There's been a lot of talk lately about how tough it is for locally owned hardware stores to be successful with the competition from places like Home Depot, Menards and Lowe's. I can understand it, but I've got my favorite local stores and I'm pretty loyal to them for a number of reasons.

But first, let me tell you about Home Depot.

I used to know a guy who worked in the news department at a local television station. He got fired.

A couple of months later I was in Home Depot and I see this guy coming down an aisle, wearing one of those orange vests and that big button that said something like, "Just Ask. I Will Help."

We chatted and he was kind of sheepish about his major fall from grace. But we got back to order and I asked him about how I'd go about fixing a certain plumbing leak. "Hell, I have no idea," he responded and then took for to find someone who might know. He never came back.

I have been a customer of National Hardware for decades. The guy who started it, the late Marshall Rotter, was a friend of my dad's. The saying among my circle of friends has always been that if you couldn't find it, go to National and it would be there. The back counter at National is one of the best places in the world to get answers and spend a few hours just loafing and chatting. Amazing what you can learn.

National isn't the only place however. I am a loyal Brady Street Hardware customer and lately the new Blifferts in Riverwest has begun to make inroads into my loyalty.

And finally a word has to be said about Crown Hardware on MLK. For as long as I can remember this has been THE place for plumbing materials and advice in this city. People come from all over, including professional plumbers, to get help at Crown. They can occasionally be a little grumpy, but it's like going to a great deli with the old Jewish guy snapping at you from the front register.

You put up with that little bit of crap for the experience.

Those little drug stores that used to be around have all but faded from the scene, but I hope the local hardware stores can survive. And as long as there are people who want to do their own home stuff and need a little advice on how to go about it, I'm confident they'll survive.

I'd be interested in the other great local hardware stores Milwaukee has to offer. I bet there are a lot more than the experts think.