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On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a trickle of customers walked through the back door of Blossom True Value Hardware in Mountain View looking to pick up items to make quick fixes to their homes, yards and businesses. Longtime store owner Paul Zeitman rang up each purchase, visibly relieved when a collection of items totaled more than a few dollars.
“I’m selling stuff but not reordering it,” Zeitman said, handing a grounding rod to a customer. The last time Zeitman sold a grounding rod of that size was five years ago, according to an inventory record.
“Every year is worse than before,” he said. “People are buying less and less.”
Now after more than 50 years of serving the Mountain View community, Zeitman and his wife, Michele Bernal, plan to close Blossom True Value Hardware when their lease is up this summer.
Located near the corner of El Camino Real and Shoreline Boulevard, the store is nestled among a collection of other small businesses, including an ice cream store, vegan restaurant, nail salon, upholstery store and pool supply store.
Next door is Mountain View Surplus, an outdoor gear and camping store. Dar Mozan, owner of Mountain View Surplus, sublets the space at Blossom True Value Hardware, which takes up about 7,000 square feet, according to Zeitman.
Mozan declined to comment on the status of the lease, citing a non-disclosure agreement with the building’s owner.
But even if the lease was extended, Zeitman and Bernal said that it likely would not change their plan to close their hardware store in the near future. According to Zeitman, their monthly rent is a reasonable amount, but is now too much to afford because only about half as many people are coming in compared to a few years ago.
“We lost our market,” Bernal said, noting that the falloff happened at the tail end of the pandemic.
During the pandemic, the store was allowed to stay open as an essential business, and many people at the time purchased hardware and other items to fix up their homes. That started to change as regular customers moved out of the area and online retail took off. The opening of more ACE Hardware stores in the region also has not helped, Bernal said.
The “final nail in the coffin” has been rising tariffs, according to Zeitman. A lot of the store’s merchandise is from China, which the Trump administration has hit with higher tariffs. The tariffs are cutting into the store’s profit margin, while sales have simultaneously dropped.
“We can’t pay our rent. We can’t pay our bills,” Zeitman said.
Other closures in Mountain View
In January, two other businesses announced impending closures after serving the Mountain View community for decades: the Nob Hill Foods in the Grant Park Plaza shopping center and Los Portales, a Mexican restaurant at Moffett Plaza.
City Council member John McAlister, who owns the Baskin-Robbins ice cream store next door to Blossom True Value Hardware, attributed the large number of commercial vacancies in Mountain View to a host of factors. He described high rents and labor costs, coupled with competition from big-box retail stores and online shopping. He also noted that tariffs on overseas products were hitting businesses hard.
“Everything is going up,” he said.
McAlister is also concerned about the city’s plan to rezone certain commercial sites to allow for housing, which he voted against last year. The hardware store isn’t affected by those changes, but McAlister pointed to the broader impact this could have throughout the city.
“It’s incentivizing developers to take out small businesses,” he said. “Once they close, it’s hard for them to come back.”
Customers react to plans of closure
News of Blossom True Value Hardware’s possible closure caught customers by surprise last week, many of whom have been buying hardware and other odds and ends from the store for decades.
Originally owned by Zeitman’s father, the store first opened in Los Altos in 1973 and then moved to two different locations in Mountain View before landing at 1297 W. El Camino Real in 2006. Zeitman has been working at the store ever since it opened 53 years ago, when he was just out of high school.
“It’s very sad,” said Mountain View resident Greg Medeiros who recalled purchasing items from the store at its other locations too. “I’m a ‘do it yourself’ home guy, and it’s so convenient to get last-minute things here.”
Mountain View resident Nancy Jolin expressed dismay at the news of the closure while waiting to get some keys cut at the counter. As a property manager for older apartments, Jolin said that she comes into the store “all the time,” as it always has what she needs and the staff are very helpful.
“I don’t know what I’ll do if it closes,” she said. “I can find anything here – even if it doesn’t exist.”
Disappointed that they’re closing since it’s a lot closer than Home Despot. I wish the Zeitmans a great retirement.
Might be a blessing in disguise for Paul. He’s been a lifesaver for my house for nearly 20 years, giving it his all. He deserves a rest.
I’ve lived near this Ace and shopped it all the time for the last 20 years for all sorts of DIY projects. It is such a shame that a friendly, useful small business like this is no longer viable. Thank you Paul and Michele for being there for me and others in the community for decades. Best wishes in your retirement! You’ll be missed and not forgotten.
Darn. I appreciated having a hardware store close to downtown and being able to buy materials like screens by the foot (or nails/screws/etc. individually). I had wished that they had better bike parking, friendlier and more welcoming signs (there is something about riding in a police car as you enter), and for a while it was grimy, but of course all of that is way better than not having a hardware store at all.
Very sorry to see True Value go. I have been trying to buy local and to quit funding the oligarchy. Unfortunately, the oligarchs keep wiping out the competition.
So sad to see this True Value store closing. My brother and I last shopped at this location 2 or 3 years ago. Another shop in our fair city closing.
We will miss you Paul and Michele. What a resource you have been to our community over the many years. Our dog will miss your generous treats as well.
I will miss our neighborhood hardware store. Good people who are knowledgeable and helpful. They always have what I need. Have a great retirement.
Oh how sad! Whenever I go, the people are friendly and helpful, and I generally find what I need. Another local business smacked down from lack of customers and high tariffs.
I’ve always loved having a hardware store I can walk to and this was the one. Nice people work there and I wish them the best
My favorite local go-to store. Always friendly service. How sad.
I agree with all of the above, but one thing doesn’t check out: the claim of increased competition from Ace Hardware. That store was an Orchard Supply before it was an Ace, so it’s hardly a new competitor.
sad when we lose a local business, especially something like a hardware store where you want knowledgeable help (AI agents not welcome!) and to be able to actually see the item and may be even hold it in your hand.
What a legacy of service to our community. They’ve helped us with countless projects over the years and proved to be the creative problem solvers we needed many times. Plus they sell their wonderful honey from their hives. We will miss them.
Best wishes to Paul and Michele. I will also miss buying their local honey at the store.
What a loss. Great store. Friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people. So convenient. Actually quite useful, and nice to have right there.
The neighborhood/city has lost a number of great businesses.
Quote: “Every year is worse than before”, “We can’t pay our rent. We can’t pay our bills”.
Is it too late to make it an AI-run hardware of some kind, maybe it’s not to late to raise a cool billion down the street?
Very bummed. The owners and staff are always friendly, and I can count on walking in and being able to find anything I might need. I’ve been a customer dating back to prior locations.
Wish this were one where the local residents could save the business through a gofundme, but it sounds like they’re ready to retire.
Very sad (for me).