Seemed like a decent space... I came in this morning with my boss for some hardware for a job we…read morewere doing in town. had to use the bathroom and an employee was using it while about 4 others were waiting, which is fine... until I noticed 4-5 other employees "Looking around" the same area I was. all 4-5 asked me, no one else, not my boss, not the other guys waiting for the bathroom, Me, a Lightly tan skined Italian thinking Im stealing. When we got ready to go I looked around and each employee was at the end of different Rows staring at me, not My boss, me. Very sketchy place. Very expensive as well. No thank youuuuuu lol

Going into the store this evening, i was looking for some bolts. The owner greeted my helper,…read moreyelling at him over a .22 incident with a 13 year employee at the store. I had no idea what was going on. The owner proceeded to follow me out to my vehicle yelling about whatever happened. I will never do business with this unprofessional person, again. I do wonder how and why we have a 13 year old running a store, but after what I witnessed, good luck sir. I found my bolts at the Family Center!

The first time I entered Cottin's, I did so with reluctance. I was concerned that as per usual,…read moresome older gent would look over my head to speak to my boyfriend about what he might be looking for today, making me feel invisible and like such a *girl.* Kind of like what happened to me when I used to go into certain chain electronics stores that have since gone out of business (yay!) in NYC. Not only did this not happen, I actually enjoyed my time in there the several times I've gone in. I kid you not! Now, I fully admit that I usually would only go into Cottin's because the K would be super enthusiastic about shopping in there and I can't say I share the same enthusiasm, but oh, OK, they have a lot of awesome garden stuff and hello, are those pink flamingoes?!?! There's a lot to love about Cottin's. They rent cotton candy (COTTIN Candy?!) and icee machines. They sell all kinds of tape. They sell a lot of different colored and sized novelty light bulbs. They sell old school Radio Flyer wagons. It feels like it could be 1950 in there, but with a 2010 sensibility. The staff, all young and friendly, rule the school. As Lydia A mentions below, they are part of what makes Cottin's such an enjoyable place to be. A "place to be"?! Yes! It's an experience! Even getting keys made is kinda fun (OK, well, that's an exaggeration. It is quick and painless, however!) OTOH, you'd have to drag me kicking and screaming into one of my most hated stores ever...HOME DEPOT. Blargh! Here's to the true mom & pop sensibility of Cottin's (check out their cute retro bumper stickers while you're there and slap one on your toolbox) with their fair prices, excellent customer service and the way they make you feel like anything is possible so I'm going to start building that garden shed I've always wanted...I JEST.

Fantastic customer service. A business to support. They have some hard to find hardware. And they…read moredo loads for the local community.

Teach your employees to be courteous and not abrasive. I didn't realize the store was closed when I…read morepulled up. I barely got out of my vehicle her tone towards me was like I was an idiot for even being there. Looking at other reviews it appears this has been ongoing. Must be a management problem. So at this point maybe the owner need to be involved.

Really disappointed in what's happened to this store that used to be my friendly go-to hardware…read morechoice. My last 2 visits have left me shaking my head, swearing I'll never let anyone treat me like that again. The Ass.Mgr. Miley demonstrated a ruthless, inhuman, rude and bossy denial of my polite request for a return. It wasn't so much that she said "no," it was how she berated me, attempted to belittle me, and turned her back on my person-to-person appeal, embarrassing me in front of other employees and customers. Some power trip while the Mgr. is gone for the week, I guess. This store has become a nuisance of Corporate control and greed. The years of shopping here have become a stark reminder of what happens when the human aspect of retail is replaced by the mighty pursuit of the almighty dollar. I'm better off shopping on-line and won't be going into this store anymore. And, I won't be responding to the 15 bogus email promotions I've received from them in the past 2 weeks. I'll UNSUBSCRIBE and shake free from this yucky experience.

This is my local hardware store and a real "go to" if you have any hardware needs or questions…read more Very friendly staff and knowledgeable. I folowed their recommendations on some products for some of my projects and their recommendations were "spot on".

I spoke to a Young man about a Propane tank heater that inventory said store #179 had 2 of in thier…read moresystem. I was not able to find it. employee said that ACE Hardware inventory tracking Is horrible and advised do not rely on that information. Without offering To assist refferred me to another store. I traveled to olathe store #197 And they did not have the item and referred me back to store #179. I called and young lady at the front counter was able to pull up the item on her computer and listed as 2 in stock. She offered to verify and a short amount of time was able to verify it was in the store. I drove back to gardner and the young lady remembered Me calling walked me right to the item and was very helpful. She was very apologetic for the miscommunication and never once blamed anyone only apologized and made me feel as a store they will do better. She took ownership as part of a team and not as another Co-Worker. Very good recovery!