Instructor: Don Lewter

“If we don’t have it, you probably don’t need it.” Such was the philosophy expounded by the father of Don Lewter Sr., the original owner of Lewter Hardware after having bought it from a Mr. Robinson in 1928. Now, for nearly a century, Lewter Hardware has been a mainstay in downtown Huntsville. Entering the hardware store is like entering Grand Central Station at rush hour. The store is bursting at the seams with customers and floor-to-ceiling inventory. Merchandise covers every single wall, and then there are the resident cats who are greeting visitors and seeking petting opportunities. Be mesmerized as fellow Huntsville native, Bill Nunn, asks probing questions of Don Lewter, Sr. in such a way as to encourage Don to go down memory lane and share, as only Don Lewter, Sr. can do, remembrances not only of Lewter Hardware, but also of Huntsville’s past. The secret to what has kept this hardware store a local institution is the philosophy, still maintained by the younger Lewter sons, that “When a customer walks through the door, he’s a friend and guest.” Lewter’s wants customers to “Walk in as a stranger, walk out as a friend.”