A longstanding Arlington business will serve its final customers this month. Ayers Variety & Hardware in the Westover neighborhood is closing, its owners announced on social media.
The store has been operating at 5853 Washington Blvd. since 1948. It’s known as a community staple, with a broad stock of hardware, gardening supplies, housewares, and toys.
“It is with heavy hearts we announce after 49 years of our family owning Ayers Variety and Hardware, we have decided to close the business,” owners Kristy Peterkin and her brother, Keith, wrote on social media.
The shop’s lease ends on July 31, the post explained, and the store will permanently close “in a few weeks.” The message said that the owners had been hoping to find someone to take over the business. But they were unable to find someone “who could commit the money and time it takes to operate a business of this breadth that only closes 4 days a year.”
The store was founded by John Ayers, a World War II veteran with the nickname “the Mayor of Westover” for his civic involvement, according to The Washington Post. Ronald and Wilma Kaplan bought the business from Ayers’ estate in 1977. Their family has run it ever since, ARLNow reported.
The business made headlines in 2019 when torrential storms caused catastrophic flooding inside the store. Community members raised more than $70,000 to support the owners through the difficult time.
“Westover really is a special place and we will miss what it has meant to us. You have allowed us to do what we love for almost five decades, and we always will be grateful,” the owners wrote.
Feature image by Sophie Sanders
