Russell True Value Hardware's fine gifts satisfy

December 22, 2006
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

Maricela Montemayor, Russell’s Fine Gifts department manager, adjusts the position of a ceramic picture frame, among hundreds of other gift items of possible interest to Christmas shoppers. Montemayor is in her fifth year at Russell True Value Hardware, and is motivated by the constantly changing inventory she offers to the store’s loyal customers. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)

Time was, a hardware store was just that, hard wares. Ladders, shovels, hammers, saws, pails and nails. This is not just your grandfather’s hardware store, anymore.

The new tradition at Russell True Value Hardware is broadly tagged as “fine gifts,” according to Department Manager Maricela Montemayor. And about 15 percent of Russell’s 15,000-square-foot store at 506 E. Gibbs St. is devoted to Del Rio’s feminine side, while the bulk of the store still caters to the home handyman, hunters, hobbyists, and the homemaker with a leaky faucet.

Shelves of pots, pans and kitchen utensils create a subtle transition between conventional hardware and the fine gifts section, but the entire northwest corner of the hardware store is softened by sweetshop chocolates, sophisticated glassware, ceramics, purses, and jewelry.

Russell True Value owners Clayton and Sherrie Davenport, Montemayor and an able staff arrange the fine gifts department into tantalizing arrangements of colorful gifts that greet customers within a few feet of the front door. Flanking the gift department is an amazing collection of decorative and scented candles. Brands familiar to those who crave the ambience candles provide include Circle E, Yankee, and Aromatique.

Maricela Montemayor shows off shelves of candles that ornament the entry to Russell’s Fine Gifts Department. Familiar brands offered there include Yankee, Circle E and Aromatique. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)

Russell’s fine gifts department is hardly static. Before dust can collect on exhibit shelves, merchandise is sold or pulled to make room for fresh inventory. “Sherrie goes to market – yes, in Dallas – twice a year,” said Montemayor, “and it comes in gradually, so we have new things to display at least every month.”

Brides-to-be and future mothers-in-law love Russell’s selection of china, glassware and gifts. Irish Waterford Crystal, china by Noritake, Lenox and Mikasa, and Italian ceramics by Vietri appear regularly on bridal registries logged at Russell True Value Hardware. Virtually anything in the store can be registered, “And, believe it or not, grooms get to pick, too, sometimes barbecue grills or sporting goods,” laughed Montemayor.

Between Russell’s fine gifts and the store’s rental shop – featuring party implements such as serving trays, candelabras, garden arches, chafing dishes, coffee urns, lawn tents, book stands, and chocolate and champagne fountains – the store stands ready to cater bridal showers, weddings, anniversary and party events. “We can do all the decorating, and set up the gifts, and we do all kinds of gift wrapping beforehand, too,” Montemayor explained.

But Montemayor’s and Davenport’s insistence on keeping novel and inventive gifts on the shelves now extends to culinary tastes. The fine chocolates – both traditional and sugar-free – are not a recent addition, but a selection of Plentiful Pantry soup kits, made in Salt Lake City, Utah, are in colorful display in the center of the fine gifts department. Flavors include chicken and dumplings, tortilla soup, white cheddar asparagus, and more.

Plentiful Pantry soups are a popular addition to the shelves of Russell’s Fine Gifts, along with pastry mixes and made-in-Texas jams and jellies. The store’s sweet shop offers a large assortment of chocolate candies, regular or sugar-free, that may be purchased individually or boxed. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)

“We’re also featuring dips and cake mixes now, too,” said Montemayor, “and the chocolates can be purchased either by the piece or boxed.”

Russell True Value Hardware is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. While the store’s address is on Gibbs Street, parking and storefront are accessed from East 1st Street, between Veterans Boulevard and Avenue G.