Over at ACE Hardware in Hills Plaza, store owner Grant Rosenberger is glad to have Judy Bennett on his staff help customers. After all, she has been in the hardware game for more than 40 years.
“We like to joke that she has forgotten more than we know,” said Rosenberger with a laugh.
But one can tell he kind of means it. too.
“She is a fixture in this community,” he said. “She is a great asset.”
Bennett started working in hardware back when there was a store downtown called Centre Hardware, which operated on South Allen Street for more than 50 years until its closure in 1993.
“That was back when normal people used to come downtown to shop and everything wasn’t geared toward college students,” said Bennett. “It is so different now.”
After Centre Hardware closed, Bennett applied to work O.W. Houts & Sons — the landmark department store on West College Avenue. She was hired as a floater, but it was not a long before she asked to be part of the hardware department team.
Before long, she was the first woman manager at the store, and in the electrical and hardware section.
When Houts closed in 2008 Bennett said she “shed more tears that week” than she ever did in her life.
“At the age I was, I thought, here I am an old lady. Who is going to hire me?” she said. But Rosenberger sought her out when he opened ACE Hardware in 2009, and he has not been disappointed. Working in hardware is a part of who Bennett is.
“It just kind of gets in your blood,” said Bennett.
She said she is a natural helper, so when customers need some advice or know-how for a project, she is quick to be of service.
“It is just the thing to do,” she said. “Help people.”
She credits an old employee from Centre Hardware for teaching her some of the trick of the trade.
“He was the nicest man. He had so much knowledge. I learned a lot from him because I asked questions,” said Bennett. “That is how you learn. You have to ask questions and be interested.”
Customers often seek her out for her advice and expertise.
“I have a lot of followers,” said Bennett. “And kids from when I was at Centre Hardware come in here now as adults and remember that I worked at Centre Hardware and that really amazes me.”
In her spare time Bennett enjoys visiting her friends and family and completing crossword puzzles, along with the occasional trip to a casino.
Because travel is out of the question due to the pandemic, she misses seeing her family. She has a son, three granddaughters and four grandchildren, and is excited to meet her youngest grandchild, who was just born this spring. She said she is glad to have her sister and other friends nearby.
At work, she makes sure to follow all protocol during the pandemic to keep herself and others safe.
“You do what you have to do,” said Bennett. “It makes people upset. Why do you have to wear a mask? If everyone could just cooperate, we could probably get a handle on this. A lot of people are grateful that we are here and are wearing masks.”
For Bennett, working at the store keeps her active and is big part of her social life, and even at 82 of age, she is out there four days a week on the floor helping customers.
“I don’t want to stay home every day. You can only clean that house so much and then you have to find something else to do. I like being around people,” she said.
