Mercer Island True Value Hardware Finds New Location Near Walgreens

True Value Hardware, which has been a mainstay on on Mercer Island since 1977, has found a new location in the old Overlake Senior Health Center near Walgreens, just as time was running out in its current spot, slated for redevelopment.

Developer Legacy Partners got approval this week to build a five-story apartment and retail building at 2615 76th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA, where the True Value has been for 28 years.

True Value owner De Calvert said that the store has heard from many Mercer Islanders that had hoped that the new Town Center development did not spell the end for Mercer Island's hardware store.

"We're as basic as a grocery store," Calvert said Wednesday. "We've had a tremendous amount of support from the people."

The new location will be in the shopping center anchored by Walgreens at 7707 SE 27th St Mercer Island, just a few blocks away.

"It should be a good location," Calvert said. "It will be smaller, but we'll have to make do and work smarter."

Calvert said the former Overlake Senior Health Center space will need extensive renovation before the True Value can move there, because of the examination rooms that are still there. True Value needs to be out of its current location by July 31, she said. 

She hopes that the support she got from the community during the period of uncertainty will continue during the move -- perhaps in the form of help in moving the pallets of materials, tools and other home staples the two long blocks between the old location and into the new.

"We sure won't turn that down," she said.