The old Kirkwood location was at the intersection of Big Bend and Kirkwood Road. It was demolished in 1996 or 1997 and medical offices stand on the site now. Thank you for sharing your memories.

Thanks Jerry. It’s very possible that the two used one or more common consulting companies. It’s also possible (even likely) that some management from Central Hardware ended up at Menards. A third, and highly likely possibility is plain old industrial espionage. When one store sees something that’s working for another store, they’ll study it and copy it. Mystery shoppers don’t just check pricing. When I worked retail, a lot of changes that came from corporate included the wording “because Wal-Mart is doing it.”

Menards’ success is one of the reasons I think Central Hardware could have survived in some form if its parent company hadn’t fallen victim to corporate raiding.

My Dad loved Central Hardware and took us their with him often (I think there’s a story from own family’s history of me at age two getting lost inside the Central City location and wandering out into the parking lot before a kind customer brought me back in). Through the years, we went to the Page Avenue location in Overland often.

Every time I see anything from Menard’s now, it reminds me of Central Hardware. Their logo, lettering style, in-store signage, marketing and ad flyers, and even much of the in-store merchandising seem like an exact copy of what Central Hardware did years or even decades earlier. I was surprised that there appears to not have been a business connection between the two companies. Is it possible they had some other things in common like using a similar advertising agency, etc.?

Thanks again for the excellent information and memories.

I know that one. It’s CK Supply now. The worn-out trailer picture in this post isn’t far from that store, or at least was. I can’t find it now.