MOUNT GREENWOOD — Mount Greenwood Hardware is for sale.
The neighborhood hardware store at 3124 W. 111th St. in Mount Greenwood is listed with O'Shaughnessy Realtors Inc. for $265,000.
Only the 3,200-square-foot building and not the merchandise inside nor the business itself are part of the deal, said Lawrence O'Shaughnessy, the listing agent.
O'Shaughnessy said a buyer could likely negotiate for both as well as for the separate parcel behind the building that's used as a parking lot.
Mount Greenwood Hardware closed abruptly on Dec. 15. Third-generation owner Barry Zimmerman said his business license was revoked because of delinquent sales taxes owed to the state.
In an interview with DNAinfo on Jan. 15, Zimmerman said he opted to pay his employees rather than his sales taxes as business declined during the latest recession. He was hoping to make up for the lapse when sales improved, but he never got the chance.
Mount Greenwood Hardware was founded in 1929 by Barry's grandfather, Sam Zimmerman. The store was handed down to his two sons — Barry's father and uncle. Barry's father, Phil Zimmerman, died on July 15.
Attempts to reach Barry Zimmerman on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In a previous interview, Zimmerman said his independent hardware store suffered from competition with big box stores such as Home Depot and Menards. Indeed, Menards opened a store 3½ miles away at 9100 S. Western Ave. in neighboring Evergreen Park, exactly one year ago.
Mount Greenwood Hardware still commonly served as a fall-back for such customers, as the big boxes would send shoppers with special requests or unusual problems to Zimmerman's tiny shop in Mount Greenwood.
More often than not, the staff at Mount Greenwood Hardware could help or offer an alternative solution. Knowledgeable staffers would also walk do-it-yourselfers through the process.
Darlene Myers, executive director of the Mount Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, said she had received several calls from individuals interested in buying the building and continuing to operate it as a hardware store.
"We are all working together on this," Myers said.
O'Shaughnessy said he hadn't heard anything since listing the property on Saturday. He believes interest will pick up as "for sale" signs are hung in the window in the coming days.
If not a hardware store, the Realtor theorized the corner building would also make a good home to a restaurant, coffee house or ice cream shop.
"It would be a neat location because of those old, oak floors," O'Shaughnessy said.
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