Closing out tonight, in a city that's constantly growing skyward, there's one corner of Charlotte that's held steady for nearly half a century, Blackhawk Hardware nestled inside Park Road Shopping Center, isn't just a hardware store, it's a neighborhood tradition.

From its humble beginnings in the mid-1970s, to its status today as a local landmark, "Carolina Impact's" Chris Clark, shows us how Blackhawk has been built on more than nuts and bolts, it's built on relationships, resilience, and a deep sense of community.

(page swishing) - [Chris] In a city that's constantly building something new, there's one place that feels like it's always been here, even if it started as a warehouse with a porch tacked on the front, Blackhawk Hardware isn't just a store, it's a Charlotte tradition.

- This is the nicest hardware store that I've ever been to.

- [Chris] The instant you step inside, you know this isn't a normal place, and I knew that the moment I asked the owners to introduce themselves.

- My title is Supreme Commander.

- My card says, "Not just the pretty one."

- [Chris] Behind the humor is a story that goes back nearly 50 years.

Long before Blackhawk became a Charlotte staple, it began with a salesman, who just wanted something more.

- I was working for Pitney Bowes selling office equipment.

I was constantly trying to find something to do, kill time, and the guys I worked, with went down to Little Hardware Downtown, and I was just walking around and thinking about going into business for myself.

- [Chris] And as it turns out, he was starting from scratch.

- When I was growing up, I can't ever remember even going to a hardware store, my dad grew up on a farm, and I tell people, "Till I went off to college, I didn't realize there were people that actually came to your house and fixed stuff."

- [Chris] So Jim did what restless dreamers do, he opened a hardware store anyway.

January, 1977, a borrowed building, a front porch, and a lot of faith.

When his wife Barbara joined the mission, she turned the aisles into opportunity, carving out unique niches that kept customers coming back.

- Women would come in, walk around, and say, "I love a hardware store," and then walk out, and to figure something to keep 'em in the store a little bit, and my wife used to watch Julia Childs - Bon appétit!

- And I said, "Well, what if we open a kitchen shop?"

- [Chris] Barbara's Kitchen Shop changed that overnight, proof that the right idea and the right cookware could change a business.

Next, came cabinet hardware, a few extra feet of display, became an empire of 1,001 knobs, a campaign so clever, even competitors sent their customers here.

- It's actually amazing how far customers come to buy door hardware and cabinet hardware from us, because where else do you walk into and see 5 or 6,000 door knobs and cabinet knobs on display, and have access to a couple of hundred thousand more?

(popcorn popping) (machine tooting) - [Chris] Then came the idea that filled the place with laughter and the smell of butter.

- A couple of guys from Richmond and they had like four stores, I asked him about the popcorn, and he said, "Well, my nephews kept coming in, they kept telling their dad, they want to go see Uncle Bobby, "I wanna go see Uncle Bobby.'"

And he said, " I figured out after a while, they didn't care about me, they wanted popcorn."

- [Chris] While other stores spent thousands chasing the perfect scent, Blackhawk went old-school with popcorn, free and fresh all day.

- It's absolutely phenomenal.

- You can smell it all the way up there at Jenny's, across the Firestone, you see the trail all the way up to Harris Teeter.

- [Chris] he popcorn drew people in, but the dogs sealed the deal.

- You wanna be interviewed?

There's the camera.

This is Nacho, and the one down here is Scout.

- [Chris] Blackhawk became Charlotte's most dog-friendly hangout, with treats, wagging tails, and even a wash station.

(dog growling) (water squirting) - Sometimes, there is a line, and most of the time there is not.

The line is usually on a Friday or a Saturday.

(laughs) - [Chris] And in case you think it's all fun and fur, look up.

(dinosaur roaring) - A lot of it, is just looking at things differently, and just wanting to be entertained yourself.

If you buy so much from a particular vendor, they'll give you an animal.

We were sitting there going, "Well, we can't spare 15 feet of retail for a T-Rex."

And my General Manager, he goes, "Well, you can put it on top of an aisle or something."

And I was looking at him going, "If you do that, you might as well hang it from the ceiling."

(laughs) And lo and behold, we have a 15 foot T-Rex hanging from the ceiling.

- [Chris] But beneath the whimsy, is precision, take the Paint Department, for example.

- Who wants to hear, have a conversation when there's a paint shaker going next to you, like, you know, rattling your teeth out, so we put it in the back room.

- [Chris] Blackhawk has a way of making things feel special, and for customers, it's become a holiday traditional all of its own.

- I have a friend, and we have gone to the Southern Christmas Show for years, - [Chris] Wow!

- and she's getting a little frail.

Last year, she said, "I'll tell you what, let's do."

She says, "Let's not go to the Christmas Show this year, let's go to Blackhawk."

(laughs) - [Chris] You know when the Visitors Bureau starts recommending you, you've made it.

- She was saying, "Oh, we tell people to come to Blackhawk from the Visitors Bureau."

And I'm thinking, "There's not a lot to do in Charlotte."

- [Chris] Because Blackhawk isn't just where you buy things, it's where people feel they belong.

- When we were interviewing someone, we just think, "Hey, would I like to have lunch with this person for the next five years?"

If the answer's, "Yes," okay, they'll be good.

- We're like a family here, I wouldn't really be here without them.

- It's a culmination of doing 1,000 things, 1% better, not one thing 1,000% better.

- [Chris] At Blackhawk Hardware, it's never just nuts and bolts, it's neighbors, laughter, and almost 50 years of Charlotte charm.

For "Carolina Impact:, I'm Chris Clark.