Mom and Pop community hardware store (with True Value partnership).
Vaters (rhymes with waters) has saved me from many-a-trip to either of the other two big box hardware stores in the area....and therefore my sanity and wasted time.
Always a knowledgeable attendant is available either upstairs or down to help with questions. The store is like a magicians hat. Not very big, but seems to have a bottomless supply of electrical, plumbing, painting, nuts, bolts etc... If they don't have something, they will let you know where else to get it. They know the hardware business like few can. And not just to novices like myself. I see contractors of all sorts asking questions. Makes a girl happy to not be made feel like an idiot in a predominately male store.