Every so often, someone in Malibu bemoans the fact that Malibu Lumber closed its doors a few years back (because they weren’t doing enough business to stay in business), and goes on to complain that in order to get some screws or a screwdriver they have to travel vast distances to foreign climes such as Oxnard or Thousand Oaks or Agoura.
What amazes me about these comments is that the letter writers apparently have never driven east past the Civic Center, about three and a half miles and five minutes to Las Flores, where stands A & B Hardware! It’s an “ACE” hardware store, and on the facade in very large lettering, are the words: “Electrical, Plumbing, Building, Paints.” The store has thousands of hardware items, from screws to saws, wing nuts to wrenches, paint to plumbing parts, and a host of other stuff that do-it-yourselfers need to do it themselves! Let me hasten to add that A & B is not the most beautiful or spacious store in the business. It’s old and cramped, and the aisles are narrow and crowded; it sure ain’t no ‘DO-IT-CENTER’ but it’s packed with items.
Mr. Lawrence Ivey is the latest resident to complain (Letters, March 4), and maybe he’ll take advantage of A & B before he traipses off to Oxnard the next time he needs something from a hardware store. He’ll surely save a bunch on gas, even if their prices are a bit higher.
I agree with Mr. Ivey that Malibu Lumber was a great asset to our city, but we just have to make the best of what we’ve got now, and A & B is surely much better than no hardware store at all.
Les Moss