Montgomery City’s only local owned hardware retailer will be under new ownership on Aug. 1.

Ben and Libby Smallwood will be the new owners of Montgomery Hardware and Home Center, which is located at 221 N. Sturgeon. They bought the business from Jim Mills, who plans to retire after 15 years as owner.

Mills said since he will be turning 69 years old later this year, he decided to step down from the hardware business and spend some more time with wife Paula.

“For several years, we talked about how we were going to pass this store on to somebody else and try our best to make sure that it stays a viable hardware store,” Mills said. “When we found that Ben and Libby were interested in it, the more we talked to them and the more they talked to us, we felt like it was the perfect fit for us, them and the community.”

An open house will be held at Montgomery Hardware on July 31. Mills said he is optimistic that the Smallwoods will enjoy success as new owners of the store.

“Paula and I are confident that when we walk out of here on the 31st of July and they take over on Aug. 1 that there won’t be any significant change to the way they’re doing business in the manner of customer service that people around here are used to and it will just carry on,” Mills said. “Granted, they’re young people and energetic and they have visions for the future.”

Ben Smallwood is a 2015 graduate of Wellsville-Middletown High School. He owns a painting and construction company in Wellsville that was founded by his father in the late 1980s. Libby Smallwood has been working at Montgomery Hardware for over a year. The Smallwoods first started working with Mills in 2018.

Ben Smallwood, who is 28 years old, said he is excited about him and his wife being Montgomery Hardware’s new owners.

“I’m ready to keep giving the community 100 percent of everything they need, customer service and affordable products that are reliable,” he said. “That’s a guarantee.”’

The current building of Montgomery Hardware has housed hardware stores since 1898. Mills bought the store in January 2010 and opened it three years later.

“Basically, when we bought it, we put paper over the windows and remodeled it from front to back, electric, plumbing, new flooring, paint and everything,” Mills said.

Mills said he was happy to sell the store to a couple that strongly cares about the Montgomery County community.

“We (Paula and I) knew we were kind of getting closer to retirement age, so we started thinking about the continuity of the store,” Mills said. “They were the first ones who came into our mind, so we started talking about it and they were interested. Over the course of probably a year, we started talking about it and things progressed slowly on it. We made sure that they knew what they wanted to do and tried to get the point across that they wanted the continuity of the store.”