Recent content by Chris Allingham

Yes. When I was a kid, the only reason we drove to Healdsburg was to go to the dump. It's changed a lot since then! :D

I don't think Ace steps in like that to rescue a store. Here's a long and interesting page from an Ace store/owner in South Carolina that explains the Ace coop model: https://www.lowcountryace.com/2024/02/16/who-owns-ace-hardware/

I get not wanting to drive a hellish 7 miles/30 minutes to buy a spare nut or bolt. But if I'm in the market for a special purchase like a grill and I'm seriously interested in Weber, I'll drive 30 minutes to check one out. I have personally driven way more than that to look at and buy a Weber...

Yes, Ace describes themselves as “the world's largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative.”

I think this annoucement affects only what they called the "independent home improvement channel" and not Walmart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, and Amazon.

There's an Ace Hardware at 1605 N Alpine Rd, Rockford, IL. That's like 7 miles/16 minutes from the center of Cherry Valley. I used to drive 4x that just to go grocery shopping!

Not a problem, Mailchimp will not create a new newsletter subscription for someone that's already subscribed. :)

Saw this beast on the floor at Garrett Ace Hardware in Healdsburg CA. A mere $5299. The lid is super tall and super heavy, and contains an upper shelf that sits right under an infrared burner on which you could sear the chaps off a steak. It wasn’t powered up, I would have liked to play with the...

The Virtual Weber Bullet website turned 27 years old on June 12, 2025. To mark this milestone, I'm holding a prize drawing for a Weber Traveler Portable Gas Grill in your choice of Black, Blue, Red, or Stealth Edition--a $449 to $499 value depending on the color. One entry per person...

https://www.chicagotribune.com/route-66-turns-100/ Hi folks, Member @Brad Olson brought this article to my attention: "The Chicago Tribune sent 2 writers on Route 66 to create a series of human interest stories. I was thinking about posting it in the Off Topic subforum, but one of the stops...

Johnny Cash.

Looks like it.

Had a chance to eat at The Butcherman BBQ at Sonoma Cheese Factory on June 17, 2025 and didn't have quite as good an experience as Richard S had. We arrived at about 12:30pm, so I was hopeful that fresh barbecue would still be available. You place your order up front in the grocery part of the...

Update: Alice's Smokehouse closed in 2021.

I learned yesterday that 43-year old Armadillo Willy's BBQ abruptly closed their Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and San Jose locations yesterday, after having closed another San Jose location in 2022 and their Los Altos and Dublin locations earlier this year. This leaves only the San Mateo location...