If there were a sliding scale for store clerk helpfulness, big-box stores would be at the bottom, of course. ("What? Me a sales person? Nah. I just wear this uniform because it's cool-looking.") And Lakewood Hardware would be at the top. The owner/proprietor, Khandoo Nagar, and his two top sales people, Scott and Kevin, have a century of hardware experience between them. But that's maybe the least of it. You walk in this place holding a whatchamacallit before you in one hand like a talisman. A salesperson drifts forward wordlessly, takes it from your fingers, studies it closely, then leads you to exactly the thing you need to fix your problem. It's a good place to visit even when you don't need anything, just to remind yourself how the basic retail customer service model was supposed to work.