Cornell

What Cornell does

Cornell's Hardware (legal entity Cornell Brothers Inc.) is a single-location, full-service independent hardware retailer operating at 310 White Plains Road, Eastchester, New York, serving homeowners and small businesses across Westchester County. Founded as a general store in the early 1800s and incorporated as a hardware store in 1909, the business has been under continuous operation for over 110 years, including three generations of Fix family ownership from 1932 until its July 2022 sale to the Aubuchon Company, a private family-owned operator of 100+ hardware stores. Core offerings span a broad hardware SKU assortment, specialty lines such as Big Green Egg grills with dedicated Eggspert staff, and value-added services including screen repair, pipe threading and cutting, electronic car key cutting and FOB programming, UPS Access Point shipping, computerized custom paint color matching (Benjamin Moore), window shades cut to size, and NY State hunting and fishing license vending. The store operates as a member of the True Value (Cotter & Company) hardware cooperative, a relationship in place since 1962 that provides wholesale inventory access, cooperative advertising, and brand affiliation.

Name

Cornell

Legal name

Cornell Brothers Inc.

Website

https://cornells.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1909

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cornell's Hardware is a single-location, full-service independent hardware store in Eastchester, NY, serving Westchester County homeowners and small businesses with broad hardware assortments, specialty products like Big Green Egg grills, and value-added services including key cutting, paint matching, and screen repair.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hardware Retail

NAICS

Hardware Retailers (44414)

SIC

Retail-Lumber & Other Building Materials Dealers (5211)

akta.pro primary industry

General Home Improvement & Hardware Stores (CRAIADAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Outdoor Power Equipment Parts & Service Retail (CRAIAIAE)

Keywords

• Hardware retail
• Home improvement supplies
• Hardware store services
• DIY repair supplies
• Benjamin Moore paint

Headquarters

HQ city

Eastchester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Hardware Retail Sales: Full service hardware store selling home repair and improvement supplies through retail walk-in sales and e-commerce with in-store pickup

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cornell's Hardware operates a full-service retail hardware store at 310 White Plains Road in Eastchester, NY, selling home repair and improvement supplies as a True Value cooperative member since 1962. The store carries a comprehensive selection of hardware, tools, seasonal products, and specialty items like Big Green Egg grills, complemented by value-added in-store services such as screen repair, pipe threading, key cutting (including electronic car keys), UPS shipping, custom paint color matching, and window shade cutting. The business also serves as an authorized vendor for New York State hunting and fishing licenses.

Product overview

Cornell's Hardware is a traditional full-service hardware retail store operating as a True Value cooperative member since 1962. The core offering is the retail hardware store itself at 310 White Plains Road, Eastchester, NY, with specialty product offerings including Big Green Egg Barbecue Grills (with dedicated showroom and Eggspert staff). The business provides value-added services including screen repair, pipe threading and cutting, keys cut (including electronic car keys and remotes), UPS shipping, custom paint color matching, and window shades cut to size. Additional services include NY State hunting and fishing license sales. The store supports its product offerings with educational how-to resources and maintains an online presence through the True Value platform for e-commerce with in-store pickup capabilities. The store was sold to Aubuchon Hardware in July 2022 but continues to operate under the Cornell's Hardware name.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Big Green Egg Barbecue Grills

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Aubuchon CompanycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 July 2022Aubuchon Company acquired Cornell's Hardware in July 2022. As a private family-owned business since 1908 operating over 100 stores, they continue operating Cornell's as a local independent hardware store.
• True Value (Cotter & Company)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCornell's joined Cotter & Company (better known as True Value hardware) in 1962. This wholesale cooperative provides inventory access, advertising programs, and support for independent hardware retailers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Aubuchon Hardware: Aubuchon is the parent acquirer of Cornell's Hardware and operates 100+ neighborhood hardware stores across the Northeast U.S. under its own banner, making it the most directly comparable operating peer for store-level retail execution, format, and customer mix.
• True Value Company: True Value is the hardware wholesaler and cooperative that Cornell's has belonged to since 1962, supplying inventory, marketing, and brand programs. Other True Value member stores operate similar neighborhood hardware formats serving local communities, making them the closest operational peers.
• Ace Hardware: Ace Hardware is a competing hardware retailer cooperative with thousands of independent U.S. stores. Many Ace stores, including those branded under Cornell's Ace Hardware identity, operate similarly sized neighborhood hardware stores with paint, tool, and service offerings overlapping Cornell's assortment.
• Do it Best: Do it Best is a U.S. hardware and lumber cooperative with thousands of independent member stores nationwide. Like Cornell's, member dealers run local-format hardware stores offering paint, tools, plumbing, and seasonal supplies to homeowners and small contractors.

Broad incumbents

• The Home Depot: The Home Depot is the dominant big-box home improvement retailer in the U.S., directly competing with Cornell's for the same Westchester DIY and pro customer base with significantly larger SKU depth and lower everyday pricing.
• Lowe's Home Improvement: Lowe's is the second-largest U.S. home improvement chain and competes with Cornell's for DIY customers in Westchester County with broader assortments in appliances, paint, tools, and outdoor equipment—although pricing and product mix differ at the chain level.
• Menards: Menards is a Midwestern big-box home improvement chain with growing Northeast presence, offering comparable categories (hardware, paint, tools, outdoor power equipment) to Cornell's, though it is a vertically integrated incumbent rather than a cooperative.

Others

• Amazon Home & Garden: Amazon competes with independent hardware retailers on commoditized SKUs (fasteners, tools, accessories) through Prime delivery, pressuring pricing across the category—relevant as a structural threat for online-anchored hardware shopping, though it does not replicate Cornell's service-oriented local model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cornellsTV
• Facebookfacebook.com/cornellstv
• Instagraminstagram.com/cornellshardware
• Pinterestpinterest.com/cornellstv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cornell