This fall marks 40 years since islanders Al and Laura Snyder opened their hardware store in the Thriftway shopping center.
The store carried the moniker True Value at that time, and the Oct. 27, 1977, Beachcomber that announced the opening of the store reported the couple chose to open the business so they could spend more time together and “do something that served the community.” Four decades later, the store is now under the Ace Hardware umbrella, is more than 6,000 square feet larger than it was in 1977 and is owned by the Snyder’s son, Doug, and son-in-law, John Yates, who bought in in 2011.
