Crest Will Be Missed!

Come buy and say goodbye through August 30

Joe Franquinha’s career at Crest Hardware began almost instantaneously after he was born. As time progressed, he moved from sweeping floors and cutting boxes between his years at school to becoming the owner of one of the oldest businesses in North Brooklyn.

Founded by Joe’s father, Manny, and his uncle, Joseph in 1962, Crest has become a staple in the North Brooklyn community as one of its first hardware stores. Joe Franquinha began working full-time at Crest in 2004, and for the past twenty years his dad, his mom (Cathy Franquinha), and he have been operating the store. Joe moved up through managerial roles until he became the owner in 2009.

Now, Joe is preparing to close Crest’s doors for good on August 30. The closing is due to the property partners choosing not to renew the lease; Joe was outvoted in the decision. Crest made the official announcement on their Instagram page and announced their store closing sale. The post has received a massive community response, with many locals and residents of the NYC area mourning the loss and its effect on the Brooklyn community.

The original location of Crest sat across the street from the current 558 Metropolitan Avenue building. After its creation, the business began to grow and moved into the much larger space that Crest occupies. According to Joe, “[Crest] wasn’t your typical hardware store, even right from the start.”

“They were one of the biggest stores in the neighborhood, all things hardware, anything you need to fix your apartment, fix your house, they were there with a friendly face and probably a good joke alongside it. They welcomed everyone, no matter their race, or religion, or creed, or however they identified,” he said.

When Joe took over a managerial position in the early 2000s, he came with expansion ideas, one being the garden center. He explained that he wanted to give people a different reason to shop at Crest beyond hardware. The garden center added a new demographic of shoppers to Crest, and boosted the business to the next level.

“Now we were starting to speak into people’s disposable income… not just about people coming here based out of necessity… people are coming in because of something that we sell because of their passion,” said Joe.

“Manny Franquinha, was quite proud of the new business he created at Crest and
often remarked how impressed he was with Joe’s entrepreneurial talents” said Michael
Rochford, executive director of St. Nicks Alliance, who frequently chatted with Manny.

“Manny and his brother built the initial business and Joe took the store to the next level,” said Rochford.

Crest’s contributions to the community go beyond selling hardware and garden supplies. From its beginnings, it has a long history of fundraising and supporting many different local charities, organizations, and artists.

“I think what makes us such a special place in the community, is we have always put most if not all of our advertising budget into places where we feel it works most. What I mean by that is supporting charitable organizations, schools… certain church groups if they need help, community gardens, [supporting] the arts wherever we can, whether it be financially or through the materials we sell in the door, or a donation in kind of materials,” he said.

The Crest Hardware Art Show was a celebration of over 150 artists involved with hardware based art. The store displayed the art throughout their space alongside a celebration with musicians and DJs, with opening days reaching over 5,000 attendees.

Joe and his wife Liza also took part in spearheading the annual Bocce For Bus Tournament, which supports senior transport to the Swinging Sixties Older Adult Center. It is one of Joe’s favorite days of the year.

Crest has hosted community events such as the annual pumpkin carving contest. As a last hurrah Crest will host a final event in their space on August 24 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be food, music, and activities for everyone to enjoy.

After the closing announcement, there has been an influx of people coming to support Crest, whether sharing stories on social media or coming in person to support the sale according to Joe.

“It’s a double edged sword for sure where it’s heartbreaking to close our doors, but it’s also heartwarming to see the outpouring to the extent that we have. You know you are important to a community, but you are never able to quantify it exactly. This has really given us an opportunity to clearly see how much both the community means to us, and we mean to them,” he said.

Among the over one thousand comments that Crest’s IG announcement has thus far received were many local businesses sharing their support and love for Crest.

“It is with your help that we built our original Beacon’s Closet location on Bedford Ave. and N 11th St. I cannot count how many times I went in and got help from your knowledgeable staff…We are devastated by this news and fully understand the struggle. Thank you for existing and holding on as long as you have. Your shop lives on through the components, the guts, of buildings on every block in the neighborhood,” commented Beacon’s Closet, a vintage store.

“We love you guys, not only a pillar in our neighborhood but amazing friends as well. Our frequent trips to crest hardware and all the copies of our keys, the nails in our walls and now our Franklin magnet will always be a part of our tiny little shop DNA on Lorimer street,” commented Ediths Brooklyn, a sandwich and food shop on Lorimer Street.

“What legends!!! We can’t even begin to recount all of the great service, great friendships and great times that have emanated from Crest Hardware. This one of a kind treasure of a store will be sorely missed, and can surely never be replaced. Thank you Joe and Liza. Thank you Tony and Patrick. All of you!!!! Wow!” commented Pete’s Candy Store, a live music venue on Lorimer Street.

As the summer continues the sale prices at Crest will incrementally increase. Joe emphasized that everything in the store must go – “We hope that people don’t feel bad… no one here is a vulture or picking at bones, we need this place cleared out and we are calling on the community to help with that,” he stated.

Although, not everything in the store is up for grabs. On July 21, the Crest Instagram account posted a notice that a beloved painting they had in the front of the store had been stolen. Thankfully, within the day the painting was returned.

Crest is not the only small business that has had to close their doors in North Brooklyn from the impacts of gentrification and rise of larger corporations. Joe stated that Williamsburg is a prime example of small businesses being pushed out of an area due to affordability. He said he hopes people remember Crest’s story and that it resonates when supporting small businesses.

“I think Williamsburg has always had such a beautiful identity that has helped it stand out…this beautiful microcosm of a city, as far as the diversity, and the flavor, and the culture, but we’re losing that. We always thought that we were a prime example of the good part of this neighborhood, and we always tried to be a good example for new businesses that opened up around us…saying ‘here is a local business, a community entity, an institution of sorts, that understands and respects change, but also has some non-negotiables, as far as its civic minded responsibility,’” he explained.

Despite Crest closing its doors, Joe will continue to contribute to the North Brooklyn community in any way that he can. While he and Liza have no defined plans after Crest’s closing, Joe eventually hopes he can take what he learned with his twenty years at Crest and give back to other small businesses in North Brooklyn.

“I still, despite the difficulties in small businesses everywhere, think I may have something to give back to small businesses in the future. My twenty years of experience shouldn’t just kind of be put in a box, and put aside, and I still love it…Whether it be in independent hardware and garden centers, or other types of small business, I think that we have a lot of strengths in maybe helping other stores with their identity, their branding, their path, but who knows just yet,” he said.