You know I've lost my marbles when I confess to going to the biggest, newest, friendliest,…read moreimmaculate hardware store in Corona to buy...
wait for it...
HOMEMADE pies.
OK, the hardware store is great too. In fact, it is so mind boggling, big and beautifully stocked, we made a point of bringing the grandkids another time. Just as I suspected, they found things they never knew would be in a hardware store. Fun things like Lego sets, garden art, candy, toys, ice cream, kiddee pools.
But my primary interest, and latest chatter around town, was to check out their freezer case which was filled with a variety of frozen fruit pies from The Pie Co. in Ripon CA. Why Ripon is notable? If you know anything about Ripon, you already know it is an unremarkable little town in Central California. It happens to be in the San Joaquin Valley, California's rich heartland. Nearby are vast fruit and nut orchards and rural roads lined with wild blackberry bushes. Apparently, around 2008, some rolling-pin-wielding granny saw real potential here, started a business making these frozen, (mostly) fruit pies, and best of all, distributed them through premiere Ace Hardware stores. These nostalgic pies might even bring tears to your eyes... peach, apricot, rhubarb, boysenberry, apple, pumpkin, to name a few. While I have had better, more flakey crusts, the real treasure is the generous,natural fruit fillings with minimal sugar and less thickener. They're really good.
If that's not enough, Ace Hardware is cleverly marketing their own brand of ice cream sandwiches in several different flavors. But the clincher is, they sell them for 8c. Yes, eight cents. How to resist? You dont. They only allow one per customer. But that has not stopped me from a second, same-day visit after hitting up Trader Joe's and Claro,'s famous Italian market found in the same center, The Shops at Dos Lagos. I bring my ice chest.
For now, I have pretty much ignored the long aisles of the most incredible, abundant, inventory, tools, hardware, or any of the other fascinating gadgets, toys, supplies they carried. That will come soon enough. But there is no argument this is a very special store. Glad to have a hardware store with a hometown feel and friendly faces.