Eastside Construction: Handyman's Nearing 60 Years in Business

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Recent road closures on Lincoln Avenue and Wilson Avenue in east St. Cloud has made getting around a little more challenging.

Ashley Severson at Handyman's Hardware on East St. Germain Street says they've noticed their customers are shifting the times of the day they are shopping to avoid the heavy traffic times.

She says to help make things more convenient for their customers they launched an online website a few months ago.

There's a link on top that says 'shop online'. You can find anything we have for your home-based needs online, and actually more products online than what we can carry in the store.

Severson says you have the option to either pick up your items at the store or they will ship it to you.

She says a majority of their regular customers are contractors or property managers who are all still coming in pretty regularly. Right now the biggest selling items are for sprinklers and irrigation systems.

The Lincoln Avenue intersection at Highway 23 has reopened for now, but it will have to close again later this summer. Also, the Wilson Avenue intersection at East St. Germain Street will also be closing in a few weeks, which will again shift the traffic patterns.

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For nearly six decades loyal customers have been getting their tools and parts from Handyman's Hardware on the east side of St. Cloud. They opened in 1965 in a storefront close to Beaudreaus. They were at that location for about 10 years before moving to their current location at 604 East St. Germain Street.

It was only about half of the building, from the retail space that we currently have. In 1993 we added what we call the newer part of the store and the existing parking lot.

Ashley Severson and her sister-in-law are the third generation of the family working at the family-owned store. Stan and Doug, the first and second generations, still work there as well. The plan is for the fourth generation of Seversons to eventually take over the business.

Ashley Severson says they've also had a lot of longtime employees with one worker just retiring after 47 years, and several others with 25 to 30 years of experience.

WJON News is doing a series of stories with businesses impacted by the Highway 10 and Highway 23 construction projects in 2023 and 2024.

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