Pat Hornung Davis holds photo of Harrisburg’s first hardware store.
Power tools. Pet supplies. Lawn and garden items. Furniture. These are merely a handful of items that one can find at Hornung’s True Value Hardware Store in the heart of downtown Harrisburg.
And while those things certainly hold value for the cadre of customers that frequent the popular business, owner Pat Hornung Davis finds an entirely different definition of value each time she steps into her shop.
“I’m in love with this,” she said. “When I walk in, in the morning, I always catch myself saying, ‘I’m home.’”
She laughed.
“I have so many stories from all these years that people get sick of hearing them,” she added. “People look at me and go, ‘Oh, no. Here she goes again.’”
Davis earned those stories to tell through the years. After her brother and mother began the business some 40 years ago, she stepped in as one of the owners five years later. From there, she wasn’t just smitten with the hardware store business, but she grew an affection for Harrisburg’s downtown community.
In fact, she fell so in love with the community that it wasn’t long until some of them became family of her own.
“I met my husband down there,” she said, referring to the 2nd Street shop. “I even met my kids down there—one little kid came into the store one day. He was 3 years old with a smile, and it melted my heart. His 4-year-old brother came in, too, and I ended up raising them from 3 and 4.”
“I was a single parent at the time,” she continued. “But I prayed for it. I prayed for two little boys to come into my life and there they were. Now, they occasionally work here.”
These days, downtown Harrisburg looks a lot different than it did 35 years ago, when Davis first found herself at the True Value helm. In her mind, the increasing desertion of the area can be attributed to two things—the COVID-19 pandemic and a perceived rise in crime.
“Every time there is a killing or a shooting, it hurts the whole community,” she said. “COVID hurt so much because thousands of people stopped working downtown and stopped having to come downtown, and that needs to stop. More people need to be down here.”
An influx of people shopping downtown would make Davis happy for reasons beyond an increase of sales—her affinity for people shines through each time she speaks. By her own admission, she loves being around them, learning from them, and most importantly, helping them.
Part of that giving nature has forced her store to spill out onto the sidewalk—literally. One of the hallmarks of her business is the plethora of items offered for sale outside the shop. The idea to expand her footprint came as a means of versatility, which is something she believes every business needs to be successful.
Still, those miscellaneous products have had their effects on the business, both for better and for (somewhat) worse.
“I hear about it every day,” she noted with a grin. “‘I’m not walking down this side of the street anymore because I can’t leave without buying something.’ I also hear, ‘Is there anything you don’t have?’ I just love it.”
At the age of 72, Davis has no plans to slow down anytime soon. She has no interest in retirement, and she insisted that the business will stay in the family for at least as long as she and her siblings are alive.
“It’s called Family True Value because we’re a family inside and outside,” she explained.
Her outside family extends far beyond the store’s downtown location. Davis was eager to explain how her business has donated $7,000 worth of paint to city schools, and during Halloween season, she provided toys for more than 1,500 kids at Reservoir Park.
It’s all a testament to the fact that she feels that her time at True Value amounts to much more than a job.
“This is a vocation so I can help people,” she asserted. “We provide essential services to downtown Harrisburg, and even if I didn’t work there tomorrow, I would find a way to help people because I enjoy people too much.”
“We have a saying here,” she added. “If we don’t have it, I’ll get it for you. And if I can’t get it for you, I’ll teach you how to live without it.”
Hornung’s True Value Hardware is located at 223 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg. For more information, call 717-234-3178.
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