Southland Hardware

I grew up in the neighborhood (attended Lanier and Lamar) and continue to live in the neighborhood. Southland is a cornerstone of our community. They provide service, advice, and products with respect, courtesy, and at a fair price. They pretty much always have what you need. In my case, each time I visit, I leave with something I do NOT need, but certainly want! Unlike how I would feel if she were to go to go try to shop at a box store, I feel safe and comfortable having my 87-year-old mother go shopping at Southland. Check out the hashtag #southlandhardware on Insta for a better feel of the store.

Ahhh the local hardware store. Gotta love it. I recently overheard a dude thumbing thru the Fall catalog tell the cashier, “Nothing gets a middle age man excited like a hardware catalog.” I’m not quite thirty yet, but I guess I partly have a middle-age soul, because I AGREE. Southland always has “almost” everything I need as they state on the building. Finding the right screws etc and understanding the hardware lingo can be a challenge so I cross my fingers that Danielle is available to help. Ask for her, she’s the best. 😎 Also, parking is always super easy. 🚘

We live in the neighborhood and will always choose the local small businesses over big box stores for our purchases. We will no longer be supporting this particular business however. Over the years, we have consistently heard and read about the negative experiences others have had, especially regarding racism toward non white customers and just good old color blind rudeness toward everyone but today i had my own disturbing experience. I am too upset and shaken to detail it at the time of writing this review but will add details later. UPDATE: Following the owner's response below I will briefly describe what happened. I walked in with a 16 month old puppy, that is the sweetest dog hence can go with us everywhere with no concerns. There were signs that there is a cat behind a closed door and that door should remain closed. It turns out the cat was inside the store roaming freely but none of the employees said anything while i walked around the aisles with my pup in tow for a good 15 minutes. Then we had this tiny but very angry cat lunge at us, it was violent and terrifying. Those who have been attacked by cats would know. I was terrified and started running toward the exit while asking for help from someone to hold the cat until we could get out, everyone watched in horror. It sounds funny almost to be attacked by a cat at that level. Then this man with an apron came out and saw us near the front door trying to get out, and his immediate reaction was to grab some objects to throw at my puppy and screamed a profanity to get out of the store. If I didn't block my puppy, he would have certainly hit her. In his blatant response, he claims my dog attacked customers. That is a very serious accusation, and if that were the case, where is that customer? Where is the footage of that? The event was very unfortunate, but the last thing i would have expected was the owner to claim my dog attacked customers inside. This goes a very long way to show the character of this person. Him lying about something so serious, so blatantly and publicly, is more worrisome than our cat scare we experienced i the store. Neither the cat nor the dog is to blame in this event. But it has shown that the owner will not hesitate to hit a puppy dog, to egregiously lie, and double down on his horrendous behaviour in the heat of the moment. He was angry at my dog and at me in that moment, fine, but to try to hit, and then to lie to justify that action, is unethical and despicable.

My absolute favorite hardware store in Houston. Used to come in with my grandfather. I love that it’s still here, has just as reasonable pricing, and still has that neighborhood shop feel to it. Valerie was so helpful in getting a few of my keys quickly remade. She got it done in like 2 minutes where it has taken me a half hour at other places. Everyone’s also very willing to answer questions even if you’re not sure what you need. So grateful for y’all!

I wanted to share my experiences cause clearly I am not alone based on other reviews. I do think there is a trend of certain employees and their treatment towards people that don’t look like them. My first experience was with the cashier - I came to make a return for an unused item I no longer needed, and she tried to imply that I had used the item. I could tell this was out of the ordinary, because the other cashier looked at her in surprise. The other customers in line also looked surprised by her attitude. My other experience was with 2 of the sales associates on the floor, a guy and a girl that looked pretty young. I had some questions about wood stains and went to ask them for help since they were in the department. They were in the middle of gossiping and looked at me like I was out of my mind for interrupting their conversation. They then told me they wouldn’t be able to give me an opinion on the wood stain colors cause it was against store policy. I couldn’t decide so I came back a few days later, while I was looking at colors I noticed the same female employee watching me. Didn’t say hi, didn’t offer any assistance, just kept watching me like she thought I was going to shoplift. That was the last straw. I left without buying anything. I live within walking distance and would rather make the drive to the big name hardware stores. I will say the two elderly gentlemen that work at the store were always professional and helpful when I visited. However, overall this store has left a bad impression on me, and I’m glad to not be supporting it.

I love this place because it actually does have a little of everything. I've gone in thinking that they probably wouldn't have the obscure item I was looking for, and they've proven me wrong on numerous occasions! The only criticism I have is with the employees at the front of the store. They do a great job, but they're just not friendly. Greeting any one of them with "Good morning!" might get an eyeroll if it gets anything at all. Despite that, I like supporting local businesses, and I don't mind paying a bit more to do so.