About Us

A Local Hardware Store Serving Skowhegan, ME Residents Since 1865

In 1865, the business now known as Quinn Hardware started on Water Street in Skowhegan as J. P. Blunt & Son. During the 1940s the company was owned by the Chase family, Nellie Chase and her sons Elliot and Fred, and incorporated as Blunt Hardware Company, Inc.

The Quinn family has owned the business since 1959, and we’re now into our fifth generation of hardware workers! It all began with Willis Quinn, followed by his sons Jeffrey and Tom, then Tom’s daughters Alicia and Vanessa, and Alicia’s daughter Janet. Janet’s two daughters can often be seen helping out when school is not in session.

The store was located in Coburn Block until 1950 when it moved to Madison Avenue. The store on Madison Ave. was designed by New England Hardware Association and was considered a state of the art design for the times. The interior design was a prototype for an additional 17 stores throughout New England.

With the construction of a four lane road in 1968, the store was forced to close and move back to it's former location in the Coburn Block. In 1972, we became part of the True Value national buying group.

In 1976, the store moved into the former A&P Store at 2 Russell Street. In 1986, the name was changed from Blunt Hardware to Quinn Hardware.

With the purchase of the Baptist Church in 1986 providing additional parking, we moved back to our 1950s location on Madison Avenue. We have since outgrown that location, and moved to the South Side in 1999.

We are Skowhegan's oldest store. The only older business in Skowhegan is Skowhegan Savings Bank, dating back to 1825.

Quinn Hardware has competed successfully, and even thrived in the face of competitors such as Sears, Montgomery Ward, W.T. Grant, K-Mart, Home Depot, and other large companies.