The purpose of Poetslife is to promote the art and discipline of American Tactical Civil Defense for families and small businesses and to contribute practical American civil defense preparedness guidance for all Americans through my articles in the The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA.ORG) Journal of Civil Defense and leadership as the volunteer Vice President of TACDA.

12/02/2020

Old Tyme Hardware Survival Stores

Sometimes you have to return to that Old Tyme Religion and Old Tyme Hardware Stores to survive. 

One such Old Timey Hardware Survival Store is SunSet Supply in Libertytown, Maryland.

SunSet Supply301 898 5445, POB 333, 11339 Liberty Road, Libertytown, MD

Another is Young's Hardware and Nursery in Unionville, MD that has every item you can imagine from the ceiling to the floor. Steve Testerman, the owner, knows every single product...and the price!

Here is my recent Periscopetv review of why these stores are so vital to our national security. 

When I did stress testing of grocery, food, clothing and other stores when the Wuhan Flu hit at the beginning of 2020, I found the big box stores (Lowe's, Home Depot, Cosco, etc.) were hit hard and fast by hoarders. Due to hoarders, the result will always be empty shelves.

Not so with the Old Tyme Hardware Survival Stores like SunSet Supply (or secondary grocery stores like McCutcheon's Apple Products in Frederick, MD or Pork and Beans at Hahn's of Westminster, MD) or Young's Hardware and Nursery in Unionville, MD can keep you safe and alive before, during and after a manmade or natural disaster.

Old Tyme stoves have food, clothes, boots, rugged outdoor clothing, hardware, paint, nails, tools and everything else you need to survive. Find and shop at your local Old Tyme Hardware Store and you and your family will survive.

Tip: Dollar General stores also have everything you need to survive, at a very good price.

Here is an article that gives a flavor of what you will find in an Old Tyme Hardware Store.

Steve Testerman owns and operates Young's Nursery, Garden Center and Hardware Store on Woodville Road in Unionville. Testerman has built up the store and stock over the past several years and offers a hardware ranging from tiny rivets and fasteners to fine tools.

Hardware store expands to meet needs

Ed Waters Jr. News-Post Staff 

Jan 12, 2010 Updated Mar 11, 2016

Steve Testerman grew up with Young's Nursery, a family business at 8753 Woodville Road in Unionville.

Ten years ago, he and his wife, Jessica, decided to expand and create a hardware and garden center.

People kept coming in to what was then a nursery for plants and shrubs. They asked if the store could carry seeds, hoses, garden tools and such, Steve Testerman said.

The couple has found that more people are planting small gardens and canning food.

"Some of it is simply to say they grew it in their yard, but there is an increase in people growing things to save money," Steve Testerman said.

"We sold out of seed potatoes. Maybe someone grew 5 pounds, not much, but it is the idea of growing it themselves," Jessica Testerman said.

By the end of January, he said, they will have to start ordering seeds for the spring.

What had been used as a building for the nursery business is now filled with tools, hardware, household items, even candy and ice cream.

"The first year we had yard supplies, then it kind of snowballed," Steve Testerman said of the expansion to hardware.

Jessica Testerman said there had been some other stores in town, but now Young's is the closest place for those in the area to get to.

One of the biggest problems, Steve Testerman said, was getting manufacturers and distributors to sell small lots of items. The distributors are used to dealing with big-box stores and when the couple wanted only a small delivery, they had to look hard to find willing suppliers.

While the business has expanded, the couple has done it slowly.

"You can only do so much at a time. You don't want to get yourself too far out there," Jessica Testerman said.

Steve Testerman said if one person asks for something they don't have, he may not get it, "But if a second person asks, then I may look into it."

A key part of their success, Jessica Testerman said, is the personal service customers get. That's something they don't always find in the big stores, where clerks sometimes are not even that familiar with the products. "We don't mind being small-town, USA," she said.

It's not just the farmers and small businesses that come to Young's, but children for candy and ice cream and people who don't want to run to Frederick or Mount Airy for items they may need for home or work.

And the couple still has to ensure the growth and safety of the plants in their greenhouses. With cold weather, an eye has to be kept on the temperature inside the greenhouses.

"We had a power outage years ago. I had a generator running and we stayed at my parents house nearby. I rigged a light on the watering can (a giant one on the roof of the store) and knew that if that light went out, the generator was out. I just kept going back and forth to fuel the generator until the power came back on," Steve said.

Young's is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For information, call 301-829-1171.