Family-owned for half a century, a Towson hardware store needs a buyer

Vincent Ayd was a teenager when he started working at his family’s hardware store. He’s 71 now, and he’s ready to pass the keys.

Ayd hung up a “Store for Sale” sign this month at Ayd Hardware in Towson. Since then, he’s fielded inquiries from a string of interested buyers and concerned customers.

“There are people that think I’m going out of business. I don’t want them to think that,” Ayd said.

Ayd is hoping for a turnkey handoff in which a new owner comes in, keeps things running in a way familiar to longtime customers and takes over what he says is a profitable business. Ayd did not disclose his target sales price.

“The pistons are firing correctly,” he said of his business. “It’s just a matter of somebody coming in and managing it.”

His family opened the store in 1974, and he bought it from relatives a decade later.

Inside, a sea of flags hangs from the ceiling of an otherwise typical hardware store. Some are souvenirs from Ayd’s travels; others, customers have brought in.

The shelves are stocked with plumbing fittings, electrical parts, paint and tools. Ayd credits the no-fuss charm for making his business successful.

“There’s no luxury goods,” he said. “It’s just what you need to fix your house.”

Hardware stores, like other small businesses, have struggled as chains and online retailers have gained market share.

Ayd’s customers say they appreciate the personalized help.

John Rhead, a psychotherapist and Ayd Hardware customer for more than a decade, said he thinks of the store as more than a place to buy bolts and screws.

What’s kept him coming back, Rhead said, was Ayd himself with his “old-fashioned, deeply knowledgeable service.”

“He feels like a friend every time I walk in,” Rhead said.

Rhead said he hopes a new owner will preserve the character of the store and provide Ayd’s level of customer service.

“It’s going to be a very hard act to follow,” he said.

Ayd said he’s turned down buyers who wanted to convert the building into a different kind of business.

He said he is in talks with a group of local buyers he described as serious. One of their first questions was whether the store’s four other employees would stay on.

“Absolutely,” Ayd said he told them. “If you didn’t want to take the staff, you’d be damn fools, because these guys all know how this machine works.”

Teresa McKelvy said Ayd “took a chance” by giving her a job when she lost hers during the COVID-19 pandemic. She’d never worked in a hardware store before Ayd hired her.

Ayd, who lives in Towson, said he plans to stay on for about six months after a sale closes to help a new owner through the transition, though not full time.

After that, he’s planning to travel and spend more time with his wife and three granddaughters.

“It is scary,” McKelvy said about the coming ownership change. “He’s the guru of ‘fix it.’”