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Wright Pro Hardware, family-owned shop closes after 86-year run in Cathlamet.
When the Wright family opened up shop in 1933 as a vendor in the old creamery, the second story was used as a community dance hall, Wright said. Now it store antique furniture and piles of lawn mower belts.
As customers looking to make a purchase wind their way through the maze-like piles of products, they’ll find a trip to Cathlamet’s Wright Pro Hardware is like walking through an 86-year-old time capsule.
Near the heart of the store sits a house made of buttons, shells and other “found-in-pockets” treasures, a Wright family heirloom that moved with the Wrights from Tillamook, Ore., when they relocated their hardware business to Cathlamet in 1933.
On the second floor, 1940s and 1950s pinball machines line the wall — a call back to the Wright Amusement Company the family owned in addition to the hardware store.
In the back rooms, the walls still bear the wallpaper that decorated the apartment where the late Wally Wright, third-generation family owner of the store, was raised.
The store, which takes up a full city block on Broadway, has sat relatively dormant for the last five years, with a sign on the front door telling customers to call Wally Wright if they wanted to make a purchase.
In May, Wright Hardware reopened its doors for a final liquidation sale before the family officially closes up shop.
“A lot of people said this is the end of an era, and that’s the truth,” said current owner Linda Wright, 70, who was married to Wally Wright. “For me, it is bittersweet. I’m sad to see the store close … but my husband passed away this past August, and there’s no way I can take care of the building.”
According to the Family Business Center, about one in 10 family businesses remain in the family for more than 60 years. Only 3% of family-owned businesses survive into the fourth generation, the center says.
The heirs apparent to Wright Pro Hardware are Wright’s son Mike, 39, and daughter Meg, 35. However, they both live in new cities now — Meg in Sterling, Alaska, and Mike in Royal City, Wash.
Cathlamet's Wright Pro Hardware closing after 86 years
Linda Wright, right, rings up a customer's purchase during the second to last week of the Wright Pro Hardware liquidation sale. The store is closing after lasting through three generations in the Wright family.
Mallory Gruben mallory.gruben@tdn.com
Her children are tending to their own families and careers, she said. “They have their own lives now.”
And the family has “not even thought about selling it to another family,” she added. “It’s been in the family for so long that it’s hard to think about that.”
‘An electrical pile
and a car parts pile’
Wally Wright’s grandfather, Eugene, opened Wright Furniture and Hardware in 1933 after his son — and Wally Wright’s uncle — Otis returned home from a summer as a traveling salesman. Otis boasted that he’d found a city that “didn’t seem to know there was a depression going on,” said Linda Wright.
“Most places, they would slam the door in his face. But here in Wahkiakum County, people would invite him in,” she said.
The Wrights arrived in Cathlamet on the ferry, as there were no formal roads leading into the town at the time, Wright said. At the recommendation of Herbert Faubion, the family set up shop in the town’s old creamery, which had been converted into apartments and small vendor storefronts. (Faubion’s daughter, Effie, later married Eugene Wright’s son, Art. She is Wally Wright’s mother.)
“As people would move out, (the hardware store) would take over that space until they owned the whole store,” Linda Wright said.
Eugene Wright passed ownership of the store along to his sons, Otis and Art, sometime in the 1940s or 1950s, Linda Wright said. The brothers stocked the store by buying “lots,” or entire sections of other regional hardware stores that were closing, she said. Then, they’d bring their new products back to the store.
“They’d bring it back and put it in an electrical pile or a car parts pile. … They didn’t have it organized on shelves,” Wright said.
Customers who were looking for a specific part had to ask the family if it was in stock. The owners would wind their way through the “maze” of piles and often bring back exactly what was needed, Wright said.
Growing up in the back of the store, her husband “knew where things were in the store from the very beginning,” she said.
Despite his knowledge, Wally Wright didn’t officially sign on to work at the shop until 1985, when his father, Art, died. During the decade before, Wally Wright worked as a middle school science teacher at the local school, his wife said.
“His dad had some medical problems, and when (Eugene) passed in 1985, Wally stopped in to take over. … He took it over so his mom (Effie) would have a reason to get up in the morning and a place to go to meet people,” she said.
Cathlamet's Wright Pro Hardware closing after 86 years
In 1990, Wally Wright affiliated the shop with Pro Hardware Distribution. That decision changed the name of the store and helped organize the front portion of the shop to look like a traditional hardware store, Linda Wright said.
