Hardware Sales
Hardware Sales and Mt Baker Ski Area have a long history going back decades. Since 1962 the McClellan family has owned and operated Hardware Sales (originally Powder Sales). In 1968, then-24-year-old Mt. Baker General Manager Duncan Howat began purchase blasting caps and explosives from Hardware Sales to build ski runs up on the hill. Our relationship has continued to this day where the community of both our businesses have relied on each other to maintain and thrive.
Ty McClellan of Hardware Sales and Duncan Howat of Mt. Baker Ski Area, standing by the Hardware Sales Alligator Press. In the audio below, Duncan talks about the early history of Hardware Sales & Mt. Baker.
Hardware Sales was known previously as Powder Sales. This is the original sign from their first building on James Street in Bellingham. In the audio below, Duncan and Ty continue the early history of Hardware Sales & Mt. Baker.
Ty and his family have been helping Mt. Baker with sourcing unusual products and after-hours emergency product pickups since the 1960s.
Ty has been a Baker skier since he was a little kid, and even spent a couple of years working part time at the ski area. In the audio below, Ty talks about the tight Bellingham community and working at Baker as a teenager.
If you’ve never wandered the labyrinth of Hardware Sales aisles and buildings, you are missing out on a one-of-a-kind hardware experience. They’ve evolved from just powder sales in the early 1960s to now offering more than 68,000+ items for sale. Mt. Baker sources everything from nuts and bolts to pipe to lifting slings to cable and about a zillion more items from Hardware Sales (hyperbole, but not by much). The store can be a little overwhelming at first, but the hot tip is to ask any of the sales staff (you can always find one nearby) where to find what your looking for and they’ll point you to the right place. Scroll through the photos below for a tiny sampling of what they offer.
The symbiotic relationship between Baker and Hardware Sales has helped both companies grow and evolve over the decades.
Here's a little history on the Alligator press and Cable Shop:
For more of the family history of Hardware Sales, check their website at www.hardwaresales.net