Beacon Paint & Hardware

Specialties

We specialize in SERVICE! We sell Benjamin Moore Paints, and can match any color or brand of paint; we sell LOTS of hardware, plus plumbing, electrical supplies, lighting, air conditioners, fans, heaters, tools, and much much more!

Beacon is proud to make customer service its No. 1 priority. Beacon takes pride in supporting its neighborhood, offering balloons to children and biscuits to dogs. Every holiday elicits a gift, the favorite being Halloween because Beacon gives out small toys (not fattening candy). Valentine’s Day prompts a red rose for all female customers. Beacon donates anything that the local public school needs for holiday events, and was one of several businesses to provide materials for a garden at the school. Beacon has donated paint and supplies to other schools as well.

Beacon was a 2011 Winner of a WESTY Award by the West Side Spirit. WESTY stands for West Side Spirit Thanks You. The requirements for WESTY were simple: The awards went to New Yorkers who live or work in the community and whose accomplishments help improve the neighborhood. Beacon was also a finalist for American Express’ Shine a Light on Small Business Awards; Beacon was named New York City Small Business of the Year in 2008 and The Paint Dealer Magazine’s 2008 North American Paint Dealer of the Year. Past honors include: a Forbes Enterprise Award; being named No. 1 hardware store on the West Side!

History

Established in 1900.

Beacon Paint & Hardware was founded around 1900. The store started as Beacon Paint & Varnish Co., later changed to Beacon Paint & Wallpaper, and later to its current name. The store originally was located at 370 Amsterdam Avenue. Around 1940, Beacon relocated to its present location — 371 Amsterdam Ave.

Before becoming Beacon Paint, 371 Amsterdam Ave. was the home of an A&P supermarket. The rear of the store is where the supermarket kept the horse and buggy it used to make deliveries. In 1971, Mel Stark (who previously worked at now-​defunct Long Island Paints) bought the store from then-​owner Joe Sage. Mel had also worked at his father-in-law’s paint store on the East Side many, many years ago. Mel’s sons, Bruce and Steven, and daughter, Ellen, now run the day-​to-​day operations; Ellen also serves as bookkeeper. Mel is retired, as is Evelyn, his wife, who used to run the wallpaper department.

Meet the Business Owner

Steven S.

Business Owner

Beacon Paint & Hardware is a retail/​wholesale business located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We have been in business for 116 years, all on Amsterdam Avenue. My family is only the second family to own it; my dad bought the store form the original owners in 1971.

We are very community minded, having donated auction prizes to an average of six schools every year. We are the largest non-​parent donor to PS 87, which is located around the corner. Our motto has always been, «Whatever PS 87 needs PS 87 gets.»

We also supplied all the paint that The Anderson School needed when it relocated to West 77^th Street.

For the last 10 years, we have sponsored a Street Painting Day, providing materials needed to paint over graffiti on mail boxes and fire hydrants.

Every year, we sponsor a charity walkathon. The benefactor is Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which provides guide dogs to people with vision loss, as well as service dogs to children with autism. This is a cause close to our hearts