BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Even though independent, family-owned hardware stores seem harder to come by in the days of Aces and Home Depots, Center City has had a homegrown, “personal service store” around the corner for decades.
This April marked 70 years of business for Aykroyd Hardware, offering nuts-and-bolts solutions, product knowledge and servicing customer projects large and small in Center City, the broader Lehigh Valley and beyond during that time.
Among its selection of products, the store at 743 N. New St. features “The Milwaukee Wall” and wholesale pricing on the 150 or so types of Milwaukee-brand tools in-house; “oddball” pieces like button-head socket screws in standard and metric sizes; and even a range of lawn and gardening products on hand.
Aykroyd offers an array of services; repair services for tools, screens, windows and lamps, locksmithing, battery testing, paint color-matching, glass cutting, key programming and duplication, product assembly, and even some special orders, among other things.
Tried and true
Peter Mickolay is the grandson of Arthur “Art” and Edith Aykroyd, the Bethlehem couple who opened the business in 1954. Mickolay has run the store for decades now.
He said it’s tough to beat the selection, especially as it expands even beyond the solid foundation set by his grandparents.
“You can buy one screw, or you can buy a box of 100,” Mickolay said, glancing around the aisles. “ … Just like there, the pipe: We can sell you a full, 10-foot length or by the foot.
“We sell wire by the foot, or we have it in the rolls down there in the backroom.”
“We offer the personal service and knowledge that you don’t get, usually, at big-box stores. I speak from experience because a lot of the stuff we have in here I use. So we try [it], we test it out, make sure it’s a good product.”Peter Mickolay, owner of Aykroyd Hardware
And customers can feel even more assured knowing the Aykroyd staff trusts what’s on the shelves, he added.
“We offer the personal service and knowledge that you don’t get, usually, at big-box stores,” Mickolay said. “I speak from experience because a lot of the stuff we have in here I use.
“So we try [it], we test it out, make sure it’s a good product.”
A destination for 'doohickeys'
Over the years, the store has garnered local praise for its selection, services and staff know-how.
Aykroyd will “help the customer who needs the thing-a-ma bob that holds together the do-hickey on the side of that toilet flushy guy,” reads a Google review from customer Jodi Williams listed on the store’s website.
Another review from customer Michael Bianco reads, “[The store] is deceptively small from the outside, but when you get inside, they have everything. No need to go to a big-box store anymore.”
“[The store] is deceptively small from the outside, but when you get inside, they have everything. No need to go to a big-box store anymore.”Aykroyd Hardware customer Michael Bianco, Google review
“As a young woman with limited knowledge on hardware and appliance needs, I often find shopping in hardware stores to be intimidating,” customer Meredith Grasso wrote. “That is not the case at Aykroyd Hardware!
“The staff is very welcoming and eager to answer any question I may have. They put in the work and do the research to find the proper solution/part for your needs and at a reasonable price.”
Mickolay recalled two recent customers from Austria who were stateside working at cold storage warehouses in Scranton. Aykroyd’s selection of heated jackets had the duo making the hour-and-change drive to Bethlehem.
A family affair
Aykroyd has never strayed too far from its roots — that goes for location, at least.
The original Aykroyd store opened at the intersection of Main and Goepp streets, about a quarter-mile away from where it is now. It moved to its current spot on New Street in 1991.
As told by Mickolay, Gordon Payrow originally sold the building to his granddad. Folks likely recognize that name; Payrow later went on to serve as the city’s mayor from 1962-1973.
Mickolay took over operations alongside his father, Robert, in 1985 after Art died, he said.
Edith, Art’s wife and Peter’s grandmother, served as the store’s bookkeeper up until last year. Aykroyd’s 70th anniversary celebration also coincided with Edith's birthday, Mickolay said.
Among many memories over the decades, Mickolay remembered a massive snowstorm in the mid-90s that had himself and the store crew outside moving snow that eventually piled up as high as the nearby “no parking” sign.
Looking forward, Mickolay said Aykroyd shoppers will have a Tool Blitz deal event coming their way sometime in the fall.
