Lutz Hardware celebrates 75 years of family ownership in Camas

On Christmas Day of 2022, Aaron Lutz received word from one of his regular customers that the family had lost water service at their house due to freezing weather. Lutz didn’t hesitate to act, temporarily pausing his own holiday festivities to save somebody else’s.

“They had 12 people at their house and no water. I’m not going to sit at my house knowing that there’s somebody out there hurting and no other store is open,” said Lutz, the owner of Lutz Hardware in downtown Camas. “I told my wife, ‘I’m going to take 20 minutes and go down to the store.’ She was a little bit disappointed at first, but eventually realized that I made that family’s day. When we see that person later on down the Safeway and they give me a hug or a ‘thank you,’ that’s what really means something.”

It’s this sort of personal touch that led to Lutz Hardware’s enduring success as other locally owned brick-and-mortar stores have shuttered. The store is celebrating 75 years of family ownership this year.

“We focus on customer service,” Aaron Lutz said. “I think our niche is trying to be nice and help people figure out stuff. When you come in with something, we may not help you completely tear it down, but we’re going to help you figure out what the problem is. If we have the time, we say, ‘Yeah, bring it in. Let’s take a look at it with you.’ ”

Lutz follows in his grandfather’s and then his father’s footsteps. George Lutz, a Cowlitz County logger, founded the store in 1950. Twenty years later, he sold it to his son, Barry, who sold it to his son Aaron in 2005.

“I love this town and I love what I do,” Aaron Lutz said. “I still don’t feel like I’m ever working.”

The store has an extensive inventory of products and an ability to handle a wide range of problems, from simple questions to complex repairs, Aaron Lutz said. He’ll use the internet to locate hard-to-find items and direct customers to other stores if necessary.

“It’s gratifying to see customers, from 30 seconds into walking through the door, feeling a little more at ease, being like, ‘You guys know what I’m talking about,’ ” said Chris Guard, the store’s manager. “We can say, ‘Whatever you need, we have it, and if we don’t have it, we’re going to get you as close as we possibly can to the place that has it, regardless of where that is, to make sure your project gets done.’ We actually get more return customers that way.”

The store’s unique feature is its resident cat, Dallas, who helps keep mice away but also spends plenty of time napping and basking in the attention of customers. The 10-year-old, 28-pound feline follows in the paw-steps of predecessors Coaster and Socket as Lutz Hardware’s “store cat.”

“He’s the nicest cat in town,” Aaron Lutz said of Dallas. “How many other cats can be around a key machine going off with the high-pitch grinding? This cat is so calm.”

The store celebrated its anniversary by giving away hot dogs, soda and prizes to customers on July 11 and 12. It also is in the finishing stages of a remodel project that includes new flooring, and counters and outside signs.

“It was time to do something,” Aaron Lutz said. “We rearranged the aisles to make them flow a little bit better, and cleaned up everything, organized, really packed in the stuff.”