Strosniders Hardware

Very knowledgeable staff and outstanding customer service. Excellent, excellent inventory! Not many top quality independent hardware stores around. This one is at the top of the list.

One stop shop, everyone is knowledgeable and friendly. It is like family. We love this place.
Daniel and Madie

You’d think a hardware store would be open shortly after a big snowstorm, but Strosniders was not open, and did not even post a sign as to when they’d reopen. This is the only place in downtown SS that sells shovels, salt, etc. The CVS next door was open, so why not Stros? On a normal visit, they have a decent selection, though most (but not all) staff there are unfriendly and unhelpful. If I need help, I often have trouble finding an available staff member, and when I do, most of the time they just tell me approximately where to find something instead of actually showing me. Their prices are always higher (sometimes substantially) than Home Depot or Lowes. Disappointing.

Out of town, first and last time visit. Needed 16 1X4s cut. Called ahead, asked if they cut lumber, yes and open till 9?
Arrived at store and was directed to the key copy location at the back of the store. Stood in line holding the boards. Another key customer came up while the gentleman cutting keys kept calling for lumber help. Another key cutter shows up and so the customer who cut in front of us was served. the lumber guy arrives, figures out what we want, but tells us we have to leave the boards for the next day. That made no sense since he didn’t come from the lumber cutting area (maybe lazy? having a bad shift?) We asked to look at saws, he tried to upsell us with a skill saw. We walked out with a hand saw. Wouldn’t have bought anything from the store but we needed to get the job done.
Neat looking store. No idea what customer service means.

There is something about a really good hardware store that triggers warm and happy feelings in anyone with a Y chromosome. Maybe it’s a memory of the smells in Grandpa’s workshop. Strosnider’s is just that — a long time local stalwart that carries all those obscure essentials that the leviathans won’t bother with on the grounds of too little revenue per foot of shelf space and employs people who actually know what stuff is for as well as where to find it. Add a parking lot in Silver Sprung with no freaking meters and you’ve got a 440-​c stainless steel carbide tipped gem. It makes me want to let out a primal grunt like Tim Allen on Tool Time!

The customer service here is just not good. One of the managers in particular is very rude. Just a really poor attitude. I don’t recall his name, but I’ll spend my money elsewhere rather than support a business that employs folks who treat customers as is they are stupid or a bother. ACE in Takoma Park if far better!

Ever heard the commercial «Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man»? Strodnider’s is the place that proves it.
And what looks like it might be a tiny storefront is actually a Harry Potter-​style «room of necessity» that seems to have almost anything you need, plus a few more items that you didn’t think of. Even better, unlike your typical big box home-​improvement store, they have people. Lots of people. Who work there. Even more shocking, you can find them, they answer questions and they actually KNOW what they are talking about. Returns? No problem. Need something obscure? If they don’t have it they’ll tell you where to look. I came in here with the YouTube video and showing an install of a wall-​mounted TV. I had already been to Home Depot twice. When I couldn’t find a package labeled with exactly the right name mentioned in the video, I asked for help and got a precise answer, the package I needed handed to me, and advice that if it wasn’t the exact right size what I should look for this time at Home Depot if I had to go back.
Pricing you ask? All of this helpful service, convenient location, located nearby vs. 20+ minutes away, costs pennies — because their pricing is pretty competitive. I am happy to pay $ 1 more on location if it means I can actually find somebody to ask when I have a question.
If you don’t like help, if you don’t like a convenient location, and if you don’t like knowing that you can return the product if there’s a problem without question, then this is not the store for you.

Made good on a return that I didn’t really expect them to. I’ve only been here twice but it definitely is a better experience than the big box stores.

Great hardware store serving the community. Especially good for small parts — screws, bolts etc. You may need only a few of and good selection of staples. Sure, a bit more expensive than the big box stores or online but you can’t beat the convenience and friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff.

I don’t know what it is about this Strosniders, but it isn’t the first negative vibe I’ve left with from this store; I don’t think they like women very much, its not the first time I’ve been treated with arrogance, patronizing tone and lack of helpfulness; I bought a large wall clock (maybe at the Bethesda location) a few years ago, its a plug in type; when I told the cashier that I thought it ought to last a bit long before breaking, she asked me again if it was battery operated even though I had already showed her the plug and explained that; she then began to debate this with me. Jerry the manager appeared with a bit of an attitude as well, he wasn’t particularly nice, he informed me that he did not recognize the clock as being purchased in Strosniders and asked if I had the receipt which I don’t; he suggested I should contact the manufacturer. Fair enough, he’s right, but please be polite to your customers, he made me feel horrible which wasn’t necessary. I will never ever go to this store again, they need some training in customer service and an attitude adjustment especially to women customers, or maybe its that they can’t be bothered because they get so much business. They don’t seem like a very happy bunch and they need a management change now.

I live in an apartment close to the Silver Spring location so I shop there frequently. The staff is always helpful, but I only wish that the garden department was better stocked. This store is surrounded by mostly apartments yet they often stock heavy, organic soils that have almost killed many of my houseplants! Don’t they realize that many of their customers are growing plants in pots in the neighboring apartments and need very light soils like the basic Miracle Grow houseplant mix? They also have a very limited supply of nice looking plant pots and I usually leave there annoyed and on my way to a larger nursery for a better selection.

