48 Years of Hardware and Heart: Felton Paint & Hardware Closes its Doors
By Michele Murphy
The end of an era.
Felton Paint & Hardware, one of Felton’s oldest and most beloved businesses, is closing its doors after 48 years serving the San Lorenzo Valley community. There’s still a bit of a chill in the air, but the promise of springtime looms as sun rays beam through the heavy glass doors of the old shop. If you hadn’t been there before, you might think you’d walked into a time capsule — glancing around at the packed yet organized shelves, pegboard displays, and dusty cubbies that line the walls and aisles. Every square inch is thoughtfully utilized to display anything one might need for a renovation or project involving gadgets, gizmos, tape, or screws. There’s a full-blown paint shop on the left, hardware on the right, housewares in the middle, and a well-stocked area with popular work clothes in the back.
Don Walker served the SLV community at Felton Paint & Hardware for close to five decades. (Photo by Michele Murphy)
Most folks make a point of saying howdy to the owner, Don Walker, who greets everyone from behind the large, weathered wooden counter with a broad smile and a warm “hello.” Don seems to know most of his customers by name, and it’s not uncommon for them to stand around for a spell, exchanging pleasantries and talking about this and that. The tendency to socialize — as people do in a small town — doesn’t detract from the brisk efficiency of the place. If you need a certain size washer or screw, Don’s wife Linda will make a beeline to the wall of tiny drawers, and within moments you’ll be holding something that might have taken you an hour to find on your own. And you don’t have to purchase a package of six when all you needed was one. It’s the kind of shopping experience that makes one nostalgic and appreciative of an honest-to-goodness mom-and-pop, brick-and-mortar business — the kind that seems to be disappearing faster than the polar ice caps.
The store has been a familiar fixture on the corner of Highway 9 and Graham Hill Road since 1983, when Don moved it from further down the highway to its current location. Originally, Eldrid Bows opened the business as Felton Paint located on Highway 9 in the plaza next to the Mountain Community Resource Center in the early 1960s. It has only changed hands twice since then. After 11 years of driving over Highway 17 to work for a school district, Don thought it might be fun to ditch the commute, be his own boss, and get into the paint business. So he and his brother Leroy bought it from its second owner in 1977. When the local hardware store closed, they began stocking hardware in addition to paint and became Felton Paint & Hardware.
Don Walker at Felton Paint & Hardware with his regular customers. (Photo by Michele Murphy)
Not much has changed over the years in terms of what Don and Linda love most about running the store. “It’s meeting with the people,” Don says, “and making sure they find what they need to improve their homes.” They’ve added some new technologies during this long stretch of time — a credit card machine and sophisticated paint mixing equipment — but the nuts and bolts of the business have always been about helping people. And even though the changing landscape in this small town is not conducive to keeping this gem of a business going strong, Don and Linda say they have had a good run and have immense gratitude for the community that has supported them for nearly five decades.
Michele Murphy is a singer-songwriter who has lived in the Santa Cruz area since 2005 when she migrated West from Buffalo NY. She works as an energy efficiency consultant and enjoys writing about the wonderful people of the San Lorenzo Valley.
Featured photo courtesy of Don and Linda Walker.
Michele Murphy
Michele Murphyis a singer-songwriter who has lived in the Santa Cruz area since 2005 when she migrated West from Buffalo NY. She works as an energy efficiency consultant and enjoys writing about the wonderful people of the San Lorenzo Valley.