But items piled in the back of the store were still for sale, she said, and Wally Wright continued to run the store much like his father before him.
“People were able to find what they needed (in the front of the store) without asking for help. But if you needed more than what you could see, you’d go ahead and ask Wally,” she said.
‘This is the saying goodbye’
In the nearly 45 years Linda Wright has been associated with the hardware store, she said her favorite memories all involve her husband’s joy for working in the shop.
“Wally was like his dad in that he had the ability to see a problem and figure out what needed to be done to correct it, to fix it, to make something work again,” Wright said.
Her husband especially loved Blaze King stoves, she said, and he was also quick to provide a demonstration of one of his favorite products, Corrosion X.
“He always had a small bottle of Corrosion X in his pocket. If something was stuck or didn’t turn right, he’d pull out that bottle … and he would put his drops in, wait a few minutes, and it would work,” Wright said. (The store’s stock of Corrosion X has already sold out because customers “knew what a good deal it was” when it went on sale initially, Wright said.)
Wally Wright was diagnosed with colon cancer about five years ago, his wife said. Working full days in the store was “too tiring” after chemotherapy and surgery, but he kept a sign on a door letting customers know he’d gladly lend a hand or make a sale if they needed it, his wife said.
Most of the customers by that time were long-time shoppers, Wright said, who knew that the Wrights’ store was “a place to go to find things when you can’t find them anywhere else.”
“It’s like the old standby. You know it’s there,” Wright said. “It’s like the old, worn shoes that are in the back of the closet, and you pull them out and say, ‘I forgot about those.’ ”
But Wright said she doesn’t expect the store’s closure to affect Cathlamet’s younger residents as much. Instead, those shoppers tend to patronize the other, newer hardware store, Cathlamet Building Materials, or go to “big box” stores like Lowes and Home Depot in nearby towns, Wright said.
“(Closing) will be hard for a lot of the people who have been around for a while ... but a lot of new people don’t even know we are there,” Wright said. “They don’t know the treasures that the walls hold.”
Those treasures include antique furniture, countless boxes of almost every nut and bolt known to man and decades of Wright family history.
With no family members nearby to step in for Wally Wright, this final liquidation sale will close the 86-year chapter of the family’s hardware shop.
“This is the saying goodbye,” Wright said.
The final day of the sale is July 6, Wright said, and most of the items will be marked down to 75% off starting this week. She said she wants to sell as many of the items out of the store as possible.
Eventually, Wright wants to sell the building and adjacent parking lot, so she can do more traveling and visit her grandchildren, she said. For now, though, she said she’s just taking it “one day at a time” and focusing on upholding the shop’s long-time mantra: Service, selection and satisfaction.
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October 25, 2021 - Albany, NY - Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that New York State bridges and landmarks will be lit pink today, October 25, 2021, to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. "Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a time to reflect on those who have lost their lives to Breast Cancer, as well as those left behind who are deeply impacted by the loss of their friend, colleague or loved one and recognize those who have beat breast cancer or are currently battling the disease," Governor Hochul said. "This month also serves as a crucial reminder to spread awareness and encourage our loved ones to schedule routine mammograms as well as personal breast exams. We know that early detection is key and while we recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, our efforts to increase awareness and support for fighters and survivors continues year-round." The State Education Building is seen here. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
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Last week I had my quarterly appointment with my Hematologist. I was in a good mood as I had seen my blood test results the week before, showing my cancer levels continuing to drop. He said he was very happy with my overall health as I’m responding very well to my chemo treatment. I received a new requisition form for bloodwork for the next 2 years and I only have to have my big monthly (e.g. Week 43, Week 47) blood test now, which shows my cancer levels + overall response to treatment.
The small monthly blood test (e.g. Week 45), which only shows my overall response to treatment has been cancelled, as tests every 2 weeks are excessive, when the results aren’t likely to show problems. I took this photo this morning as it was heavily raining. I was fortunate to find a covered spot to place my camera so it wouldn’t get wet.
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My sister Jeannette (middle) has breast cancer for ten years now and she is currently undergoing her fourth chemotherapy. She has had to struggle for years to except her imminent death and loss of hair.
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The other women on this image are perfectly healthy. They shaved their heads out of solidarity.
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Little Known Fact: the carpet is made from a scan of my favorite shirt when I was ten. I wore it all the time.
Male breast cancer survivor briefly tells of his experience, allows his scar to be viewed and explains what symptoms to look for.My friend has asked for his face not to be shown for work and privacy reasons.
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