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Seminole Heights Laments Loss Of Hardware Store
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Published: August 31, 2008
TAMPA - It was the place to find parts for double-hung sash windows of historic bungalows and World War II-era concrete block homes common to Seminole Heights.
A museum of sorts, Tampa Bay Hardware held a restored farm wagon and a 48-star American flag that had flown over the Capitol. Residents dropped off antique tools left behind after parents died.
A display case held odds and ends and a cast-iron toy truck that got so many inquiries from collectors that store owner Earl Branch stuck a sign in the truck's tiny bed: Not For Sale.
Now 84, Branch cherishes that truck, a gift from his aunt when he was 7. Not only does it remind him of his rustic childhood in nearby Sulphur Springs, the toy is one of few things to survive a fire that destroyed his beloved hardware store in June.
Two months later, Branch and his family - a daughter and son-in-law, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild who make up Earl Branch Corp. - have decided not to rebuild.
"I'll be 59 next year," said Branch's son-in-law, Tom Roberts. "By the time we rebuilt, got the business going again, I'd be 60, 61."
After 35 years of running the show for Branch, "I'm too old," Roberts said. Besides, "it wouldn't be the same old place."
It's a blow to this neighborhood, where residents advocate for better zoning, tree-lined thoroughfares and independent businesses that cater to an eclectic community.
"They're not going to rebuild?" bemoaned Elizabeth Graham, an 18-year resident of Seminole Heights who owns a local salon and spa and restaurant.
The former president of the Business Guild of Seminole Heights - she recently resigned to devote more time to her work - hopes the empty lot where Tampa's oldest hardware store once stood doesn't give way to a franchise restaurant, a used car lot or pawn shop.
She'd love a candy store or artist studio, another locally owned restaurant - Graham and her husband own Bungalow Bistro on Florida Avenue - or maybe a collection of shops.
"Something cool," Graham said. "I think it's the independent businesses that make a place authentic."
Family Has No Plans Yet
Branch and family haven't settled on any plan, yet. The lot, which they had cleared last month of fire debris and included a building as big as a barn, is zoned for commercial and residential uses.
Years ago, they considered building apartments on the site. Branch Corp. also owns the auto salvage shop next door.
For now, they'll wait and see and round up copies of paperwork lost in the blaze, a three-alarm fire that remains under investigation by the Tampa Fire Marshal's Office.
"It does not appear suspicious," Capt. Bill Wade of Tampa Fire Rescue said.
Roberts said his insurance company ruled a lightning strike started the fire.
"I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I'm glad it wasn't due to neglect or foul play."
There was only one casualty in the blaze, a store cat named Rebel with long gray hair and bright eyes that lived to lounge on the store counter. Roberts found the body of Rebel, who likely succumbed to smoke inhalation.
For residents on Ninth Street in the Hampton Terrace neighborhood behind the old store, the loss is huge.
"It's going to hurt the neighborhood," said Pattie Goggin, who lives directly behind the lot.
Firefighters kept the flames controlled and protected her house, even saving a eucalyptus tree. Once everything was demolished, though, including a tall concrete wall that bordered her yard and served as a buffer to busy Nebraska Avenue, her privacy was lost.
Goggin bought curtains to block the light from oncoming cars, but the hum of a well-traveled, four-lane highway is constant. Roberts built a wood fence alongside Goggin's property, which helps, she said.
Neighbor Greg Gossett hasn't felt the effects as much. He misses shopping at the store, though, where he found the world's best drain cleaner and obscure tools and parts he never saw at Home Depot.
Gossett said he respects property owner's rights, but he agrees with others in the community - no more car lots.
"We have enough car lots, car repair shops and churches," he said.
He would like to see more modern businesses come to the Heights. Maybe a Panera Bread Company or tanning salon.
But nothing really can replace Tampa Bay Hardware Store, fans say.
Tampa's Oldest Hardware Store
The store, touted as unique and Tampa's oldest, opened at 5511 N. Nebraska Ave. in 1941 under the name Sparks & Jordan Hardware & Lumber Co.
An ad from that era shows a drawing of two businessmen in suits next to a slogan: "We have built our business on a policy of quality."
Branch, a former Navy electrician turned maintenance supervisor for Otis Elevator Co., learned about the store some 30 years later through an ad in The Tampa Tribune.
"Hardware Store For Sale," Branch recites from memory. "Buy inventory. Rent building."
He called up the owners. They told him they would make the sale happen and it did in 1974. Branch's son-in-law, Roberts, agreed to run the store, and Leonard and Max Sparks, sons of the original owner, stayed on to help get the business off the ground.
Eventually, Branch bought the automotive repair station next door and brought in a popular mechanic from Abraham Chevrolet. Branch also owned the land where John's Import Auto Service sits, at 5507 N. Nebraska Ave., but later sold it to the garage's owner.
Branch later bought another hardware store on 30th Street near the Schlitz brewery in North Tampa and another in South Tampa. Both were sold long ago.
He still wakes in the middle of the night thinking about the fire that took so much. But life goes on in his tidy Dana Shores home.
The widower, known as Buddy, survived a stroke a few years ago. He fell, hit his head and landed in a coma.
Branch has lost much of his eyesight and uses a low-vision video magnifier machine to read his Tribune, which he does daily. He can't hear too well, but he relishes music so much he gives away CD players to friends and family.
A member of the Jefferson High School Class of 1942, Branch meets monthly with classmates. He loves one-liners - you find yourself waiting for the rim shot at the end of each joke - and he fondly calls women he just met "baby" and "honey," vestiges of a bygone era.
Like the toy truck rescued from the rubble of his hardware store.
Reporter Kathy Steele and Researcher Melanie Coon contributed to this report. Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at (813) 259-7144 or sackerman@tampatrib.com
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