Store's success hinges on co-op deal; Ace affiliation helps H. Brickman expand in Village, even as Home Depot moves in.(Small Business)(Buildings and facilities of hardware store)

Crain's New York Business, September, 2006 by Bolonik, Kera

Byline: Kera Bolonik When a huge Home Depot opened in Manhattan's Chelsea two years ago, many people feared that 70-year-old hardware store H. Brickman & Sons would be crushed. They were wrong. Today, the family-owned East Village institution is not only still around, but it has also produced its first offshoot.

The new 6,000-square-foot store--half again as big as the original--opened in the West Village in April 2006 and is already doing a brisk business. "The timing was right,'' says Jim Doria, the store's co-owner and great-nephew of the founder. H. Brickman stands as vivid proof that independent operators--be they hardware stores, office supply shops or druggists--can at the very least co-exist with chain stores. In the case of Brickman, sales at...

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