I love a family hardware store that's packed with every imaginable household item as well as tools, painting supplies and even bubble wrap and other stuff. Will you pay more? Yes, compared to a huge box store but you pay for the convenience of having a neighborhood hardware store. I went into the store looking for packing supplies since I was planning to ship some fragile items and wanted to personally box them myself. Kay, the owner, was very helpful and I also enjoyed the interaction between her and her sons who helped her. read more

See all

Very helpful and will get you to where you need to be whenever you ask. Key copying is cheap and fast. Wide array of stuff for a small place. read more

Great store. Crowded but in a good way, for a hardware store. They have everything you can think of. And the women who run it (owners??) know exactly where and what everything is. It's a long standing neighborhood gem. read more

I always love a local place but there is a significant issue here: everything is literally 3 or 4x more expensive than anywhere else. In a pinch this place is great but the prices keep me from coming back regularly. read more

Great inventory, jam packed! Reasonable prices. Helpful with a sense of humor. The owner knows her stock.

Telegraph hardware is small and packed to the rafters with stuff. I come here often due to ease of access, and it's always quick in quick out. The owners seem to be the only employees, and while they don't know much about hardware or repair topics they do know their stock. A quick ask will get you to the right place. The same owners run True Value Eastern near Berkeley Bowl. They let me bring my bike in for safety from theft, a good thing. read more

Good old timey hardware store, every thing i needed. Two ladies were very helpful. One small 24 minute parking spot on side street.

Closed on Monday. They don't bother to update hours on line. Frustrated when you need some thing local. read more

Telegraph Hardware - Closed on Monday. They don't bother to update hours on line. - Hardware Stores Near Me - Oakland, California

Great options, good prices. Overall positive experience if you are going in knowing what you want. They also have cleaning supplies!

THEY ARE BICYCLE FRIENDLY YAY! Me and my bike got kicked out of Cole Hardware today over on College but I remembered the many times I've found whatever I needed at this True Value on Telegraph near the Smokehouse AND freely allowed to park my bike safely inside the door, leaned against some empty planter pots on display. When popping in for a few small things (key copies today), it is so nice not to have to lock up the bike outside, and simply bring in it, with no objections or complaints. Today one of the Asian sales ladies even had some fun questions about my bicycle. This little shop is crammed full of pretty much whatever I could ever need, and the two ladies usually at the counter are helpful, but a little gruff, in helping me find things. I've actually come to enjoy feeling "yelled at" by these women, and chuckle about it, because even though their manner is unaccustomed and their language sometimes hard to understand, they are actually kind and helpful, unlike the disinterested and somewhat snooty people at Cole. read more

Telegraph Hardware - She asked why the seat was so narrow and was worried the skinny tires didn't handle well. I told it because it's fast. haha! - Hardware Stores Near Me - Oakland, California

I go here frequently and am happy to report I usually leave with what I need. The ladies who run the place tell me right where everything is. I am on my way home happy. I would still be looking on Isle 3 at Home Depot. read more

They have everything at this store! We've gotten different size screws, magnets, brooms, car wax and more. The ladies who work there are super knowledgeable and will help you find anything. They even let my 9yo practice using a screwdriver to his delight. read more

Very unfriendly people behind the counter. This is a True Value Hardware store but refuses to honor True Value coupons. Don't waste your time and go somewhere else. read more

I love this place. One of the reasons I don't want to leave the neighborhood. Over the past close-to-two years, a lot of crap has fallen off my bicycle. (I hope that some of that stimulus will fill in the potholes along Hillegass, though the rough roadway makes me feel like I'm taking off on a runway. Don't ask me why.) Typically, little bolts and stuff. Telegraph Hardware has everything to put my bike back together again. Seriously. The people are wonderful. She looked at my bike and immediately knew that I needed metric bolts. It's not even a bike store. I've been back time and time again. Light bulbs. Drain cleaner. Funnels. Key chain holders. WD-40. Who needs Home Depot? They've kept my bike together. They can keep something together for you too. read more

I'm sure these people are laughing inside at me whenever I walk in their store, since I am Chinese, but can't speak a single sentence in Cantonese. Nevertheless, they are good, helpful and friendly people. The same people own True Value Eastern Supplies over on Shattuck next to Berkeley Bowl. I do believe that they have most everything short of lumber at this location. There is a decent selection of plumbing fixtures, electrical, tools and building material, and I usually find what I need to hold together the apartment building that I own around the corner. The store is packed and packed with inventory, all the way up the walls to the extra-high ceiling. Quality is a bit hit-and-miss, at times, but you'll at least get the personable and knowledgeable attention you need from one of their employees. read more

This place should barely get a star, when the female owner is working. She wouldn't allow me to return a space heater that didn't work which I had bought the day before even though I had my receipt. When I went in here to get light bulbs and a shower rod when I first moved into the neighborhood, she rudely grunted and pointed to the correct isle that housed these items. Regardless of how friendly people are when they approach the counter, she never cracks a smile. She needs to find another job. read more

