I walk a block to the locally-owned hardware store and give my dollars to my neighbor, obviously. What do you do, throw your money into the giant corporate black hole?

I walk down to the hardware store, i purchase it, i walk back :|

If i want to go to the really big hardware warehouse, I catch the tram from just outside my house.

And if i need big things for some reason, I book the share-van, drive there, load it into the back, drive home, unload it, park the van, walk away.

Amazon prime 2hour delivery. $22 has it at my doorstep in two hours.

If I want it faster than that, or cheaper, I walk to the home depot a mile away.

Bike to one of the 3 (or 4?) hardware stores in a 10-15min radius. The closest one is barely 5 minutes away, but it's a bit expensive.

If I need something specialized, I either take public transit all the way there, or ride my bike to the S-train station and bring my bike on the train.

How do you handle it somewhere else? It can only get worse.

In the city I have the shops around and a lot of transport options (bike, bus, tram, walk, carsharing..) or I can order it online, or, gasp, ask any of my 20 neighbours. Elsewhere your options are far more limited.

I just use the socket wrench at the community makerspace 5 blocks from my house.

15 minute bike ride to the hardware store