Motley Hardware: A Store Rooted in Service, Sustained by Heart

There’s a kind of magic in small towns. Not the flashy, cinematic kind—but the kind you feel when someone goes out of their way to help you find a specialty nut or drives across a field to deliver tools to your broken-down tractor.

Motley Hardware owners Bruce and Terri Ekert

That kind of magic is alive and well at Motley Hardware, where Bruce and Terri Ekert have been quietly transforming a community staple into a place where people find more than just parts—they find help, humor, and a familiar face.

Bruce didn’t set out to run a hardware store. A draftsman by trade, he moved north for the peace of the woods and ended up buying hunting land that happened to border Terri’s. Fireside chats turned into friendship and eventually marriage. The store came later—almost by accident.

“I opened the paper one day and saw an ad—‘hardware help needed.’ I thought, ‘I could see myself doing that until I’m 70,’” Bruce recalls. He worked at Motley Hardware for five years before the previous owner, overwhelmed and juggling multiple businesses, approached him with a proposal: buy the store.

At first, Terri said no. She was nearing retirement from the post office and wasn’t looking for a new venture. But the more they talked, the more it made sense. Flexibility. Autonomy. The chance to serve their community in a new way. “She said, ‘Can I do the books?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Bruce laughs.

Today, Bruce runs the day-to-day operations—ordering inventory, assisting customers, fielding phone calls well past closing time, while Terri also assists customers and handles the financials. Together, they’ve cultivated a culture of service that’s worth celebrating.

Motley Hardware isn’t just a store—it’s a hub. People come in with plumbing issues, pet food needs, questions about bird seed, and stories about turkey hunts. Bruce answers every call with the same attitude: “Let’s figure it out!” Sometimes that means helping a farmer mid-harvest with an urgent tool delivery, sometimes it means troubleshooting a plumbing fix over the phone late at night. “Every day, it’s something different,” he says. “Everyone’s working on a project,” says Terri. “It’s constant and we love it.”

That personal approach has earned Motley Hardware loyalty from miles around. “There are two hardware stores in Staples,” Bruce notes. “And still, people drive here. They say, ‘You take care of us. Why would we go anywhere else?’”

Buying the store wouldn’t have been possible without the support of NCEDA’s Revolving Loan Fund. Working through First International Bank in Staples, Bruce and Terri learned about the lending opportunity and were able to access the funding they needed to purchase the business. “It made a huge difference,” Bruce says. “The process was smooth, and we got the help we needed.”

Now, two years into ownership, the Ekerts are continuing to grow. Bruce pores over sales reports nightly, adjusting inventory to meet seasonal needs and customer demand. They’ve added shelves, expanded product offerings, and now stock over 16,000 different items—everything from chainsaw chains to goat milk soap. “If someone comes in looking for something we don’t have, I tell them, ‘It’ll be here next time!’”

Of course, there are challenges—long hours, late-night requests, and the occasional inventory overload. But Bruce is clear about what keeps them going: “Customer service. That’s the heart of this place.”

And people feel it. “Everyone knows Bruce,” Terri says. “They come in asking for him by name. It’s the relationships, more than the merchandise, that make the difference.”

Even without room to expand physically, Bruce and Terri are thinking ahead. They’re reinvesting in what they have, working toward stronger systems, more efficient shelving, and a business that can sustain their pace while supporting a community that depends on them.

When asked what they’re most proud of, Bruce doesn’t hesitate. “People trust us. They come back. They know we’ll help them find what they need, even if we have to go out of our way to do it.”

It’s the kind of service you can’t order online. The kind that turns a hardware store into a lifeline. The kind that reminds you, as Bruce says with a shrug and a smile, “Every day is different. And that’s what makes it worth it.”