‘Series of misfortunes’ lead Green to permanently close Dependable Hardware

As a small business owner for nearly 20 years, Doug Green has experienced many good days along with a few bad ones.

Friday was one of the worst for Green and his six employees at Green’s Dependable Hardware as it was Green’s final day of business, bringing a near 80-year presence in Russellville to its final end.

Green purchased the business from Greg Batchelor and Brad Reeves in 2007 and renamed it Green’s Dependable Hardware. The store’s 75th anniversary came in 2022, during the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first of a series of misfortunes that led Green to permanently close his doors last Friday.

Three years ago, True-Value filed bankruptcy, leaving its affiliated hardware stores unpaid on fees they were due from the company, Green said.

True-Value was purchased by Do It Best, Inc.

The past three years have seen a continued decline in the number of independent hardware stores in the United States, from 25,000 in 1980 to fewer than 10,000 remaining today.

Competition from large-chain brands like Harbor Freight, Home Depot and Lowe’s has been a presence for the past 20 years, but a more recent player in the market delivered the final blow to Dependable.

“The Internet and e-commerce is the worst competition we have, even more than the large chains. True-Value’s bankruptcy started our downward spiral as we tried to get a new vendor,” Green said. “We’ve been through a couple and it wasn’t a good situation, so it’s just been a string of things that brought us down.”

The closing leaves Russellville without a locally-owned hardware store and without the personalized service and trade knowledge its employees had and so willingly shared with their customers. Those many years of experience can’t be matched with Google searches and, with limited exception, you won’t find that experience with many large-chain stores.

At 66 years of age, Green didn’t plan to work forever. But he hoped to continue running Dependable Hardware until his 70th birthday, when he planned to find a buyer to continue operations. Economic factors, though, derailed those plans.

“God’s got control of every situation, including this one,” Green said. “It will be tough for the community and local industry. They were a big part of our business and now they’ll have to go to the Shoals to get a lot of what they need.

“My real hope is someone will still step in and open up a new store,” he added.

For now, the building has reverted to its owner and will remain vacant until a new tenant is found.

Green was emotional when talking about his employees and how difficult it was to break the news to them.

“My employees are amazing people. I really appreciate every one of them,” Green said.

Trying times in life test one’s faith, and that’s something Green has plenty of.

“I’m thankful for my health. A lot of people my age don’t still have the energy to put in a full day’s work. Unfortunately, this was a business decision and had to become effective immediately,” Green said.

“But I’m confident God has a plan for me, a plan for my future and I’ll just keep on keeping on,” Green added.