Closing Up Shop
Cherry Creek — With the rap of the auctioneer’s gavel on Saturday morning, Jerry and Elaine Bentham will say goodbye to the business they have owned and operated for 39 years, as the Cherry Creek Hardware store and adjacent Stove Shop are closing their doors.
Opened in 1899 as Robert James Hardware, the business was taken over by Wes and Maggie Bentham, Jerry’s parents, in 1948. In 1962, the Benthams purchased the building next door and added a gift shop to the basic hardware business. The business continued in that manner until 1969, when Jerry and Elaine Bentham entered into a partnership with the senior Benthams.
In 1973, the gift shop became what is now known as the Stove Shop portion of the business. That business continued to grow, with 27 makes and models of wood stoves being stocked, and, in 1976, outside furnaces were added to the inventory.
“That was quite an accomplishment for a ‘Mom and Pop’ operation,” Bentham said. “‘Of course, that was when ‘Mom and Pop’ stores were common.”
The business continued to grow, this time by adding personnel. Bruce Erdmann came on as a service technician in 2000, and Lisa Gross was added to the store “‘family'” in 2001, following the closing of Falconer Hardware.
