Williston Park mainstays stay in business

The traffic along Hillside Avenue in Williston Park has gotten heavier over the decades, residents have come and gone and stores have opened and closed. But if there is a mainstay about the village -- other than the village hall and the rail station -- it's Munder's Hardware, across the street from a small park, a store that has been there since 1947, when Harry Truman was president.

Munder's is one of only maybe two businesses left in Williston Park still owned and operated by the same family that started them way back when. Another is Weigand Bros, the funeral home that was founded in 1949. The funeral home is still owned by Mary Weigand.

"Things are just the way they always were," said William Munder, 53, son of founder Charles Munder, now 85 and semiretired. Munder was referring to the 2,000-square-foot store, where everything from rakes to rivets is in the same spot, mostly, as it has been for years.

Munder's is the kind of place where customers come in, say hello to William Munder and ask after his father, who seems to have been there always. The customers wander through the slim aisles, examining bolts, screws, nails and the like.

"I've known the family forever," said Richard Ryan, 77, who has lived in Williston Park for nearly 50 years. "This store is one [of] the last of its kind. It's great they've been able to stay as long as they have."

There are two Home Depots within five miles. Why doesn't Ryan shop at one of them? "It's so impersonal," he said. "I've never been here when they didn't have what I need."

Charles Munder opened the store after service in World War II with the Marines. Until he had medical problems five years ago, he worked every day, usually 12 hours, his son said. Even now, the elder Munder comes in every few weeks. William Munder started working at the store when he was in high school. He began full-time at 18, and never left. His son, Greg Munder, 28, also now works at the store.

"It's a struggle," William Munder conceded, referring to the competition from the big-box stores, Nassau County taxes and utility costs. One thing that has helped, Munder said, is his membership in Chicago-based True Value, a buying cooperative, which gives him some leverage against the big boxes. But he worries about the future nonetheless.

Is the day of the mom-and-pop store over?

"I don't know," Munder said. "I'll keep going as long as I can."