Orchard Supply Hardware set to close

San Mateo County’s locations include South San Francisco, Millbrae, Foster City, San Carlos and Redwood City. Lowe’s decision was met with sadness by customers like San Mateo resident Sharon Cassidy, who came to the Foster City Orchard Hardware Supply store at 1010 Metro Center Blvd. after hearing the news to see when the store might close. Cassidy said she spoke with a friend that morning about the first Orchard Supply Hardware that opened in San Jose decades ago. Though she acknowledged she increasingly turns to online retailers like Amazon when she can’t find items she needs in stores, Cassidy said she prefers coming to the store’s Foster City location, where staff are available to help with questions.

“I like this store much better,” she said. “It’s much cleaner, there’s always people here to help you.”

The manager of the store declined to comment for this story, but said specific plans for the Foster City store’s closing are not yet known.

Having previously worked at Gilead Sciences in Foster City, Matt Raymond said he was drawn to the store because it was close to his office and maintained a higher level of service than Home Depot, where he has a harder time finding specific tools. As an East Bay resident, Raymond said he has had good experiences with staff at the Orchard Supply Hardware in San Ramon who helped him load heavy equipment into his car.

But he wondered whether recent renovations to the stores — which he felt stocked them with higher-end items — may have backfired on the company. Having noticed renovations in a couple of locations he’s visited in recent years, Raymond said the stores have become less user-friendly after they are remodeled.

“Maybe they shouldn’t have changed what they were doing,” he said, adding the changes may have also been accompanied by a loss of more experienced employees.

For San Mateo resident Jake Prupas, the experience of the store’s employees, together with its stock of hard-to-find items like nuts and bolts have motivated him to choose Orchard Supply Hardware instead of Home Depot for projects. He has noticed Home Depot’s merchandise seems to be geared more toward home improvement, so finding parts for a project he is working on for a boat is more difficult at Home Depot stores.

“I come here over Home Depot because they have everything Home Depot doesn’t have,” he said, noting the Foster City store tends to be a lot more organized than most Home Depots. “It’s a little bit more expensive, but I think it’s worth it.”

With a 30-year-old home in Foster City, Dennis Sullivan said he comes to the store often for home repair supplies and was disappointed to learn of the store’s imminent closing. Though he was saddened by the news, he said he wasn’t surprised by the change, noting he remembered when Sears purchased Orchard Supply Hardware years ago. A retired employee of the San Mateo Medical Center, Sullivan said he has relied on the experience of the store’s employees for home projects, which has helped him avoid doing a full remodel of his home.

“It’s sad because the people that work here, a lot of them are my age,” he said. “But that’s the way of the world right now.”

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