Cook's Hardware Shutting Down After 80 Years In North Sacramento

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NORTH SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — It is an institution in North Sacramento. After 80 years, family-owned Cook's Hardware store is closing down.

Four generations of family have kept Cook's Hardware open since 1936.

"It's an emotional roller coaster," owner Cindy Duarte said.

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"We have a lot of people that depend on us in the community so its hard to leave," Sue Dellinger said.

The sisters have decided to retire. Kris, Cindy, and Sue are letting customers know one by one, they're retiring and shutting down this business that is in their blood, started by Grandpa Roscoe and Grandma Susie Cook in 1936.

Now their lunch break room is where they pull out the family photo album filled with snapshots from long ago, when the business was beginning and when Del Paso Boulevard was bustling.

The store has been an institution on Del Paso Boulevard, which is now dotted with vacant buildings, and boarded up storefronts.

Cook's Hardware is another loss, and for some a painful one.

Rob Kerth's family owns nearby "Ice Land" skating rink.

"Oh, it was like getting slugged in the chest," Kerth said. "My dad and the Cook's dad went to war together, in World War II. They've just always been there."

Now this place that's always been here will soon be gone in a neighborhood Kerth says the city is already underserving.

"For North Sac, its a story of maligned neglect," Kerth said.

"The city needs to look at us," Duarte said. "And pay attention. And they haven't done that, but its not the reason we're closing."

These sisters say its retirement time, and that means closing time for Cook's Hardware, a four generation time-tested business.