LANDRUM – A Landrum icon is moving out of downtown. Customers will no longer experience the echo of old wood floors, tin buckets and bits of PVC pipe stacked to the ceiling at the Landrum Hardware Store.  

Crews broke ground on Wednesday, Sept. 13 for the new location of Landrum Hardware near the Bi-Lo on Highway 14. “We’ve put as much stuff in the old store as we can,” said owner Shawn Evans. “There’s no more room.” 

Evans and his wife Susan bought the store in December of 2013. “We are the third owners,” said Evans of the historic business. The original store opened at the corner of Rutherford St. and S 562 in 1905. It moved to its current location at the corner of E. Rutherford and S. Church in the 1930s. 

Evans said they hope to move into their new location between Campbell St. and the Bi-Lo in about nine months. As soon as the Landrum City Council approved the plans in their Sept. 12 meeting, crews started clearing brush from the four-acre field that will become the new store of approximately 12,000 square feet. The new building will also have an additional 3,000 square foot covered outdoor space for lawn and garden items.  

“There’s lots of stuff people don’t know we carry right now because they can’t see it,” said Evans. “This will give us the space to offer a broader depth in what we do.” 

The current store, which sits on approximately an eighth of an acre, is full to the rafters with everything a small town hardware store needs to carry. Evans and his staff have stacked things as high as possible in order to maximize every inch of space they can find.  

“That includes obscure parts that you won’t find in big box stores,” he said. “If we don’t have it, we’ll work to get it.”  

According to Evans it is this kind of small town customer service that has contributed to their success and he plans to take that kind of service with them to the new location.  

“We give better customer service than the big box stores,” he said. “From finding a simple nut and bolt to solving a complex plumbing problem, we try. You’re not going to find that in the big box stores.” 

In addition to people being able to find things much easier in the new location, Evens said they will expand much of their inventory, including basic equine supplies.  He explained that they currently carry basics such as wheelbarrows, forks, snaps, buckets and such. While they won’t get into saddles, in the new store, they will be able to offer basic farm operation tack. 

Other great additions to the new store include a covered entry way and a covered loading dock and shade trees in the parking area. The building itself will be set back from the road and Evans said they had no current plans to develop the front two acres. 

While they have not finalized the look of the inside, Evans said they hope to keep a little of the hometown store feel. Of course the name will remain Landrum Hardware and they also plan to continue with the hometown community service that has made them a success so far.