Changes in Store for Springvale Hardware
- January 24th 2025
- Business Spotlight
Matthew Brock is the new owner of Springvale Hardware.
Photo: Kristi King
Changes in Store for Springvale Hardware
By Kristi King
A new owner has purchased Springvale Hardware, the three-generation institution that has stood the test of time – 86 years to be exact. Matthew Brock took over from former owner Bruce Lamb two weeks ago. Brock said Lamb has been helpful in making the transition.
“My dream was to own my own hardware store,” Brock, a former manager of Eldredge Hardware in York, said this week as a busy crew of employees made room for the new cash register placement. He said he first expressed interest in buying Springvale Hardware two years ago.
Lamb took over the business in 1983 from his father, who had followed his grandfather. The store has been a Springvale hub since 1938 and was the first store in the village to be rebuilt following a fire and urban renewal. Lamb said the sale couldn’t have happened any better. “Matthew came to me and asked if I would be interested in selling,” he said. “It took me a few years to decide I was ready to retire,” and to realize that Brock, with 31 years in the hardware business, was going to be the perfect person to pass the baton to.
Lamb says he’s impressed with Brock’s extensive knowledge and his desire to keep the same high level of customer service his customers are used to. “Brock’s on another level in the digital age,” he added. Lamb said that he was on his fifth computer system and didn’t look forward to more changes, which were inevitable with the bankruptcy of True Value, the retail cooperative of which Springvale Hardware was a part. “There’ll be changes, but that’s OK,” said the longtime owner.
Lamb is looking forward to retirement, with plans for hunting, fishing, and spending time at camp with the family. “Seeing 50 to 100 people a day, that’s what I’m going miss,” he explained, “along with the fun time working with the employees.”
Springvale Hardware is known for its stellar customer service, and Brock said that won’t change. He does plan to redesign the entire interior of the store, opening the space up for customer appeal, and to install a new computer set-up.
Brock wants customers to know that Sanford orange trash bags and the ever-popular Springvale Hardware calendars will be available again, “so stop in and meet me.”