This is a great place for good know-​how and the occasional good clearance deasl. If you can wait the prices work. I like it here, as they have a lot of respect for my money and time. Conversely, I do not know how much money I have wasted at Home Depot. The thought of returning something that didn’t work and wasting half an afternoon was too much for my lifetime.
However this store would ensure you bought the right product and everything works.

They have everything. A little bit more expensive than Home Depot, but how everyone said, they compensate with the service.

I ran in to make a copy of a key last night and got a good first impression. Although it seemed a little cluttered inside, they seem to have a little bit of everything. Customer service was on point, and prices were a little higher overall. My key fit the door perfectly, so I’m not complaining. I would give them a try again if I ever have a hardware need.

I have been a Strosniders Hardware Customer for almost 20 years. However, I will NEVER, NEVER return to any branch of this company. I pride myself in shopping with local businesses, turning away from big box stores. But I now will have to go to Home Depot or Loews for my hardware needs.
Today was my third trip to Strosniders in Silver Spring for the same issue. During the first visit, I was told to come back during daytime hours to get help with replacing a lawn mower blade. Upon my return today, the technician sent me around the corner to have the blade bold loosened at a gas station and I came right back to have them replace the blade.
When I got back there, both technicians had gone to lunch. I was admonished for not making an appointment… was not told that I needed one since I was coming right back. I questioned why both men went to lunch at the same time, leaving no one to help customers with repairs. I was told that management had no control over when the men went to lunch. So I bought a blade a tried to replace it myself. I could not do so, so I demanded my money back. I was treated like a criminal at the register by the manager and another store employee and was asked why I didn’t just drop the lawn mower off to pick it up later. I stated that this option was not offered to me and the rude employee scoffed at me and told me that I should have been able to figure that out for myself.
I am appalled at their rudeness and inappropriateness. I have spent a lot of money every year at the the old Kemp Mill (now closed) and the Silver Spring location. You can bet that they will never see a penny from me EVER AGAIN.
Being treated like a criminal and a stupid person is unacceptable! I urge anyone who ventures into Strosniders to enter with extreme caution. Be prepared to be disappointed and humiliated.
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

A polar vortex of customer service. When I don’t need help and come in knowing exactly what I want and where it is, I get 10 employees all asking if they can help me. When I really need something, have no idea where it would be located in the store, and have questions about whether it’s the right item for my purpose, not one employee approaches nor do they have time if I approach them.
The store’s inventory is also somewhat spotty. One day I waited for 15 minutes while three different people attempted to figure out if they actually had in stock the non-​perforated drain pipe for which I’d already paid. Of course, I ended up having to wait some more while they refunded me.
Still, I shop here on occasion because I don’t really like giving my money to Big Orange (HD) or Lowe’s.

My allegation: All Aces
This store is pretty representative of what I have come to expect at Ace Hardware stores. They seem to have good customer service and a variety of merchandise suited to the season and location. It is always nice to find what you want without the big box when possible.
It is easy to get to by bus or bike from Four Corners neighborhood where we live. So, if you don’t need something big skip driving, because, as other reviewers have noted, I imagine the shared parking lot can be frustrating (though it was not close to full when I visited).

Strosniders is right around the corner from my office and my house, so I’ve given them a lot of chances. But they just keep delivering sub-​par service experiences, and I’m finally ready to add them to my personal black list.
The location is pretty central, although the parking lot of Whole Foods is a nightmare and I’m amazed I’ve only been hit by another car once while trying to park. The selection is pretty decent, given that it isn’t a huge store.
But the customer service. It is just so disappointing. There are usually lots of staff on hand, and some of them are great, but many of them aren’t well-​informed, and most of them don’t seem at all interested in helping. Most recently, I stopped to buy a bag of concrete. First, one employee told me I would have to place an order to get concrete (really, you don’t carry concrete??). Then, another employee told me no, they absolutely had it, and asked me to wait a minute while he called someone to help me. A few minutes later, no one had showed up, so he told me to go over to the loading dock where they guys could definitely help me. Nope! Two employees there but they were way too busy arguing to notice me at all. Finally I left. Not the end of the world but I’ve had versions of this same experience at this store more times than I can count.
To me, this Strosniders offers the unfortunate combination of high prices and mediocre customer service. If you’re willing to pay the high prices for convenience and good customer service, get back in your car and go over to the ACE hardware in Takoma. If you don’t mind the mediocre customer service, you may as well go over to Home Depot, where the prices are waaay lower and the employees no less interested in helping you.

They never have what you need and no help around!
Plenty of employees outside smoking. No one there can help with any real hardware issues.
But if you need some dollar store quality items they have plenty.
Paint us way overpriced.

Hey whadda know? A hardware store in downtown Silver Spring. I had no idea this place was tucked over here behind the veteran’s plaza and nearby Whole Foods until one day when I took a detour across their shared parking lot. Farmer me wanted to get some seeds going so I ventured in.
They have just about everything, but be warned, it may not always be easy to find or neatly in place. The day I came in it was a claustrophobe’s nightmare with towering stacks of gardening, lawncare, and general goods piled haphazardly throughout the aisles.
it’s great to have a hardware store available in the downtown area though.