Cowan's Hardware has been in Tryon for several generations, and the people who own it care about their clientele, many of whom are getting on in years. So, if an elderly woman needs one screw to hang a picture, they will sell her one screw. If she needs to borrow their set of skeleton keys to see which one will work at her house, they will loan her the set. They keep items not easy to find, such as cork stoppers of all sizes, in case you are missing one on your salt shaker, or need to fill a hole in your deck. They have rubber boots, kerosene lanterns, cast iron pans, cane tips, corrugated fasteners, nails of all lengths (have you ever seen a nail one foot long?), soot remover, wicks for kerosene heaters, pressure cooker gaskets, guages for pumps, plus much of what you will find at any other hardware store. If they don't have what you want, they will tell you where you will probably find it.
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