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Business & Tech

Miller's Housewares — Still Strong After 100 Years

Lynbrook business has been sitting pretty on Atlantic Avenue for a century.

Where in Lynbrook can you find, under one roof, a ceramic lobster sponge holder, a Mets-themed Scrabble game, a birthday card for your mother, and a 3/4-inch drill bit?

Nowhere but Miller's Housewares & Hardware, of course.

The fixture on Atlantic Avenue is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and despite the encroachment of the Home Depots and Bed, Bath and Beyond's of the world, this third-generation family business (the oldest in town) is humming along just fine.

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Father and son Stuart and Michael Miller are the proprietors these days, but the business has been in the family since 1944, when Stuart's father bought it from the previous owners.

A little back story: In 1910, it was called Barry's Hardware.  It housed a popular pool hall on the second floor. In the 20s, it was called Dalton's. It wasn't until the late 1930s that it became Miller's and competed on the block with three other hardware stores, plus a Woolworth's and a Grant's.

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So how did Miller's survive when all the others slowly faded into the sunset? I suspect it has something to do with the ceramic lobster sponge holder (knowing they have that kind of eclectic inventory will make a casual shopper return again and again). But mostly, I imagine, it's because they give the customers what they really want — attention. In the 20 minutes I spent hanging around the shop waiting for Stuart and Michael to answer my questions, they helped at least 10 customers make new keys, find a glass cutter, and rung up a variety of houseware/hardware products. Most of those same transactions might take years to accomplish in one of the big box stores — if you can even find a salesperson to help you.

I remember the first time I walked into Miller's a few years ago. I recalled driving by and seeing plastic sleds out front, identical to one we already had at home. My then-8-year-old twin girls had been sharing one sled, but since there was fresh snow on the ground (and they were getting older and bolder on the hill at Grant Park) I decided to treat them to a second one.

Imagine my surprise when I walked in, and found not only the sled I was looking for, but a wondrous variety of Christmas and Hanukkah decorations, a huge selection of toys and games ("No girls, we're just coming here for the sled") and one of the friendliest salespeople I had ever encountered.

Not only did she sell me the sled in under two minutes, she also cut off a length of strong yellow twine and looped it through the top of the sled, so that the girls could drag it to the top of the hill.

Over the years, they store has had its share of celebrity shoppers (longtime weather forecaster, the late Tex Antoine, was a regular) and wacky requests ("One gentleman came in with a 50-year-old fan and wanted to know if we carried a new blade for it," Stuart recalls), and through it all, they've managed to keep the business in the family, and continue serving the community that they know and love.

So happy centennial, Miller's – and here's to the next 100 years.

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