ARLINGTON — Denny Somerville figures he shops four times a week at Arlington Hardware and Lumber, where he has a running account.
“My wife always asks me if I’ve been in the hardware store that day and I always deny it,” Somerville said.
Nevertheless, Somerville admits he spends nearly $250 a month at the store.
“I even buy my duds there,” he said, showing off a Carhartt shirt.
One of the hardware’s best customers, Somerville, 64, also has a history with the store.
It’s earned him a spot on the new Harry Engstrom mural recently mounted at the hardware and lumber store, located on Olympic Avenue in the city’s old downtown.
A retired Everett firefighter, Somerville’s first job out of Arlington High School was at the store.
Now 105 years old, Arlington Hardware and Lumber continues to be a community hangout, not only for the likes of Somerville, but for newcomers as well.
The store takes up half a city block and still retains its old, oiled fir floors. It has the feel of a curiosity shop, with its displays of old tools, old local sports photos and animal trophy heads. In the basement is the city’s 1950s-era bomb shelter and what’s left of a former butcher shop’s smoker and freezer.
Mike Jones, 67, has owned the business for 25 years and currently is building a 7,000-square-foot addition to the rambling 15,000-square-foot store. He and his son, manager Taylor Jones, 31, pride themselves on customer service and a friendly atmosphere.
“The town news is discussed here; the vibe happens here,” Taylor Jones said. “If we had a checkerboard, a potbelly stove and an open coffee pot, people would never leave.”
Many of the customers are like family, the Joneses say, and one of those is Somerville.
“Denny has an eye for detail and he’s a clean freak,” Taylor Jones said.
One day an old tarnished 10-inch hose nozzle disappeared from the store’s tool collection. It showed up the next day on Mike Jones’ desk, polished and shiny.
“That’s Denny,” Mikes Jones said.
Somerville said he is guilty as charged and that’s part of the reason he spends so much money and time at the hardware store. There is a lot to maintain and keep clean at his house in the Arlington Heights area.
“The cleanliness thing is kinda crazy. I have some old cars and if I’m out running around in one and hit a mud puddle, my heart just stops,” Somerville said.
Even his rain gutters and chainsaw get a regular wax job, Somerville said.
“When you’re little and you don’t have anything you really learn to take care of stuff,” he said.
Born in Seattle, Somerville moved to Arlington when he was 9. He helped his stepfather hang sheetrock while he was in high school, but his first real job was at the hardware store working for the Gray family, who started the store.
“I was the first kid they ever hired. I offered to work a week for nothing so they could see what I could do, but they hired me right away to drive the lumber truck,” he said.
In those days, the business didn’t have a forklift so Somerville moved lumber by hand.
One day he got a long, thick sliver stuck in his hand and he asked the store owner, Jack Gray, for help.
“Jack went over to the new tool rack, grabbed a needle-nose pliers and pulled out what looked like a 6-inch sliver,” Somerville said. “Then he told me I was as good as new.”
Somerville has many similar stories and a lot of praise for Gray, who died in February.
“He taught me how to cut glass and he taught me how to swear,” Somerville said. “But he was a polite gentleman, a big teaser, a man’s man with a great work ethic and he was known by everyone.”
During the time he worked at the hardware and lumber store, Somerville married his high school sweetheart Dalene, built their home and also began volunteering at the Arlington Fire Department.
When he was 25, Somerville was hired away by the Everett Fire Department. He served there as a firefighter for more than 30 years.
“You never knew what was going to happen next and in those years before smoke detectors we had more fatalities,” Somerville said. “But we tried to have fun during the down time. We would devil each other and it became the trademark of our firefighting group. We still get together once a month to exchange insults.”
In retirement, Somerville has continued to keep scrapbooks, which he began as a firefighter. He follows Husky football and listens to classical music. Along with completing his home projects, Somerville has spent a lot of time at the hardware store good-naturedly harassing the Jones family.
Clerk Kristi Cook said Somerville enjoys talking with the staff and the customers.
“Denny is a good friend to us and always has something positive to say,” Cook said. “He’s part of the reason this place has such a homey feel.”
Joann Gray, 75, whose grandfather started Arlington Hardware and Lumber, managed the books for the business until she retired in 1983.
She said the Jones family has kept up the traditions established by her brother Jack, and that’s why the store continues to do well.
It also helps that the business has loyal customers such as Somerville, she said.
“Denny was a good employee and he is still a good friend,” Gray said.
After his retirement from the Everett Fire Department, Somerville renewed his friendship with the Grays, often taking Jack Gray out for drives.
It was one such drive that captured the eye of Arlington muralist Harry Engstrom. Somerville had helped the Grays donate their old Arlington Hardware and Lumber truck to the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum and he was moving the vehicle into storage there.
The painting shows Somerville at the wheel of the old truck.
“The guy in the painting looks a little high mileage, but I always think of myself as a kid,” Somerville said.
A kid in a hardware store.
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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