Fairfax Hardware – A Retro Roadmap Shopping Center Find!

2022 UPDATE: Driving up 202 I noticed that Fairfax Hardware has moved to an adjacent building in the same strip mall. I'm assuming it is the same good service and maybe even an expanded offering of items, but just a heads up I am also assuming it doesn't have that old-school vibe. Still, always better to shop small and local than big and national! 

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Original 2016 post:

Mod Betty has to totally hand it to Retro Roadmapper Laurie H. for hepping her to Fairfax Hardware, as it is in a most unusual spot - a shopping center that I've driven past a gazillion times on busy Route 202 in Wilmington Delaware.

You see, for the most part strip malls aren't places that you can find cool authentic places, as they've usually been generically blandified to appeal to contemporary folks. But now I need to keep a closer eye on them, as Fairfax Hardware has been hiding in plain sight since the 1950s!
I spoke with current owner Art Pleasanton (who was quite pleasant) about the shop, and he explained that the shopping center itself was part of the Fairfax community, built in 1950 as part of the post-war housing boom. With over 800 homes and 100 apartments in this neighborhood just north of Wilmington, a hardware store seems like a safe bet!

If you look at the picture above you can see why I would not have expected to find anything Retro Roadmappy in this stucco and backlit plastic signed shopping center. However, look closer and you can see evidence of it's early roots - with the cupola on the commemorative stone still visible on the roof. I love catching glimpses like that! It's like an architectural clue to an earlier civilization.

Speaking of civilization, Fairfax Hardware is tres civilized!

When you walk in the first thing that will strike you is that all of the gentlemen working there - from teens and beyond, are dressed in button-down shirts and wearing ties.

As you're recovering from that bit of civilized decorum, you'll be equally surprised when you're politely asked if you need help finding anything-! If you've ever shopped in one of those mega-humungus warehouse home improvement stores and tried to locate something on your own, you'll immediately swoon over the personalized and friendly service.
While the shop is small square-footage-wise, it is chockablock full of all sorts of useful and handy items. This is what makes this such a fun Retro Roadmap destination, as you can pick up something that you need, and bring it home as a souvenir! Mod Betty does that all the time. "Here's that extra key to the house I got when we were on vacation in Delaware, and that baking pan I picked up in Texas!" :-)
I love the fact that the shop has a section for Sundries - when is the last time you even heard that word? And this pair of Epoxy gentlemen showing off their strength are modern art and commerce all rolled into one.
Art explains that while there is no way that they can compete with the mega-box stores, he is quick to point out that their strength is in home repair items, not so much home building items.

And with the steady stream of customers coming in asking for help picking out the right weed killer to faucet aerator to the group discussion on what parts were needed for a go-cart, I am not the only one who sees the appeal in this scale and service.

Art also noted that come December, they have a tradition of putting out a "Letters to Santa Claus" mailbox for children to post their letters to that jolly old elf. Year round the kiddies as well as us grown up kids can enjoy a gum ball from their vintage dispenser.
From now on Mod Betty is going to be extra scrutinous of roadside shopping centers, and you should stop by Fairfax Hardware and take something handy back home as your souvenir of Delaware!