At home, projects come in all shapes, sizes, and degrees of difficulty. Facing a do-it-yourself project can be intimidating, to say the least.

Simply walking into a supply store can be overwhelming, with aisles of hardware, tools, paint, and more to navigate through. For a business to have reliable people that can stand with you to provide guidance on materials and their uses makes all the difference.

For 47 years, Gloucester Supply and Ace Hardware, a local Ace Hardware at Hayes owned by the Cook family, has been serving the Gloucester community. They’re ready to help every customer who sets foot through their doors looking to tackle a DIY project.

According to Gloucester Supply and Ace Hardware manager Kati Cook, her goal when a customer comes in with questions is for “you to come back and feel like you’re talking to a friend … . It’s very important to me that we know what we’re doing so we don’t oversell you parts, or under sell you parts.”

I asked if I were a customer ...