Jacobs Hardware is closing after 94 years in Toronto

Jacobs Hardware, the beloved Queen West fixture filled from top to bottom with screws, bolts, and miscellaneous parts, is closing its doors at the end of the month after nearly 100 years in business. 

Established in 1924 by Samuel Jacobs, the shuttering of this local staple at 410 Queen St. West marks yet another independent hardware shop folding in the face of big brand stores and online sales.

Everyone from DIY home repairers and tinkerers to professional builders have long flocked to the store's tight confines to browse its 14-foot-high walls lined with shelves of seemingly endless and eclectic inventory.  

Coupled with the kind of customer service that only a small business can provide, Jacobs has been regarded as a first-stop kind of store, where the odds of finding what you're looking for, no matter how obscure, are at its best—better than at Rona or Home Depot, anyway. 

While there will be many things we'll miss when Jacobs closes—from their cheap key-cutting service to the mysterious backroom from where all sorts of rare items have emerged—the sound of owner Larry Krupski's typewriter from the overhead loft will be missed the most.