Norm Woods sat at the wrought iron table on the back patio looking out over a yard big enough to easily make a nice par-3 golf hole.
A couple of golf balls rested up against the fence, errant shots from the nearby fairway on the Ellensburg Golf & Country Club across the street.
“Would you like me to move your car to the side of the house, so it doesn’t get hit by a golf ball?” his wife Charlene asked.
Norm’s smile and twinkle in his eye suggested taking her advice. “It happens,” he said.
Norm’s grandpa and grandma, Robert and Ora Woods, worked side by side at the business that began as Woods Auto Supply when they opened it in the Olympic Block in 1944.
Norm’s Uncle John, joined them after a stint in the U.S. Infantry and his father Bob, got involved in 1945 after his service obligation in the U.S. Air Corps. In 1956, they moved to store to its present location at 310 Pearl Street, which occupies some 9,000 square feet in two buildings.
It eventually transitioned into Woods Ace Hardware where Bob and his brother John ran it for years. Eventually, Norm and his cousin Johnny took over the day-to-day operation.
There will be one more transition coming in October. The Woods are getting out, selling their franchise to Brandon Wright, who owns Stan’s Merry Market in Wenatchee and Othello Ace Hardware.
The face of Downtown Ellensburg is shifting with the times. Brad Fitterer intends to close the doors of Fitterer’s Furniture after 126 years of service. Now, Woods Ace Hardware will transition out by the end of the month. The two intuitions have a combined 204 years of service to Central Washington.
“Brad’s got us beat,” said Norm, a smile forming at the thought of the Fitterer’s opening in 1896. “My grandfather opened the store Feb. 4, 1944. We’ve been in business here in Ellensburg 78 years.
“So, the idea of being in business that long still means something. The sons and daughters that are coming in now, we served their fathers before them. All of the people we’ve met over the years have become friends and family. They’re not customers at all.”
They have been the city’s hardware store for a long, long time, providing a personal service and a quality product. The Woods store became the first Ace Hardware in the state of Washington in 1965.
As a business, it has seen its share of challenges, crawling out of the shadow of the not-so-distant Great Depression, World War II, the polio epidemic and eventually the COVID-19 pandemic
But as an essential business, Woods Ace Hardware stayed open during all of it, helping the community with its household needs and meeting the challenge.
“During COVID-19, people weren’t able to go to work, so they were looking to get some projects done at home, and we were able to help with that,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on, everybody needs a ladder.”
As he sat on the patio reflecting on a lifetime of business and personal relationships, his thoughts drifted back to when the family moved the operation from 400 Pearl to the current location.
A Daily Record photographer was taking a picture of the owners out in front and managed to capture a slice in the day and a life in the background when a small boy was caught peeking out of the storefront window.
“I was that boy. I must have been 5,” Norm said. “I ended up working at the store all through high school and when I was home from college to help pay for school, gas and insurance for the car.
“I joined the staff full-time in 1972. I’ve enjoyed it all.”
Ace Hardware will remain a fixture on Pearl Street, but Norm and Johnny will take some time to enjoy friends and family.
