Fork Union, along with the rest of Fluvanna County, has seen its share of ups and downs within its tight-knit business community. This has been especially true during the recession. November saw the opening of a large full-service grocery store in the little village, but February is seeing the end of an era: the closing of Home Source Hardware, located near the Family Dollar store on U.S. 15. Store owner Steve Schnyder announced the store will shut its doors forever after the close of business on Saturday, Feb. 19.

Home Source was locally famous for offering a variety of goods and services. The store sold hardware for jobs of all sizes and in the hopes of attracting a wider customer base, it also had ventured into a multitude of other areas. With the loss of this staple of the community looming on the horizon, Fork Union will have a large, empty retail space without a tenant. It will also force many Fork Union residents to drive many miles to find a hardware retailer for their needs.

Home Source has been in business for 12 years, based inside a 20-year-old building. During those years, the store maintained a staff of 11, ably managed by Diane Daly. The store began as a place for contractors to pick up their supplies for their jobs. Home Source sold products such as Benjamin Moore Paints, Armstrong Flooring and Stanley Tools, which Schnyder would buy directly from their booths at hardware expos. Home Source was also known for an extensive greenhouse, selling garden supplies, seed and live plants. When the bottom began to drop out of the local construction business a few years back, the store lost nearly 80 percent of its sales, so there was a concerted effort to bring in more customers by adding unique products to its already large hardware line. The owners opened “Chicken World” a couple years ago, selling 2-day-old chicks to egg-laying hens and all the products needed to set up full-scale chicken farming operation. Home Source was even a sponsor of The Rural Virginian’s “Chicken of the Week.”

The store was also very active in the Fluvanna community. One of their most popular outreaches was the Biannual Rabies Clinic—held for six years straight. Home Source would share the cost of advertising with Fork Union Animal Clinic, and the vet assistants would come to the store on Saturdays to volunteer their time to vaccinate local dogs and cats.

Recently the store added food to its inventory, beginning with a delicatessen and expanding to bulk and other natural and organic foods. The store even made fresh submarine sandwiches and baked homemade bread. However, even with these unique additions to the product line, the actual hardware side, the bread and butter of the business continued to lose money. Closing the store was a sad, but needed, bottom line decision made by Schnyder and Daly.

Schnyder said he will not be working as an independent business owner for the near future.

The closing of Home Source will be a blow to the business community according to vocal “Buy Local” advocate, Renny Megahan, the co-owner of Fluvanna Do-It-Best Hardware on Lake Monticello Road. He sees the end of Home Source as something that should never happen and is not good for the county. He believes that local “people are losing the definition of convenience.”

Consumers need to remember that the same products sold at the big box stores are also readily available at your closer, nearby stores and the decision to not shop local should not be based solely on lower price. He sees supporting a local business as a way to keep more money in our county, which in turns helps employ more Fluvanna residents and improve county services. Megahan is also quick to add that in going to a local business rather than a big box store, a patron will be given individual personal service that shows “we care.”