Allan’s Home Hardware marks 40 years

COCHRANE, Ont. — Allan’s Home Hardware Building Centre sits on a corner which has been the site of a hardware store since the foundation of George Taylor Hardware in the early 20th century. When the Allan family moved to St. Catharines in 1977, former Ontario Provincial Police officers Clarke Shanks and Gary Beacock purchased the store, then known as Allan Home Hardware. Beacock retired to Southern Ontario in 1997, leaving Shanks and his wife Janet as sole owners. Their son Greg joined them as partner a few years later, assuming sole ownership upon their retirement. A major transition came in 2009 when the store became a Home Hardware Building Centre. The family will celebrate their four decades at the store this month with an anniversary sale and customer appreciation day, which will tie in to this year’s edition of their annual bike decorating contest.