Gambling on growth in a small town

After 35-plus years in one location, you might assume that moving would not be on the agenda for a successful retailer. Not the case for Home Central’s Candor store. 

After decades in the same historic downtown building in Candor, this family business decided to move less than a mile away and double down on investing in the small town of Candor.

The leadership team at Home Central decided that the choppy but quaint rented space in the village of Candor might have been holding back their potential for growth. 

While the space was reminiscent of a true old-school hardware store or mom and pop lumber yard, the lack of space and inefficient storage outweighed the character that the former feed mill brought to the shopping experience.

With the idea of creating a more user-friendly home center, this local company purchased a vacant restaurant on Route 96, just South of the village of Candor, and constructed a massive 9,000 square-foot store with an attached 9,000 square-foot drive-thru warehouse. 

The facility includes a state of the art paint center, expanded plumbing, electrical and lawn/garden departments, as well as storage for more than quadruple the amount of lumber and building materials as the old facility, plus a propane filling station.

In addition to increased space, the new Candor store will have hours to match the other two Home Central locations on Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

While the new store opened at the end of December, the finishing touches were just completed and the folks at Home Central are hosting a Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, May 19. The day will include food, fun and lots of deals, including a bucket sale. 

For one day only, purchase a five gallon bucket for $2 from the Candor Youth Association at the Candor Grand Opening and get 25 percent off nearly anything you can fit in the bucket (see store for details). Blowout sales on many items, buy-one-get-one paint and enter to win a Weber gas grill, self-propelled lawn mower, gas pressure washer or a cordless Dewalt drill. Plus concession sales to support the Candor Youth Association from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Celebrations will also include a ribbon cutting with the Tioga County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, May 16 at 10 a.m.

The folks at Home Central are predicting growth in the Candor area, and they are willing to bet on it!