SFGATE Shines a Spotlight on Eureka’s Iconic Pierson’s Hardware
Pierson’s Big Hammer sign is a landmark in Eureka. [Photo by Matt LaFever]
The story includes a rare interview with current owner Bill Pierson, who reflects on his father Ernie’s outsized influence on Eureka — building more than 2,000 homes across Humboldt County and helping shape the region’s postwar boom. Bill also talks about the design and construction of the giant hammer, the art-driven reimagining of the store, and how Pierson’s carved out an independent foothold in a landscape increasingly dominated by corporate chains.
Read the full SFGATE feature: “The California Hardware Store That Makes Chains Feel Soulless,” by Matt LaFever, also a contributor to Redheaded Blackbelt. .
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Pierson’s is the only hardware store I use in Eureka.
Very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable staff (who are always packing dog cookies.)
The Ace in Henderson Center is cute, but not really good for much unless you’re trying to hang a picture frame or buy a garden gnome.
And fuck that Ace at Harris and Harrison with their big gaudy digital sign.
The Ace on Harris and Harrison is the one I use. And while no Pierson’s, it also avoids the horrors of driving on Broadway. I also suspect their digital sign uses less electricity all year than the two month awesome Christmas lights that Pierson sets up each year. I miss going to Pierson’s but Ace has its virtues too.
Homedepot…coming to a soon to be defunct mall near you!!!
I do hope not.
Word on the street ——
I hope so. I bought a $90 light fixture at Pierson’s and later saw the same one at Home Depot in Santa Rosa for $35. I bought a bi-fold door at Pierson’s for the price of a premium door and returned it because it had loose knots and one had even fell out..
🧼🫧
Gladly trad piersons for a Home Depot. We tried but piesons was in the background pulling strings. Schmidbauer is much better. And then there is Amazon for real variety.
IMHO: Comical relief at SFGate.
Piersons… just another ‘small’ hardware store.
Limited selection.
Maybe 5 toilets.
Maybe 20 light fixtures.
Maybe 10 bathroom cabinets.
Home Depot is 80 (+-) miles away. 160 (+-) mile round trip from Eureka.
With the Californika gas prices that makes it an expensive drive.
At least you can do fill up at the Indian gas station on the south end of town.
Southern Humboldt… might as well head to Ukiah. Still a long drive.
Eastern Humboldt… Redding. Still a long drive.
Looks like they have a political hold on Humboldt County. Dunno on that one.
No real housing developments here… mostly 6 story concrete people barracks and some bigger multi-unit developments… (that buy all their stuff elsewhere anyway).
Meanwhile, the population in Eureka is dropping pretty rapidly. 29K (+-) down to 25K (+-), soon to drop further. Nothing here except green painted bike lanes and curb fart-outs.
Oh well…
When was Eureka at a 29K+ population? At it’s highest, in 1960, it was just over 28K. The 60s were hard on Humboldt County and Eureka (Eureka lost 13.5% of it’s population and Humboldt overall 5%. Keep in mind that the two decades before 1960, Humboldt saw a 51% increase in both 1950 and 1960). In 2010 it got back up to 27,191. Now it’s gone down.
It’s a bit of a boom and bust economy when relying on natural resources, including the cannabis industry.
Note that I specified (+-). Thought that I recalled… 28.6K.
Either way… probably ‘close enough’. Overall… peaked and shrunk.
Meanwhile: The City of Eureka has been stopped at including MyrtleTown and Cutten in the City Limits. That would probably mean 30K (+-) or so.
Meanwhile: Arcata city limits are expanding in all directions.
Go figure.
I went to check the US Census data and got a “Sorry about the government shutdown” when seeking info on the Eureka “metro area”. Looking at Wikipedia, though, the “greater Eureka Area” in 2020 was 48,119, with the pop. within the city limits was 26,512.
That’s Cutten, Ridgewood Heights, Rosewood, Pine Hill, Bayview, etc. Maybe out to Freshwater? I’m probably forgetting some other neighborhoods outside the city limits.
Just a reminder, that peak was 65 years ago.
Pierson’s will order pretty much anything you want in the hardware world that they don’t have in stock.
Very glad to see them recognized and celebrated!
All hardware stores are the same to me, rarely use them. However Pierson’s is good for taking a pee break after washing my truck across the way and heading back to the wilds of Kneeland.
Lovely!
Wow even hardware stores are political decisions with the commenter crowd. I hope that most people in the county aren’t as myopic and predictable as this.
Reminds me of Pastime Hardware in El Cerrito CA. Same longevity, wide wide selection, reputation.
Here fishy.
I’ve had good customer service at Piersons and ok selections of tools. I’ve wondered why no Home Depot in Eureka , there’s one in Crescent City if I recall correctly, much smaller population there. Rumors, speculation, is Piersons has influence to keep Home Depot out of town. A friend said Home Depot is paid to stay out. I doubt that. Home Depot can really drain sales from the small local businesses, like paint stores, appliance stores etc. Home Depot can operate a store at a loss until the smaller businesses fail.
They’re coming…
About 20 + years ago there was an attempt to develop the balloon track in Eureka, near Nilsens. It was to be a shopping center with a Home Depot as the anchor. It didn’t happen for a myriad of reasons… the lefty’s and the righty’s have different opinions of why but I suspect it had to do with lack of population(market)
Nope it was the locals like peirsons bitching to the county and city to keep them out. HD settled in Cresent city. We will never get on here. You also may note there is no Lowes in CC. I wonder why?
Hey, Walmart had to sneak into the mall. It was under construction before most people were aware pretty hush,hush.
For those of you old enough to remember when that hammer was installed, I was the guy running the old WW2 spotlight shining it on the hammer and in the sky. Good times😁