Cataldo's in Wrentham A Mainstay for 30 Years

Cataldo’s has been a mainstay in Wrentham for over 30 years and shows no signs of stopping.

Peter Cataldo Jr., son of owners Peter and Marilyn, said the hardware store continues to thrive in a time of Home Depots and Lowe’s superstores because they have an intimate knowledge of what people need and keep up relationships with anyone who comes through their doors.

“We just try to have the things they don’t have and just try to help the customers with their problems, give them more attention then a big store would,” he said.

There are a lot of things you might thing you need to go to a chain store for to get right.

Music Box owner Tim Bowditch across the street from Cataldo’s said whenever he’s doing a guitar repair or adjustment to an instrument, he usually just goes across the street instead of going to a place like Guitar Center.

Cataldo said he started working at the store part-time as kid after school and came on board full-time after college. He said the store itself started off small enough, but expanded to meet the demands of whatever their customers needed.

“We just kept adding to it and adding to it, having more inventory was very important,” he said.

Cataldo said being such a fixture in the center of Wrentham allows them to really develop personal relationships with the people in the town. He said getting to know the people there grew a lot of friendships.

“There is a couple that comes in and we’ve known them for years,” he said. “When they had their kids and then one of their son got married just recently… told us all about that experience. We keep up with what they tell us and they ask about our family. It’s that kind of relationship.”

Cataldo added that the town itself has a lot to do with the shop’s success, as people really support the local shops.

“Its just a quaint New England setting,” he said. “It has a good sense of community. I think we’ve tried to serve the community pretty well and that’s probably why we’re still here.”

Cataldo said that the shop sponsors Wrentham Youth League baseball and soccer.

“I had a nephew and a niece that have been on teams we sponsor and that’s been really unique,” he said.