Hardware store celebrates 85 years of doing business in downtown Sweet Home [Video]

Growing up in a hardware store, Greg Mahler saw his family’s business as his own personal playground.

As a child he made forts with the boxes in the back storage room, and some of his earliest memories are of his father softly tearing strips out of catalogs to order supplies.

Last week, Hoy’s Hardware in Sweet Home celebrated 85 years of business. It first was established in 1939 at the tail end of the Great Depression. For Mahler — the store’s owner, a current city councilor and former Mayor — it’s a time of reflection and appreciation.

“I love even the smell of a hardware store,” Mahler said.

The store has a sort of nostalgic scent of paint being mixed and keys being made. He walks through the aisles with ease with his wife, Terry Mahler, as they switch from helping customers inside the store to managing the festivities of …