As I crossed the street to park my bike in its usual spot in front of the store on a recent afternoon, I saw the big sign in the window: “Store Closing Sale.”
From our house in the Avenues, Collier Hardware was just a short bike ride downtown. I looked forward to my jaunt to the venerable 154-year-old store. My routine was I’d park my bike conveniently in front of the store, go in and look around to see what was new, find the item I needed, make my purchase and ride home. I confess that I felt a little smug knowing that I hadn’t contributed to the climate crisis by driving my car downtown.
Over the past 28 years, since we’ve lived in Chico, Collier has been the store I’d go to for such items as light bulbs, dish towels, nails, screws, work gloves, flashlight batteries or one of their big, red leaf rakes.