Handy Tools Plus is a begrimed jumble of second hand tools, with the stink of oil and despair. Any…read morepristine image Henderson gains from it's Westfield mall terminates as you exit to a street with shops full of dirty clutter like this one. Handy Tools Plus is the home for used (and possibly stolen) tools, each put into their little family groups, on every surface of the shop. It maybe a family run store but I'm not 100% sure as the staff busied themselves by loudly arguing with each other and ignoring the rest of the store. Maybe there is supposed to be another word in the title after "Plus", though I think I'd rather stay ignorant of it. Handy Tools is a few years away from becoming a disheveled faux-antique store.

Handy Tools Plus is a great store if you are on the lookout for cheap second-hand tools…read more With almost every surface covered in tools, power tools, ladders and etc, some would call it messy in comparison to many hardware stores, but I think it suits the type of store to have everything arranged in this way. It's like being in a workshop, but you can buy the the tools and take them home. Prices are about 80% cheaper than regular hardware stores, and most tools are in fairly good condition, but (especially for power tools and electrics) you need to have good knowledge of what is of good quality and what isn't before buying, as if not you will end up having paid for broken equipment before long. There are two stores like this on the same stretch of shops, and by far this one is better. The tools are all organised and easy to find, but the other store is a complete mess and half the stuff isn't labeled or priced. One tends to wonder if a lot of the stock in there was stolen at some point. This store is much better by far.

I am lucky, at this stage in my life, that I have only had to ever buy one lawnmower. I'm unlucky…read morethat I did it before the widespread use of Trade Me, so I had to actually buy it at a shop. As far as lawn mower shopping goes though, it went alright here. The guy I talked to was easy going and happy for me to ask inane questions (because apart from what they do to lawns, I know nothing about lawnmowers), and the second-hand lawn mower I eventually bought worked hassle-free for years. I can't comment on the chainsaw side of things, but based on my experience I'd recommend this place for lawn mowers.

I don't know how long Avondale Mowers and Chainsaws has been in existence for, but when you walk in…read moreit feels like it may have been there almost as long as mowers have been around. It's actually only been there for about a year, which is testament to how pleasingly old fashioned it seems. They service mowers and chainsaws here, and also sell hand push mowers, which seem harder to find these days. They also don't try and upsell you things you don't need, which I'm sure most people will appreciate! I haven't had anything serviced here but their prices seem reasonable.