Hardware store owner celebrates birthday, survival
By Dave Kolpack
The Forum
ADA, Minn. – There are familiar posters hanging in the stores of downtown Ada these days. We’re open. On Wednesday, however, the employees at Sjerdal’s Our Own Hardware taped a new sign to their doors.

Wish Craig a happy birthday.

It was a happy day for 49-year-old Craig Olson, who was celebrating the fact that his business took a licking and kept on ticking.

Despite losing one-third of his inventory when river water filled the store’s basement, Olson stayed open at all hours – and made sure his regular customers had equipment to fight the flood.

"It was the one business in town that people needed," said John Maurer, an employee at Sjerdal’s and one of the many home owners who wound up with a basement full of water. "The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, none of them could help us out there."

Sjerdal’s was one of the hardest-hit businesses in town. Olson estimates he lost at least $32,000 in stock.

That doesn’t include the furnace, air conditioner, tables and tools.

The basement was where he built and repaired windows and screens.

"We lost a lot," Olson said. "But we do have flood insurance. It may not be complete coverage, but it could have been a lot worse if we didn’t have anything."

At one time there were seven hardware stores in Ada. Now there are two.

Sjerdal’s is the oldest. Jarl Sjerdal ran the place for 50 years before selling to Richard Simonson, who would become Olson’s father-in-law. Simonson also put in 50 years in the business.

"My father-in-law said that you’re not a full-fledged hardware man until you have 50 years in the business," Olson said with a smile. "I guess I have 41 more to go."

Olson grew up down the block from Sjerdal’s and loved to get himself lost in the aisles. Few kids ever had as much fun in a hardware store.

"I was always intrigued by this place," Olson said. "I would walk in here a lot because I thought this was the nicest hardware store in town. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would ever be here and operating it."

Two weeks ago, when Olson climbed over miniature icebergs to get to his store, he wondered if he would have that building. Olson peeked into the window and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the beautiful hardwood floors were dry.

"What happened is that an incline of snow and ice froze against the bottom of the front door, keeping the water out," Olson said. "I hate to think of what it would have looked like if that didn’t happen."

The blizzard hit Ada on a Saturday and the water came up Sunday and Monday. Olson had the store open on Tuesday, driving to Grand Forks and nearby Halstad and Twin Valley to pick up emergency flood supplies.

There was a run on generators, sump pumps, plastic, mops and garbage bags.

Olson figures he sold 90 to 100 pumps before, during and after the flooding.

"The freight was coming in as fast as we could get it out," Olson said. "I mean, you always want to see sales increase. But not that way. I’m just glad I could get open as soon as I could and start getting stuff to people."

Piles of soggy garbage remained on boulevards Wednesday. Chairs and tables from the largest church in town, First Lutheran, lined an entire block. But even that was nothing like the supplies that were hauled out of Sjerdal’s basement.

"Sure, we’ve got damage," Olson said. "I’ve got to clean out a basement. I’ve got to restock it. But we have a business and we’re operating. Look at Grand Forks. Those people don’t have jobs to come back to."

One of the birthday well-wishers on Wednesday was Olson’s mother, Shirley, who came in to drop off a card. Although her basement was flooded and her power was cut off, she refused to evacuate.

"The National Guard kept pounding on the door but I said we weren’t leaving," Shirley said. "It’s our place, we have a right to do what we want."

Like many other residents, Shirley is debating whether or not she will refinish her basement once the cleanup is completed.

"I think I should just back up a cement truck and fill it up," she said with a smile. "I guess we’re just going to have a major spring cleaning. Craig always said I kept too much junk in there anyway."

There are those in the Olson family who are beginning to wonder if the high school graduation of Craig and Barb’s children is a bad omen. When the oldest daughter, Stacie, graduated three years ago, the garage of their house was destroyed by fire. Their second child, Erin, is set to graduate next month. Eric is a sophomore in high school.

"Erin said the other day that when Eric graduates we’ll probably have a tornado," Craig said. "But there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. One of my customers said the other day that the light is pretty dim, but I told him it will be brighter real soon."