To the Editor:

Re “Better, Cheaper and Faster Than Amazon” (Sunday Review, Nov. 24), in which Tim Wu laments the imminent closing of his neighborhood hardware store:

In 1987 my family and I moved into an older rental duplex near the center of Ridgewood, N.J. And, of course, there were many small “fixes” that needed to be done that involved hardware such as steam valves for the radiators, rubber washers for leaky faucets, etc.

Fortunately, Village Hardware was only a short walk away. The two-story store had myriad items stored on shelves or in bins and drawers. The owner, Cliff, was a walking encyclopedia of home repairs. All you needed to do was to describe your problem and he would know exactly what you needed and how to fix the problem.

Sadly, Home Depot had recently opened a town away, and it eventually forced the store to close. Every time I found myself traipsing up and down the endless aisles of Home Depot in search of a small item, I found myself wishing that a local hometown store like Village Hardware were still in business. Stores like that are a local treasure that are becoming harder and harder to find.

Paul Williams

Cornwall, N.Y.

To the Editor:

Tim Wu tells yet another sad story about the demise of New York City’s mom-and-pop stores, even though local stores can be cheaper and more efficient than ordering from Amazon. Rent gouging during lease renewal is a major reason so many small businesses are in crisis and closing in record numbers, resulting in the annual loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Small entrepreneurs are at the mercy of money-grubbing landlords and property speculators.