Places
in the
Past
By Grace Webb
History of hardware Mutch Hardware photos by John Cross Historical photos from Blue Earth County Historical Society
T
he front door bangs when customers walk into Mutch Hardware. It has the distinct smell of a hardware store, musty and a little mechanical. Dave Mutch is standing behind the counter, next to the old but steadfast 1919 cash register he uses to ring up every sale. Sandy Mutch is upstairs, working on the books. She doesn’t have a computer; the Mutches never switched to electronics. She doesn’t even have air conditioning; she sits in front of a fan to keep cool. Mutch Hardware, located on Belgrade Avenue in North Mankato, is the last mom-and-pop hardware store for miles. ItÕs been around since 1926, but the Mutch family bought it in 1970. However, in times past, Mankato was full of family-owned hardware stores.
Zimmerman Hardware
Zimmerman Hardware, the oldest hardware store in Mankato, was formed around 1885 by German immigrant Sebastian Zimmerman. At first, he worked out of the ground floor of a building while his family lived upstairs, but the store was later expanded. When Sebastian died, his son August took over running the store and changed its name to the A. A. Zimmerman Hardware Store. The rest of Sebastian’s sons went into the hardware business for themselves, opening up their own shops. August was also good friends with fellow hardware store manager John C. Hagen, who opened Hagen’s Hardware in 1916. By the time August died, the store was well-known in Mankato. According to a 1966 Mankato Business article, “Because of the inventory built up over the years, (Zimmerman Hardware) came to be known as the place to find anything that couldn’t be found anywhere else.” August died in e in or st e ar w 1946 and the store rd t ha are was the firs , some 13 years af ter dw ar H an m passed down to his er Zimm in 1898 ure was taken ct pi is Th . son, C. C. “Babe” to Manka . ed en op e Zimmerman. He or the st managed the store until his death in 1966. Zimmerman Hardware was then auctioned off, the building selling for roughly $12,000.
Mahowald’s Hardware & Sporting Goods son August merman died, m Zi n ia st ba Se Hardware. When owner A. Zimmerman A. to e m na e changed th
32 • April 2012 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Mahowald’s Hardware actually began as a bicycle shop. Bert Mahowald started the store in 1911 in Mankato, calling it Mahowald’s Cycle Company. After a while, he began adding sporting goods and finally hardware. When Mahowald died in 1971, employees Doug Sharp and Ed Frost bought the store and continued managing it. During this