Frager’s Hardware returns to Pennsylvania Avenue on Friday. Click to enlarge.
Employees crash to stock shelves prior to opening.
A so-far sign-less red awning marks the location of “Foliage by Frager,” one door away from the hardware store.
Kristin Sampson, manager of Foliage by Frager’s and gardener extraordinaire readies for tomorrow’s opening.
A rear door to Foliage by Frager’s allows access to the garden center which itself allows access to the hardware store through a rear door.
Over at Frager’s on E Street, SE, employees move stock to the Pennsylvania Avenue location.
Aisha Bryant, manager of Frager’s Pennsylvania Avenue outlet. Photo credit: Frager’s.
Frager’s Hardware Set to Open Tomorrow on Pennsylvania Avenue
by Larry Janezich
Frager’s management told Capitol Hill Corner they expect to open at their new location at 1115 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, tomorrow, Friday, May 3. The store was expected to open earlier this spring.
There will be two components of the opening – the hardware store proper, and its associated garden-center storefront (Foliage by Frager) one door away on the other side of Kabob & More. The hardware store will be under the management of Aisha Bryant and Foliage by Frager will be overseen by Kristin Sampson.
Passage through Foliage by Frager will permit access to the garden center in the lot behind the store – which, in turn, will allow passage into the rear of the hardware store. The entrance to the garden center on 12th Street will remain.
Meanwhile, over at Frager’s blue building at 1323 E Street, SE, a skeleton crew staffed the store as other employees transferred stock to the new location. It’s unclear what plans building owner John Weintraub has for the site once Frager’s vacates.
Frager’s is owned by Gina and Marc Friedman’s of A Few Cool Hardware Stores – the latest of their 12 locations, and part of Ace Hardware Co-operative. They have a 25 year lease on the store.
The iconic Frager’s Hardware was destroyed by fine in June of 2013, as reported and photographed by CHC: http://bit.ly/1QGbdTB and here: http://bit.ly/1R39h1D. Perseus Realty purchased the site in for development of a mixed use building in October 2015. Washington Business reported then the developer had paid $5.7 million for the location.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
Additional photos of the fire at: https://www.meadowneck.org/Events/2013-Fire-at-Fragers-Hardware2/
Fragers was more than just a hardware store, more than just another retailer. The staff made an effort to know and chat up the customers, especially the regulars. There was a camaraderie between the staff and the customers in the old store that went back to when Jules and George Frager ran the place and continued with the new owners, John Weintraub and Ed Copenhaver, who were always on site. That ambience suddenly disappeared when the place was sold to the chain, the old crew somehow became redundant, and the store became just one of a dozen of the “A Few Cool Hardware Stores,” just another piece of a chain. What a loss for the Hill.
Congrats! on opening – officially. You guys have been thru a lot – but then so have we – your loyal customers! Now that WE are on the same page I’m sure the chaos will settle for ALL of us and we can get back to FRAGER’S – the Hardware Store. Love you guyz!