There were four hardware stores in downtown Findlay when Jim Brown bought Findlay Hardware Company 43 years ago, and in a few weeks there will be none.

Brown is retiring and selling Findlay Ace Hardware to a buyer who will not be keeping it as a hardware store.

Brown says he just couldn’t find a buyer who wanted the building and the business.

“I had people who wanted the building but didn’t want the business, and people who wanted to operate the business but didn’t want the building, so we just couldn’t get it together.”

Brown has a buyer for the building but didn’t reveal who it is because the deal’s not totally finalized.

Brown bought the store in 1976 when it was the Findlay Hardware Company and they moved to their current location at the corner of West Front Street and South Main Street in 1994

He says he’s had a lot of loyal customers over the last 43 years, customers who will now have to find somewhere else to get their chainsaws sharpened and keys made.

“I think eventually somebody will come along, cause there’s a market for a hardware store in this town, it’s a big enough town that you need a hardware store.”

The store was closed on Monday and will be again on Tuesday in preparation for the liquidaton sale that begins on Wednesday.

The store has 2 full-time and 4 part-time employees.

As for what’s next for Jim, the 69-year-old says his wife has a long list of things for him to get done around the house.

(In the picture below, Jim is on the right, along with employees Jenny Critchet and Tim Beck)