It was President Day and the three brothers who own and operate Buttorff’s Hardware were busy, waiting on customers, answering phones, and taking care of the many tasks that needed done.

Keith Buttorff stood behind the counter of the store as a man came through the front door.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Yeah. I need hardwood pellets,” the man said.

A few minutes later, Buttorff spotted another man getting out of his truck outside the store.

“This guy needs propane,” he said to no one in particular.

Buttorff’s Hardware is that kind of place: a small town store where the faces are familiar and the brothers know what the customers want.

It’s a place where many people from Jersey Shore and the surrounding area come for their many home furnishings, lawn and garden, tools and equipment, and repair needs.

“We pretty much have what everybody wants,” Keith said.

Keith, at 65, is the oldest among the brothers, all of whom have been working in the business since they were teenagers.

Their grandfather, Warren Buttorff, started the business in 1941.

“I’m the youngest brother,” Ken Buttorff said. “My dad used to drag me around here. I would be hanging on his pants pocket.”

The brothers share the many duties and tasks of the store, and claim — with smiles — they pretty much get along.

“We are all very knowledgeable,” Rich Buttorff said. “If someone needs something, we can help them.”

The brothers agree the store’s spot along busy 111 Bridge St. just off the Thomas Street off-ramp of Route 220 is a good location with plenty of traffic passing by.

The ample parking in front of the store is also a plus.

“We are pretty much busy every day,” Keith said.

Customers come for different reasons,

including help for home improvement projects.

The store’s shelves amidst the narrow aisles seem to overflow with all manner of tools, equipment, parts and accessories, nuts and bolts, and just about anything else to be found in a hardware store.

“Our customers know where stuff is,” Keith said. “Others who don’t know, we can help.”

For someone entering the store, signs just beneath the ceiling can lead them to the different sections: Lawn and Garden, Plumbing, Fasteners, Paint Sundries, Electrical, Housewares.

“We fix windows,” Keith said. “We fix appliances. We sell appliances.”

Prices, he added, are kept “as low as we can.”

But perhaps what sets the family-owned business apart from the big box or franchise hardware stores is the personalized customer service.

“We have the experience to help anyone who doesn’t know what they want,” Keith said. “We can actually help people.”

COVID-19, as it did with most businesses, posed its share of challenges for the store, especially with ordering supplies.

“We are doing the best we can,” Keith said, while acknowledging it’s an issue, along with rising prices and high inflation that everyone seems to be dealing with.

Asked about the biggest challenge of running the business, he said, “Maybe just paying the bills.”