Local hardware shop named 'Best New Store'

FINDLAY — Village Hardware & Home Center, at 10320 U.S. 224, Findlay, was one of four retailers honored award winners during Hardware Connection magazine's Beacon Awards banquet Tuesday at the JW Marriott in Marco Island, Florida. The Beacon Awards are a national industry awards program developed by the magazine to recognize the "best of the best" independent hardware and home improvement retailers, a release from Village Hardware states. Retail Beacon Award winners for each of two participating wholesalers and two winners for Best New Store were named at the ceremony. Village Hardware & Home Center was honored with a Beacon Award for Best New Store. "Village Hardware & Home Center is very worthy of its inclusion in the 2024 class of Beacon honorees," said Doug Donaldson, editor of Hardware Connection. "The Evers family is very attuned to the communities they serve and have done an outstanding job meeting the needs of their customers while taking a very modern approach to hardware retailing." Kevin and Ann Evers founded the company in 1982 by purchasing a store in Leipsic. Since then, their sons, Jeff and Jay, have joined the business. The family decided to open a second location in Findlay, and the Evers built the new store on a 9-acre plot in 2022.