New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
I’m a big fan of “mom & pop” businesses, but not a fan of the term. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a hater of chains either. I shop at both places, but if I have a choice I’ll support the locally owned, smaller businesses. Even if I have to pay a little bit more.
What I don’t like about the term, is that it can be misconstrued to mean a really, tiny shop, with outdated products that is struggling to survive. Truth is that most of the US economy is driven by these mom and pops and many are thriving. They offer the top brands, a large variety of products, and a range of prices from inexpensive to high end. Often the only difference is that a chain may carry a massive inventory of an item – in case you need a few hundred or thousands of a product.
Where the independently owned small businesses excel and improve upon the chains is with customer service and customer persistence. Within a few visits your name and history will be remembered. “Hey Bill, how did you make out with that deck? Do you need some more primer or are you ready for that Rabbit Brown that you mentioned?” I love that. I like walking into a place and bantering with the staff. I like having my espresso made exactly how I like it and ready for me often before I’ve even made it to the till.
This is exactly the sort of thing that I love about the family owned and operated, Beacon Paint & Hardware on Church Street. Dave and Barry Brodeur have owned and operated this shop since 1982 and Dave’s son Andrew works there. Manager Ryan Barker has been there for 14 years and Matthew Arsenault has been working there for 20 years. There’s no 6 month turnover there! Their ability to recall the hundreds of names of customers and their current projects is remarkable…and invaluable. It’s a tremendous time-saver to walk into a paint and hardware shop and discuss your project with someone with decades of experience and knowledge – who also remembers where you are in that project.
Beacon Paint and Hardware has every possible item you could need to do any work on your house, properties or customer’s homes. The proudly offer Benjamin Moore paints and a plethora of paint sundries. Everything electrical, plumbing, and gardening related.
They also have accessories, fasteners, and even a number of concrete related products including some flashy colors for those concrete pours that require it – perhaps a nice blue to border your pool for example. They can do this because they have one of only two concrete color tinting machines in the state.
If you need any standard or metric hardware, you will be more than pleased to find that they have one of the largest selections in the area. The Brodeurs, Ryan and Matthew are united in their dedication to stocking products that only they themselves would use on their own homes and projects. In fact, Andrew stated that one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job is being able to tinker with the paints and tools. “Tinkering and exploring is not only a lot of fun, but more importantly it gives us the valuable experience we need to really know the ins and outs of these products. We can then give the customer the best possible recommendation based on first-hand account.” Andrew stated.
One of the areas that Beacon really shines is in their ability to do custom paint color matching. In my opinion, they do it better than any of their competitors. They also program or cut car chip keys which stores in the area will not do. They sell bulk mulch by the yard in the spring. They offer re-keying services, re-screening, and glass cutting.
They truly are a one-stop shop and there really is no need to leave New Bedford to drive to any of the chains in Dartmouth.
These are all offered at incredibly affordable prices and those prices go even lower if you pop in during their special days. Wednesday is Lady’s Day where all women get 10% off purchases. Are you a senior citizen? Head in on Thursdays to get that 10% off. Are you between the age of 16-30? Come in on Saturdays for the Junior Day discount of 10%. They also offer “everyday” commercial discounts.
With Spring here and our minds on renovations and other projects, we’ll want the most affordable prices, expert advice and help, by friendly people. You would be hard pressed to find a better place than Beacon!
When I asked the crew what advice they would have for homeowners gearing up for projects this Spring they were unanimous “We recommend not to overwhelm yourself and spreading yourself out too thin. Tackle one project at a time so you can be more efficient completing your tasks.” Sage advice indeed and there is plenty more where that came from. In fact, if you stop in you will see how eager and freely they share advice.
If you are a homeowner, property manager, contractor, or handyman you will do yourself a serious disservice to not stop in and ask for Dave, Barry, Ryan, Matthew or Andrew. Don’t take my word for it. Stop in and talk to one of them and see how friendly and knowledgeable they are. Throw any project you have at them and put them to the test. They will come out as they always have for me: with flying colors. Pardon the pun.
Beacon Paint & Hardware
513 Church Street
New Bedford, MA
Monday – Friday: 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday: 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Phone: (508) 995-1766
Facebook: facebook.com/BeaconPaintAndHardware
Website: beaconpaintandhardware.com/sb.cn
