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Date: 12/21/2017
ENFIELD, CT – Carr Hardware, based in Pittsfield, MA, with its most recent additional store in Enfield, has won the 2017 “Independent We Stand, Independent Small Business of the Year Award.”
Independent We Stand is a national organization promoting and supporting small business. Based on votes from customers, the winning business received a variety of prizes, not the least of which was $5,000 which Bart Raser, co-owner of the local chain, said he would donate to rebuild the new Splash Park project in Pittsfield.
Raser told Reminder Publications the family-owned business has been nominated before but this time made it to the final four candidates.
He said the secret to their success is “great people and a great culture, a culture of service.”
Raser added, “We’ve been blessed by having folks [employees] for many years.”
The company moved into the Enfield market last year and Raser said has been building well. The Enfield store draws customers from both Enfield and Longmeadow, MA.
Part of that draw has been from Carr incorporating the former Brightwood Hardware store of Longmeadow, which shared the same values of customer service, Raser explained.
Raser said the “spirit of the award is really about community integration.”
The Raser family bought the business in 1962, which had been founded in 1928. Carr Hardware supports many organizations including Rotary Club, Berkshire Health Systems, Pittsfield Economic Redevelopment Commission (PERC), multiple Chambers of Commerce, Downtown Pittsfield Association, Boys & Girls Club, Berkshire Humane Society, Volunteer Dogs for the Blind and The Vocational & Technical Scholarship Fund.
“Our community supports us, and we support them. We saw that come full circle with our hurricane relief efforts in Houston earlier this year,” Raser said. “Now, to see the support of our customers lead to an award like this, it is humbling and even more meaningful. It’s nice to know we live in a community that appreciates the value and impact of independent small businesses. Shopping local is part of our culture; it’s how we build community.”