NASHUA – On Sept. 23, 1936, Lester Archambeault was asked to cover a week’s shift managing Nashua’s new Aubuchon Hardware on Main Street. He ended up taking over as store manager for five years before leaving to serve in the Army during World War II.

Seventy-five years later to the day, the recently refurbished and expanded neighborhood hardware store, still standing at the same location and managed by Archambeault’s son, will reopen in Lester’s honor.

“What would he say about the store today?” Dennis Archambeault, Aubuchon store manager said. “I think the biggest thing would be is the amount of business that we do now is probably nowhere near what they used to do then, and the amount of stock the store has in it.”

Dennis Archambeault started working at Aubuchon as a high school student and came back to the hardware store as manager in 1977 after a teaching stint at Daniel Webster College.

His father, Lester, who passed away in 1979, would have been 100 years old last month. Lester Archambeault became supervisor of multiple Aubuchon locations when he returned from World War II and ultimately served as vice president of the business.

The Main Street staple hardware store – and the street it stands on – look completely different today. What was originally the strip known as “Shea Block” once held the Nashua Gas Co., Public Service, Aubuchon Hardware and Nashua Fruit.

Decades ago, Aubuchon expanded into the Nashua Fruit location and backward, into an approximately 4,400-square-foot store.

This past March, construction started on the 1,250-square-foot expansion and remodeling, the store’s first in almost 25 years, Archambeault said.

The new store fills up the space where Patisserie Bleu used to be.

Over the years, Aubuchon of Nashua has offered a variety of services as the city around it changed. Many people, like Roger Roy, a French Hill native who was shopping for paint Tuesday morning, remember Aubuchon’s downstairs toy store, complete with its Lionel train set.

“I’ve been coming here 30 to 40 years, I worked on Main Street for 37 years,” Roy said. “We’d walk downtown. I remember going downstairs on my birthday to pick out a toy.”

The store got out of the toy business in 1969, but the type of service Nashuans find at Aubuchon – such as tools, lawn and garden care, electrical and hardware needs and paint supplies – hasn’t changed, Archambeault said.

“It’s the service and the product knowledge, that’s the main thing,” he said. “I think they like the fact that they know the people when they come through the door. … There’s still a lot of original Nashuans that come in here.”

The Aubuchon on Main Street is one of 122 northeastern locations of the Aubuchon family-owned company, which was founded in 1908. It’s the oldest Aubuchon location that still stands in the same place where it started, Archambeault said.

“Most of the stores have moved to malls, but we’re still a downtown store, versus a mall or plaza store,” he said.

The renovation and expansion, complete with an antique tin ceiling, hardwood floors and energy-efficient lighting, allows all of Aubuchon’s Benjamin Moore paint selections to be housed in one spot, which includes its “Gen-X” line, a series of environmentally safe paint. The new section also brings a place for customers to sit and select colors in a friendly environment, Archambeault said.

“The president of the company wanted to keep this building with the old, homey look, and that’s what (the renovation) did,” he said. “I think it’s awesome. I’ve been waiting for this for five years. … Our stores are getting bigger and bigger, obviously more room, more supplies, more everything. I think it’s going to be positive for downtown, positive for us.”

Aubuchon of Nashua has seen increasing foot traffic as the Gate City’s population has increased over the years, Archambeault said. The store also has benefitted from its strong location.

“This block, from City Hall to Alec’s Shoe Store, you never see an empty store for some reason,” Archambeault said. “In this section, we’re kind of like the old timers, I guess. It makes it like a neighborhood.”

Despite the competing location of Aubuchon’s nearby neighbor, Nashua Paint & Wallpaper, another old-time Nashua paint store, Archambeault said there is enough room downtown for both.

“There’s plenty of room for all of us,” Archambeault said. “It’s like the restaurants. Michael Timothy’s and Villa Banca are best of friends and would help each other with anything. It’s the same with us. We’ve known each other since we were like 23 or younger. There’s plenty of business in Nashua, you all have to have a niche.”

The freshly refurbished Aubuchon opened for business six weeks ago, Archambeault said, but plans to commemorate its reopening and through a “chain-cutting ceremony” and activity-filled weekend Friday and Saturday.

The chain-cutting, open to the public, will happen at 11 a.m. Friday.

Aubuchon plans to offer specials, raffles, giveaways and refreshments to attendees.

Kids can come and play in a bounce house, while adults will benefit from product demonstrations, Archambeault said.

Lucianna Samu, a two-time design award recipient, author of three home design books, and a Benjamin Moore blogger, will be doing paint demonstrations and crafting a special 75-color piece for the store in commemoration of the anniversary.

On Saturday, representatives from Nutro dog food will provide specials and samples as part of the store’s service to customers’ four-legged friends. People bring well-behaved dogs into Aubuchon all the time, Archambeault said.

Qualities like dog-friendiness contribute to the hardware store’s neighborly feel, something big box stores cannot really compete with, he said.

“You come in here, and if you didn’t know what was going on, you’d get help right away,” Archambeault said. “If you go into the big box stores, you’re not going to get that.

“We’re here to stay. We’ve been here, and we’re going to be here for a long time.”

For more information about Aubuchon’s products and services visit www.hardwarestore.com.

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashuatelegraph.com. Follow Gill (@Telegraph_MAG) on Twitter.