The family-founded and family-owned certified Stihl and Honda dealership and hardware store on Bloomingdale Avenue has been a staple of the community for more than 45 years.

Local contractors and do-it-yourselfers are mourning the loss of a source of exclusive tool brands, friendly knowledge and crucial repairs.

Sturdy Supply has slightly different offerings than other hardware stores, catering more to big jobs and contractors. It’s been a place where people buy gloves, snowblowers and laser levels; rent skid steers, cement mixers and generators; and get their lawnmowers, drills and saws repaired.

Chris Stevens behind the counter is a friendly, knowledgeable source of expertise.

Chris Stevens stands among Stihl power tools at Sturdy Supply in Saranac Lake on Tuesday. The equipment rental and hardware store will be closing its doors after four-and-a-half decades on Friday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Stevens has worked at Sturdy Supply for six years now and said he’s enjoyed the community-oriented work environment. On Tuesday, he chatted with customers and doled out advice.

Mary Brown, who was shopping for a pair of work gloves on Tuesday, called the closure a “tragedy.” She’s a regular customer and said she’s enjoyed the talks about home projects she’s had there.

Sturdy Supply owner Tom Hyde said it was a “difficult decision” to close in his good-bye message in an ad in the Enterprise.

“We want to sincerely thank every one of you for your trust, loyalty and support throughout the years,” he wrote.

The Enterprise was not able to reach Hyde by publication of this article.

Chris Stevens shovels the walkway into Sturdy Supply in Saranac Lake on Tuesday. The equipment rental and hardware store will be closing its doors after four-and-a-half decades on Friday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Stevens said they waited for Stihl to accept a new dealer in town before closing shop. They wanted to know all the people they’ve sold Stihl equipment to throughout the years will still have a place to go to get maintenance and repairs done on their chainsaws, mowers and augers.

“We didn’t want to feel bad about things that we’ve sold to people,” he said. “We sold the equipment, so we wanted to make sure we could do what we had to if anything ever went wrong.”

Taylor Rental, on Broadway, is now a licensed Stihl dealership.

Sturdy Supply was co-founded in 1980 by Phil and Barbara Hyde, who also owned Hyde Fuel. This was back when they were regularly delivering 55-gallon oil drums to mechanics as far-flung as Loon Lake who had customers out there. Then, they got into the retail and rental business.

“Everyone’s proud that it lasted this long,” Stevens said.

It’s harder to run a small business nowadays, he said — it’s been hard for a while and it keeps getting harder. They’re not the only business dealing with it, he said. Distributors keep raising their free shipping rates and requiring a larger amount of money spent to place an order.

Also, consumers are ordering products online more, buying from their homes instead of going to a shop.

But, Stevens said, people often came to Sturdy for something they couldn’t get online — a discussion of whatever jobsite problem they were encountering. He said half the business was people coming to them for advice.

When people come in and ask how to bust apart a big rock in their driveway, he’s able to point to a photo under a plastic sheet on the counter next to the cash register counter showing a boulder with drilled holes filled with Dexpan, an expanding liquid which splits the rock apart, instantly showing how it works.

“All summer long people are doing that,” Stevens said.

This knowledge comes from experience, he said — years of seeing what people need. People come to them with mechanical issues they can’t repair themselves.

“Small-town mechanics are hard to come by,” Stevens said.

On Tuesday, he was giving advice on which oil to use for a new chainsaw, while noting that the new saws don’t take much of a yank to get started. Actually, pulling hard on the starter cord is what causes damage to the engine.

The store’s remaining inventory will be sold off at auctions next month. There were be two auctions — one for retail items and one for rental equipment — held online through the Morrisonville-based Quabbin Valley Auction

The retail auction will last from March 14 to 23 with a live preview on March 21 and 22. Pick-up days for auctioned retail items will be March 24 through 26.

The rental auction will last from March 21 to 30 with a live preview on March 28 and 29. Pick-up days for auctioned rental items will be March 31 through April 2.