Ayers Variety and Hardware, the Westover shop generations of Arlingtonians have relied on for the one screw, seed packet or odd gadget they couldn’t find anywhere else, is closing.
The family that has owned the store at 5853 Washington Blvd since 1977 announced the closing in social media posts earlier this afternoon (Sunday). Its lease ends July 31 and the doors will close for the last time “in a few weeks,” owners Kristy Peterkin and her brother, Keith, wrote.
The siblings said they spent the past year trying to find someone to take over the business and were in negotiations until late June, but couldn’t find a buyer willing to commit the money and time it takes to run a store of that breadth — one that closes just four days a year.
The store has anchored the block far longer than the current family. John Wesley Ayers opened it on Washington Boulevard in 1948 and ran it until his death in 1976, and his civic involvement — handing out candy to schoolchildren, lobbying for sidewalks and streetlights, organizing street dances — earned him the nickname “Mayor of Westover,” according to the Arlington Historical Magazine.
Ronald and Wilma Kaplan bought the business from his estate in 1977 and kept it in the family — effectively leaving the store with just two owners in its history, the Washington Post noted in a profile of Westover Village last year. A plaque to the founder still hangs by the front door.
Ayers built its following as an old-fashioned general store, stocking hardware, housewares, gardening supplies, toys, craft supplies and seasonal plants — and, above all, the hard-to-find odds and ends the big-box stores don’t carry. Staff prided themselves on knowing the inventory and walking customers through projects, sometimes over the phone or by FaceTime. “It’s more than just a business,” Peterkin told WTOP in 2023.
The store was also stitched into Westover’s calendar, hosting Santa in its window each Christmas, filling thousands of plastic eggs for the neighborhood’s annual egg hunt and serving as a Toys for Tots drop-off. When a 2019 flood tore through the block and caused an estimated $100,000 in damage to Ayers’ merchandise — the uninsured store’s basement filled nearly to the ceiling — neighbors raised close to $34,000 for the Westover shops in a single day.
Last year, readers voted Ayers the best hardware store in Arlington in ARLnow’s Readers’ Choice awards. Word of the closing drew hundreds of comments on the store’s Facebook page within hours, many recalling decades of visits — the penny candy, the staff who always seemed to have the exact part, the trips that spared a drive to Home Depot.
Ayers is the latest longtime hardware store in the area to wind down; Brown’s Hardware closed last year after 142 years in Falls Church. The Westover strip, established in 1940 and little changed since, counts the Italian Store, Westover Beer Garden, Westover Taco and Lost Dog Cafe among its anchors.
What will fill the space after July 31 has not yet been announced.
The family’s full announcement, posted to Facebook:
It is with heavy hearts we announce after 49 years of our family owning Ayers Variety and Hardware, we have decided to close the business. Our lease ends July 31 and our doors will close for the last time in a few weeks. For the past year we have tried to find someone to take over the business and were in negotiations until the end of June, but just couldn’t find anyone who could commit the money and time it takes to operate a business of this breadth that only closes 4 days a year.
This decision has not been an easy one, but it is made with immense gratitude for the generations of customers, families, and friends who have supported us throughout the years. Many of you have become much more than customers—you have become part of our story. Hopefully, the next business to occupy this space feels as loved as we always have.
We truly appreciate your loyalty and business. You were amazing to us following the 2019 flood and brought our Dad to tears with your generosity and support. You kept us afloat during COVID. You embraced us after our parents died. We are fortunate to have heard your stories, met your families, and been part of this wonderful community.
We enjoyed employing your kids and watching them grow up and come back as customers, some with children of their own. Hosting Santa at Christmas time and filling thousands of Easter Eggs each year were highlights for us. Westover really is a special place and we will miss what it has meant to us. You have allowed us to do what we love for almost five decades, and we always will be grateful.
As we say goodbye, we do so with full hearts and cherished memories. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of this community. It has been our privilege to serve you.
Kristy and Keith
