Tyler Sturtevant, left, the new manager at Sturdy Hardware in Sabattus, and his father, Jeff, the new owner, took over the former Stevens Hardware on Feb. 1. Submitted photo

Stevens Hardware in Sabattus is now Sturdy Hardware with a father and son as owner and store manager.

The new name is a play on their last name, Sturtevant.

Tyler Sturtevant said shortly after his father, Jeff, became manager of Depot Square Hardware and Variety in Mechanic Falls five years ago, they started talking about running their own hardware store someday.

After graduating from college with a business degree, Tyler got a job at Stevens Hardware in February 2017. Owner John Bade was looking at slowing down, eventually.

“He trained me up and we were able to buy the store,” Tyler said.

They took over Feb. 1. He said their working motto is “serving God and serving the community.”

“You’re just constantly helping people with projects and solving problems with them,” Tyler said. “There’s so much versatility in hardware, there’s so much to know and it’s a constant learning process.”

They’ve got big plans for the inside and have moved a busy rental business into warehouse space out back to free up room for a new sporting goods area. It’s still being built out, but will eventually have hunting, fishing and hiking supplies, along with outdoor gear.

“We’d like to get in a nice line of boots and clothing,” Tyler said. “We didn’t actually expand the footprint of the store, but expanding into this new market.”

He’s hoping for that to be fully built up by May.

This story was originally published as part of “The Buzz: Break coffee shop moving to Lewiston.” Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.