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The Ladies of Lenox CARR HARDWARE’ S LENOX LOCATION HAS A STELLAR LEADERSHIP TEAM B y L a u r a M a r s // P h o t o b y N i c k B u r c h a r d
Manager Patti Parker, left, and Assistant Manager Carolyn Hebert are always ready to help at Carr Hardware in Lenox. They’ re looking forward to the next Ladies Night on May 7. Register in early April; updates at carrhardware. com.
YOU EXPECT A HARDWARE STORE to have the right part, the right paint, the right tool. You hope that staff can answer your questions. What you might not expect( or maybe you do, or should) is to find two women running the place, ready for whatever challenge that walks in the door, with neighbor-like friendliness and a wide range of expertise. This is exactly what I found at the Carr Hardware in Lenox.
I visited the store at 489 Pittsfield Road to talk to Manager Patti Parker and Assistant Manager Carolyn Hebert to see what makes this leadership team tick. As we walked through the bright, wellstocked aisles to the back room, they eyed with curiosity the small desk drawer under my arm; I needed help attaching the handle. As we sat to chat, I tucked it under my chair. First things first.
Parker started at Carr Hardware’ s Pittsfield store 13 years ago in the rental department, moving to Lenox when that location opened in November 2019 and becoming manager in 2023. Hebert joined the Lenox store in 2024 as assistant manager, bringing with her experience not only from years working at other hardware stores, but from her childhood when, at age eight, she helped her father replace a roof, learning from there.
“ Helping customers feel comfortable doing a project is one of the best parts of my job,” says Parker, who sees a lot of do-it-yourselfers. She not only makes sure they have everything they need for the job, but also recommends someone to help if necessary.
“ Toilet flappers,” says Hebert, when asked about an interesting customer request. For those curious( like me) to learn what that
actually is, it’ s the mechanism that controls water flow.“ It happens all the time, people coming in to replace their toilet flapper. There are probably 30 different flappers. When you ask for a picture, they come back with a photo of their toilet, not the part, or they say,“ Oh, that’ s okay. I’ ll make it work.” I feel my face redden; guilty as charged. Working the paint department comes with its own challenges— from helping customers choose the right color to narrowing down a shade of white, with Hebert often walking them out to the parking lot to see the color in the daylight. She prides herself on matching colors, once asking a customer to bring in a wall plate with the color to be matched.“ It will usually have a piece of painted Sheetrock big enough to do a color match,” she says.
Carr Hardware President Bart Raser says there is a special synergy between the ladies in Lenox, noting Parker’ s leadership style, Hebert’ s ability to execute, and their ability to communicate with each other and with their customers.“ They’ ve built a very solid team,” he says.“ We are lucky to have them, especially in that location where there are a lot of female shoppers.”
If you think the“ Ladies of Lenox” are all hardware and no fun, think again. On Thursday, May 7, from 6 to 8 p. m., the store will host its fifth annual Ladies Night. Last year, nearly 200 registered for the free event that included one-night-only specials, exclusive door prizes, how-to demos and clinics, food, and wine. For up-todate details about this year’ s event, go to carrhardware. com. Register online or in the store.
Always looking to engage the community, Parker hints that they might return this fall to Lenox’ s popular Apple Squeeze at the town’ s Lilac Park, where they had a booth for several years before skipping last year due to staffing issues. And an annual end-of-the-year event at the Lenox store is Holiday Family Night, where kids enjoy ornament painting, a scavenger hunt, holiday treats, and meeting Santa. Adults like the one-night-only deals.
Spring is their busiest season, when Parker’ s favorite thing to sell are grills, helping customers decide between colors and features fueled by her love of cooking. Hebert enjoys being in the garden center assisting shoppers choose the perfect hanging basket. She was delighted with the delivery of garden gloves that arrived on the day I was there.
They both emphasize having fun at work and their great team, which clearly starts at the top. These managers know their shoppers, are always ready to help, and are willing to learn with their customers.“ It doesn’ t seem like work,” adds Hebert. When customers walk into that attitude, they usually walk out happy.
The handle for my desk drawer? After trying dozens of screws, they found that three tiny washers did the trick … my heroes! n
70 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Spring 2026