The Hardware Store That Started Pouring Coffee

On a stretch of Ottawa Street where the old trades hung on, one shop swapped fasteners for a roaster and never looked back.

For forty years the building sold nails, hinges, and paint by the half-pint to the east-end tradesmen who built half of Hamilton. When the last owner finally locked the door, the new tenants kept the pegboard walls and the smell of sawdust and simply rolled a roaster into the back room.