A LANDMARK FROM THE PAST CARVES ITS FUTURE WITH CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

Dawson City is a northern town with the memories of a big city. When it needed to rebuild, Dawson City Hardware kept part of that legacy alive by blending historic features with new bones.

Dawson City is a community that’s used to seeing change. The Yukon’s first capital, its population swelled to 40,000 during the famous Klondike Gold Rush. By the 20th century, with the mines drying up, it was less than a quarter that size.

The familiar site of Dawson City Hardware had remained a constant since about 1903. Co-owner Tina Green’s uncle opened the current store in 1979. Later, her parents acquired it, bringing it under the Home Hardware banner in the late 1990s. As an independent store, she says, “it was a lot harder to get products, so my parents decided to become a Home Hardware. When you’re a franchise, you have the buying power.”

As in many Northern stores, those products represent a wider mix than the average hardware store. “We carry pretty much a little bit of everything,” says Green.

Though not an officially designated heritage building, its historical value was locally appreciated. By 2018, however, it was clear to the owners that the building as it stood was no longer viable. Contractors warned them it would sink into the ground if left unchecked.

As luck would have it, the historical value of the building was not all lost. The original façade was replaced on the finished exterior and, co-owner Tina Green explains, “the original flooring from the Gold Rush era is now up on our walls.”

The work on the revamped store was done by contractors known to the staff. “They were all local,” Green emphasizes. Dawson City Hardware has developed a symbiotic relationship with its pros, both employing them and selling them supplies for their own renovations.

The rebuilt store houses standard hardware offerings and an extension to the building carries an additional product selection, Green explains: “stationery, pet section, your heating supplies—and then we have housewares, with paint supplies and the like.”

That breadth allows the business to serve as a comprehensive destination for the community, but its relationship with Dawson City goes beyond customer service and extends to giving back. “We try to donate to everybody,” says Green of the store’s philanthropic efforts. “When my uncle died, he gave $10,000 to the volunteer fire department and again when my dad died, he did the same. They’re all volunteers so it allows them to buy equipment.”

In 2015, Green’s mother pitched in food for a fundraising dinner to help a local family whose young son was diagnosed with lymphoma. Green also recently contributed a lineup of prizes for auction in support of the Dawson City Museum.

For Green, it’s a simple question of gratitude. “We try and support our community because they support us.”