This place is a mess!!! Sooo much clutter and impossible to find anything!! Tools, parts etc and stacked all over the ground up to ceiling. Just packed to the brim read more

For a shop it's size, a very useful hardware store. The Cantonese owners are super helpful. They've given me advice on electronics, gardening, plumbing without hesitation. Not the cheapest or most friendly but given it's proximity to my house and ease in which I can usually find the things I need, this place beats the big HD anytime! Sometimes it's just not worth jogging down the aisles and searching through 50 feet of items to find what i need. read more

The owner would not allow me to return an item that when I checked around I found other hardware stores would had I bought it from them (wish I had!). A lock box for keys - it was the wrong kind, with the door not attached, but there was no way of knowing that from outside the package. I had tried to speak to her about how the box worked, but she would only repeat "read the instructions!" to any question I asked. Interestingly, one can't read the instructions without opening the package first, which (despite my having the receipt from the day before as well as the packaging intact as possible) invalidated the return, along with the fact that she rang it up as a "tool," quite a stretch. I felt this was not an honest transaction. read more

The staff is so knowledgeable and friendly! I came in looking for a bolt and the woman behind the counter knew where to find it immediately! (Previously I had gone to another hardware store and after about 30 minutes of two well-meaning employees looking for it, I gave up.) I appreciate that all employees wore masks and that my trip to the store was so quick! read more

I love this place! It's my go~to hardware store, I hate Home Depot because it's so hard to find things and the people that work there often don't have a clue about what they're selling. Telegraph hardware is small enough to be easily navigable, and packed to the rafters with stuff. The owners are helpful, knowledgable and really friendly. I hope they stick around for a long long time. read more

I seriously needed a wrench and decided to come here. After a series of unfortunate events and encounters, I arrived at the store just as the owner was about to lock up. He was kind enough to let me in, help me pick out what I needed and show me briefly how to use it. As I was exiting, he let in another person, so I don't think it was my dashing good looks that got me in. I don't care if you're desperate for business so long as you're amiable and helpful. This store gets all of my stars. And the wrench was quality as well. read more

This place is really a gem. I have gone to Home Depot and Ace to cross check the variety and prices this place has and they just don't compare. The owners are helpful and know their store really well. This place is awesome if you need to match a screw, they have an entire wall devoted to screws of various sizes, shapes, makes and models. I haven't stumped them yet. Often times they are cheaper too, just depends on what you buy. One reviewer wrote about a paint issue they had. I mean come on, they aren't going to have that and if they did I would be really surprised. But for those random tools they always come through and I wouldn't have been able to make my project perfect if it wasn't for their store. read more

This is a typical locally-owned hardware store, overflowing with all sorts of goodies in aisles that are delightfully chaotic. No, they don't have the selection of Home Depot or OSH, but their staff is friendly and attentive, and it's hard not to feel good about supporting them rather than the big guys. They've got plenty of nails, screws and wood finishes for the little weekend projects that keep me and my hubby entertained. read more

I needed stuff to attach my license plate to my car, and the person working there was really helpful and helped me pick out not only the right size,but also something that didn't fall out (yes, that's why i had to put license plates on my car, because my old ones fell off). I'd highly recommend. Plus, the prices were completely fair and reasonable. read more

I have gone into this establishment two times with my daughter and the first time the woman that worked there yelled at my child for touching an item. The second time we went in there, after an appointment nearby, one of the two women working there immediately said "what do you want? We're closing soon.." - they were closing in 20 min. I told her we were just looking and right before we left the lady scolded us for touching items and putting them back down. I don't know what her problem was, I don't know if they have a problem with shoplifting, but I am a 50-year-old woman with a 12-year-old daughter that purchased things from the store a week before and was treated abhorrently. When I asked her why she was upset that we were just looking she again repeated you just pick up things and put them down and I responded what's wrong with that? She told us to never return that we were allowed back. Unbelievable. read more

They have everything you would need for typical and some atypical household needs. The owners are friendly and helpful and the prices are very competitive. The location is convenient for anyone in the Berkeley, Temescal, Rockridge, and surrounding areas. read more

No hello.. nothing spoken at all when I took my item to register. They just kept talking to themselves in Chinese. Snatched money from my hand and slapped the change back without a word. Not surprised no one else in the entire store. I'll go elsewhere next time. read more

They found a small obscure 6/32 standard-thread screw for my desk - one of the marks of hardware store greatness in my book. Store is chock-full of parts, also has housewares, tools, pipe, conduit, you name it. Not speaking Chinese is a slight handicap of mine, but it looks like they know their stuff, so I will assume that hardware is enough of a universal language for me to get needs met. read more

The owners are so helpful and relaxed about everything, but they know their business and they always have what I need. It's easy for me to drop by there on my way to the market or elsewhere. It's certainly never crowded--and I'd like to see them get more business. A similar True Value on Shattuck is well stocked but the owners aren't very friendly. Give it a try! read more