"My decision matrix was balance sheet, transaction count, current buyer habits and what I'm seeing online," Waref Hawasli told Grosse Pointe News this summer, describing how he decided to take lumber out of Grosse Pointe Park's long-running hardware store on Kercheval.
Pointe Hardware & Lumber has served the Pointes for more than 74 years. It is becoming Pointe General & Hardware, and the plan follows one rule. The store is giving up the categories where being close by stopped mattering and keeping the ones where being close by is the whole point.
What's leaving: the things you plan for
According to the store's own announcement to customers, the lumber department and workshop were set to close August 15, 2026, after existing inventory sold through. The letter, signed by Waref and Danielle of Pointe Hardware Group, says independent neighborhood hardware stores now have a hard time competing in lumber and running a traditional workshop. It says the business would rather spend its "time, energy, and resources" where it can add the most value.
Festool is going too. That's notable because the store's website still calls its Festool section "the first and only stand-alone Festool boutique in the nation." Hawasli told Grosse Pointe News that tariffs hurt the brand: "It's already an expensive tool and pricing continues to go up." The boutique was new. In May 2024, Grosse Pointe News reported that Festool and a Marvin Design Gallery would join the store that summer, less than a year after Hawasli bought the business in July 2023.
Both lumber and Festool tools face competition from sellers well outside the Pointes. Hawasli told Grosse Pointe News, "Our advantage in the past was being close by. But now, we're competing in a completely different landscape. Customers have the ability to get what they need from no matter how far away it is." He called the store's effort against big-box lumber outlets "a valiant effort."
What's staying: the things you need by this afternoon
The rest of the plan rests on the opposite kind of purchase. Hawasli calls these "I need it today" products, and they stay in an inventory he put at 21,000 items. He said the store already works like a general store, carrying "lawn and garden, housewares, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, irrigation and seasonal things."
The store's website lists services that only work in person on Kercheval:
- Key duplication
- Battery replacements
- Fast delivery
- Precision cutting
- Sharpening
- Window and door repairs
- Custom projects
- Propane exchange
None of these can be shipped. A dull mower blade, a key for the dog walker, or a grill tank that runs out halfway through dinner all depend on a store being a few blocks away. Hawasli said hardware essentials will still be "about 40 to 50 percent of our DNA." He also said the store will look at what people are buying online and stop carrying those things.
What's arriving: the things you'd buy on the way past
The new shelf space goes to products in the same quick-errand category. Hawasli listed cleaning supplies and paper products, and said the store will "add more pet essentials and storage solutions and things we know everybody needs from a home and household perspective," in the in the July 30 Grosse Pointe News story.
He described one more idea as possible, not promised. "We're exploring, but not committing to, a pantry concept for food. Like a curated grocery store with coffee, honey and jams, Michigan-made products that emphasize the local feel." The store's letter adds home goods, seasonal items, locally sourced products, gifts, everyday conveniences, and "a dedicated kids area designed to make visits enjoyable for all ages."
Hawasli told the paper he modeled the concept on stores up north: "There are some really inspiring brick-and-mortars in northern Michigan towns that have a quaint, neighborhood feel of a general and hardware store."
Diane Dann, the store's head of procurement and a 30-year employee, put it plainly to Grosse Pointe News. "Different products are being brought in. It's going to be a little different than hardware. I think it's going to be great."
The one big-ticket line that's growing
One planned purchase is expanding instead of shrinking, and it fits the same rule. Hawasli told Grosse Pointe News that Marvin Windows and Doors will expand. The store's website calls itself "the only Marvin Window and Door showroom in Wayne County."
Windows and doors are hard to buy sight unseen. People want to see the finish, work the hardware, and talk through sizes with someone who has measured old openings before. The Kercheval building runs from Maryland to Wayburn, according to the 2024 Grosse Pointe News profile, and the showroom is the part that still needs that much floor space.
Two versions of the workshop's future
The plan isn't fully settled in public yet. The store's letter says the workshop closes along with lumber. Hawasli's interview with Grosse Pointe News describes something more specific: "The customer workshop will grow into a separate business," focused on "client servicing for millwork and building things like entertainment centers, furniture and vanities."
Both can be true. The cut-to-order counter that served weekend projects ends, and a custom-build service may continue under a different arrangement. Neither source we reviewed gives a name, location, or start date for the millwork business. For now, anyone hoping to have a vanity or built-in made should ask at the counter rather than assume the service carried over.
Where the transition stands in October
The letter says the store will turn into Pointe General & Hardware "over the next six months." The letter isn't dated, but the lumber closing was set for mid-August. If the six months started then, the full conversion would finish around early 2027.
As of mid-October, the store's website still shows the Pointe Hardware & Lumber name and the transition letter. We found no public update from August through October confirming the new signage, the kids area, or the Michigan-made section. Treat the August 15 date and the general-store plan as announced, and expect the aisles to change in stages over the coming months.
The community side of the store looks unchanged. The store's events page still lists Little Builders, a hands-on session where "kids get to build, create, and learn," and Hump Day Hot Dogs. That's a customer-appreciation event with free hot dogs sponsored by Fairway Packing Co., plus a lemonade stand and face painting. No dates are posted, so check with the store before showing up.
Why a Park hardware store is changing course now
Grosse Pointe News placed the change among a string of recent closures of independent hardware stores elsewhere. Vernon Hardware near Durand was closing after 87 years, Wright City Hardware in Missouri had shut after 89 years, and Central Center Hardware in Chillicothe, Ohio, closed after 49 years.
"It's not because the stores were poorly run," Hawasli told Grosse Pointe News. "It's because buyer habits are changing drastically. People are able to get everyday necessities by clicking a button."
His answer is to stay on Kercheval and sell what a nearby store does best. "What makes a general store super special is relationship-based," he said. "They're the place neighbors run into each other, where people come and hang out." The store's own letter makes the same point. "Pointe Hardware & Lumber is not closing. We are evolving."
If you're thinking about how places like Pointe General & Hardware fit into your own plans for the Park, Shana Sine Cameron would be glad to talk through the stretch of Kercheval she has watched for decades. Schedule Your Free Consultation.
