EMPIRE -- A little bit of everything.
Margaret Hodge's hardware store in Empire is an emporium of options.
The bright, winding shop on the Leelanau County village's main drag is packed with a little bit of everything: paint supplies, hardware, office supplies, tools, automotive, kitchen items, electrical and plumbing components, recreation, house wares and doors and windows -- for sale, that is.
The 71-year-old widow and retired businesswoman began on a shoestring budget and meager inventory 2 1/2 years ago. Since then the modest store has taken root and flourished, providing a handy location for basic non-food necessities.
Hodge credits her success to the community she has lived in for more than three decades.
To her, the Anchor Hardware is the community's store -- she relishes feedback, input and support, not to mention the gifts of homemade bread or fresh-picked berries. While the building is still for sale and she sometimes dreams of a winter month in the sun, the "for sale" sign has been removed from the window.
"They're so glad I'm here, they're just encouraging me to stay," Hodge said of her customers. "I really love the job, it is exhausting but exciting, never boring. It's great to have a job where every day somebody says, 'I appreciate you.'"
Anchor Hardware means that anyone needing a fastener, caulk or any must-have item in the midst of a project can avoid a lengthy trip to an out-of-town store. That saves time and money for both busy contractors and handy homeowners.
"It's very convenient, so handy to have her here," said Skip Harriger of Harriger Construction in Empire, who stopped by Saturday morning. "Little things we need we can buzz down here instead of going to Honor or Glen Arbor or Traverse City, it's two minutes away."
Not long after her husband died, Hodge repossessed the building. She had previously sold it on a land contract but that owner's food store failed. Hodge found broken pipes, filth, extensive damage and taxes back due; countless advisors told her the site was a lost cause.
She persevered, determined to clean up the mess. As Hodge and helpers restored the building, she kept driving to distant hardware stores for supplies.
A light bulb went off: Empire needed a hardware store.
Anchor Hardware was born but the next step proved even more challenging than saving the old building. Hodge contacted all the hardware distributors she could think of and found her business proposal generated both universal skepticism and a resounding "No."
"Nobody wanted to work with me because (of my age,) no money and little experience and a very little building," Hodge said, stymied until Orgill Inc. took a chance on her. She had begged the distributor to send a representative to meet with her at her kitchen table.
"I had just enough money to put up one of everything, then when I sold something I'd put up two of it," she said. "Now I'm ordering by cases."
Since making a go of the hardware store, Hodge has continued to invest in the property with an eco-friendly twist. She has installed efficient lighting, replaced a large hot water heater with a six-gallon one and switched from propane to natural gas.
These changes in the store are just part of a larger vision.
"A greener Earth, we're saving people miles," Hodge said.
Hodge's hard work and friendly nature have made the store a natural gathering place in Empire. While she is resigned to living with some dust bunnies in her own home because of her work hours, she relishes running a small business and sharing a slice of village life.
"I like living in a small town, I think there's a security that you have here that you don't have in a big town," she said, adding of Anchor Hardware: "The Good Lord put me here and I'll be here until he decides I shouldn't be here and should be doing something else."
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