only need one! We think it is more important to have a quality products (as opposed to quantity) and a large selection of items. We actually have someone available to explain the benefits and uses of that product to ensure that you get exactly what you need the first time!

Myth #3) A larger store doesn't necessarily mean convenience.....try buying a hammer on your lunch hour at one of those cookie cutter "big boxes". By the time you park, walk to the entrance, find somebody to ask where they are, then walk miles away in the back, check out and return to the car, the hammer has cost you $20 of you time! At DURFEE's, you can find what you want more quickly and easily just because we are smaller and have more employees who will help you.

Myth #4) A larger store doesn't necessarily mean lower prices.....True Value is a hardgoods buying co-operative combining the $3 billion purchasing power of over 10,500 hardware stores nationwide. That's a LOT of purchasing power, rivaling any "big box" chain store! The Durfee family owns this one store but we buy with the power of thousands.

Myth #5) Larger stores do have free parking, but you are so far away you have to hail a cab to get to the front door. So I hope it isn't raining the day you need something!! We have the convenience of free parking CLOSE to the store, as you can see in this photo!

Myth #6) The guaranteed low price claim made by the "big boxes" does not mean that the posted prices people pay every day are the lowest that they are going to find anywhere. Not At All!!! It simply means that if you take the time to shop around and have proof of a lower price advertised somewhere else and complain about it to "big box" management, they will match the price for you in that particular case. Funny that people actually believe that they will change the price of the product on the shelf so it would actually sold at the "lowest price" to anyone! Not so.

The everyday prices charged certainly are not always the lowest. You'd be interested to know just how many people tell us, in a surprised voice, that we are "even lower than (insert name of "big box" store here) on this item!!! How can THAT be?".

Our answer is simple --- our purchasing power is just as great, see Myth #4 above!