99 years in North Buffalo.
A hardware store that became a plumbing company, that became a plumbing and heating company — on the same few streets, the whole time.
Hertel opened in 1927 as a neighborhood hardware store on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo, selling nails and fittings and advice to the people who lived and worked on the surrounding streets. It was a shop you walked to. Over the following decades the work changed as the neighborhood’s needs changed — first into plumbing, and later into heating and cooling — but the shape of the business stayed the same: local people, local buildings, and a counter you could walk up to.
Anthony M. Christiano Sr. spent years selling plumbing supplies and appliances at the former Sears at Main Street and Jefferson Avenue. In 1981, he and his brother John bought Hertel Hardware and Plumbing Supply Co. Anthony Sr. retired in 2003 to care for his wife, who died in 2011.
His son, Anthony Christiano Jr., has run the business ever since. In 2020, after years of growth, the company moved from Hertel Avenue to a larger facility at 250 Ramsdell Avenue, barely a mile from where it started. It still sells basic hardware supplies at the counter, but the work today is mainly plumbing and HVAC — homes, businesses and new construction across Buffalo.
In 2027 the company turns one hundred.
The office hallway at Ramsdell Avenue.
“The part was $2.50. The guy said take it and come back and pay me Monday.”
99 years, briefly.
- 1927Hertel opens as a neighborhood hardware store on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo.
- —Over the decades, the business grows from hardware into plumbing, then into heating and cooling.
- 1981Anthony M. Christiano Sr. and his brother John purchase Hertel Hardware and Plumbing Supply Co.
- 2003Anthony Sr. retires. His son, Anthony Jr., takes over operations.
- 2020Growth prompts a move from Hertel Avenue to a larger facility at 250 Ramsdell Avenue.
- TodayFamily owned and operated. Still independent. Plumbing, HVAC, and the hardware counter.
- 2027One hundred years.
Stop in for a single fitting or a handful of screws — the counter still has them.
Hertel began as a hardware store, and there’s still a hardware counter at Ramsdell Avenue. It isn’t a big-box aisle — it’s fittings, fixings, and the small part you need to finish the job you started on Saturday.
Most of the business is plumbing and heating now. The counter stayed anyway.
Not private equity.
Across Buffalo, plumbing and heating companies have been bought up by private equity firms and national consolidators. Hertel hasn’t been. The person who answers the phone works for the family that owns the company.
Three master plumbers. Fifteen journeymen.
Plus certified HVAC technicians who install and service Tempstar, Mitsubishi Electric, Dunkirk, and LAARS equipment. That experience is why Hertel is a Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Contractor and a Tempstar Elite Dealer — and why each system we install performs the way it should.
What we stand for
- Upfront, honest pricing — you approve the number before we start
- Licensed and insured, on every job
- OSHA compliant
- Locally owned, and accountable to the people we work for
Buffalo and the surrounding area.
We’ve worked on these streets for ninety-nine years. If you’re not sure whether you’re in range, call the office and we’ll tell you straight away.
250 Ramsdell Ave, Buffalo, NY 14216(716) 875-3900
Certifications & product partners
