Trey Kelsey Serves Town With Hardware, Horses

greenwichhardware

 

The legendary Greenwich Hardware & Home, now located on 205 Railroad Avenue.
The legendary Greenwich Hardware & Home, now located on 205 Railroad Avenue.

 

By Michelle Moskowitz
Sentinel Contributor

On an early Tuesday morning, Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey III, owner of the long-standing Greenwich Hardware & Home, looks as though he has been hard at work for hours.

While his full name seems almost regal, everyone in the community knows him simply as “Trey” Kelsey.

Kelsey is visible through the tall stacks of papers piled high on his desk when a visitor enters his office. While on the phone, typing away on his computer, he offers a gracious smile and a gesture that the interview has officially begun.

A resident of Greenwich since 1952, Kelsey was raised with his twin sisters, 11 years his senior, on what he calls a “real farm” in backcountry Greenwich.

“Contrary to what people think of Greenwich farms, we had an outhouse, dirt roads, food that we ate off of our farm,” he declares. “Our parents taught us how to take care of the land and put us to work… what a true gift in life to know how things really work.”

After attending Greenwich schools including Brunswick, and then St. Mark’s boarding school, Kelsey went on to study astrophysics at Williams College in Massachusetts.

There Kelsey played in a band and became interested in quality sound systems. Leveraging his education and passion for optimizing quality, he rose to the top of Alex Systems, a sound engineering company in Boston, where he enjoyed success for many years. 

But after the company failed to prosper quite as Kelsey had envisioned, he decided to come back home to the community he always loved.

He started working in construction since he’d always enjoyed working with his hands, and soon after, his father, a successful businessman, got wind that Greenwich Hardware was for sale.

Kelsey decided to buy the business in 1985 and dedicate his career to providing Greenwich residents with the quality goods and services required to maintain and repair their beautiful homes.

Thirty years later, Greenwich Hardware & Home has continued on Greenwich Avenue as a beacon of reliability and endurance. Like many other businesses, it encountered tough times as the economy langushed, and even had to close locations; but the Greenwich Avenue store always prospered and served its customers seven days a week.

Until recently, that is.

Rent prices on The Avenue have skyrocketed to more than four times what they once were, and Kelsey was forced to relocate to a smaller, less expensive location in order to maintain operating costs and keep his employees, many of whom have been with the company for 20 years.

While it’s evident that Greenwich Avenue has lost many of its mom and pop shops, Kelsey has made it clear that the real strength of his business has always been that people choose to “shop local,” because they get unparalleled customer service, quality products readily available, and a knowledge base that can’t be beat, not even by the big-box stores like Home Depot.

“When we first started our business, we only took checks and had hundreds of house accounts. In fact, we still have some house accounts active today—that’s how long we’ve had the same loyal customer relationships,” says Kelsey.

The new space (as of a few months ago), located at 205 Railroad Avenue, is approximately 6,000 square feet, 2,000 square feet smaller than the previous location.

But this space, unlike the last, is filled with light and has a more retail-like appeal. There are 15 parking spots allotted to the store, so patrons have no trouble parking nearby.

One of their key local offerings is their ability to assist residents with weather emergencies; indeed, the store bills itself as “Greenwich’s emergency headquarters,” selling generators, floodlights and other essentials.

On their website, greenwichhardwareandhome.com, they provide up-to-the-minute updates on weather conditions and emergency preparation guidelines to help residents be prepared.

In addition to Greenwich Hardware & Home, Kelsey also operates Taylor Rental in Port Chester, which rents out contractor equipment, event products, moving and shipping products, U-Hauls, and trucks.

“The cost of doing business has significantly increased, and sales have been affected, but we will always provide the best of products and services to our customer base,” confirms Kelsey.

And hardware and rental equipment aside, Kelsey keeps his connection with the farm very much alive.

Kelsey, along with his sisters, own and operate the well-known Kelsey Farm in the backcountry, at 1016 Lake Avenue.  

Kelsey Farm has been teaching horseback riding since his family started the business back in 1949. The operation is run by his sister Elise, whom everyone calls “Easy,” and offers lessons in riding both ponies and horses; boarding; summer camp programs; and showings.

Kelsey says what sets Kelsey Farm apart from other riding facilities in town is that they don’t just tach their students how to ride; they also teach them to take care of the animals on every level, including grooming.

“That’s what our parents taught us on the farm, and we believe it’s an important part of the process in order to form a connection with the animal,” says Kelsey.

What Kelsey seems most proud of is the farm’s weekly Pegasus Therapeutic Riding Program, which pairs horses and ponies with the physically and mentally challenged.

Showing no evidence of slowing down, Kelsey discusses his love for attending the annual trade shows, testing new products, and offering Greenwich residents the best for their homes and projects.

His boundless energy, enthusiasm for quality, dedication to the businesses he has built and nurtured, and decades-long knowledge of his customers have made him a local legend; and his fearlessness in the face of adversity keeps him pushing forward.

“Greenwich is such a great place, high-quality in every way, and it’s the place to be,” says Kelsey after asking his visitor to take a ride in a U-Haul just to see how it drives.

For more information, visit greenwichhardware.com, greenwichtaylorrental.com and for information on horseback riding, visit kelseyfarm.com.

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