Hippo Hardware & Trading Co — Local services in Portland

I recently visited Hippo Hardware and had a very bad experience. The items l looked at did not have price tags on them, so l was forced to ask what things cost. A salesman quoted $250 for an antique light fixture, and l decided to buy it. He said he needed to take it in the back to have it tested to make sure it worked for me, which was not really necessary since l know how to rewire them, but l said okay. He comes back and says they decided they now need $500 for it. I have to say in my long life, no established business has ever pulled such a fast one. I spoke to the manager about it and he claimed the person that waited on me was a new employee and didn't know any better. Well, that employee felt very confident to give me quotes on more than one item, so l doubt that is true. Even if it is true then why were they not trained better by this same manager? Yes, indeed it all starts at the top anyway you look at it. A reputable manager would sell the item at the quoted price to maintain their reputation, but this stinker doubles down. Be forewarned about the Hippo, or you may get bamboozled. It's an experience you might expect to have in Tijauna, Mexico, not Portland, Oregon. After visiting the store an antique dealer told me Hippo nearly went out of business awhile back. No surprise if this an example of how they run their store. I would say it's on...

A city block of hardware, lighting, doors/windows and period correct pieces for any project. Unfortunately not very helpful, not very honest and not interested in sales. Go with a friend and see how many conflicting prices you get.. Tried to tell me a pot metal spray painted chandelier was a high price solid brass piece. When I pointed out the obvious he said, "oh, well I thought that was a different one". Brought our Art Deco chandelier for new slip shades. Would not assist us and when we finally cornered someone they literally told us, "they don't make those anymore" to which we tried to look shocked and replied, "REALLY! How amazing! So we should be looking at antique hardware stores for assistance then?.....not here?"

Today was our 4th and final trip. Picked up the chandeliers we purchased 6 weeks ago and wanted help finding pocket door hardware. Instead we were told how difficult pocket doors are and how.old they are and that there is no such thing as a locking pocket door set so we would have to "get creative". OMG. I am done. We are restoring a historical George F. Barber Queen Anne Victorian and we are not stupid.. Sadly this place has taken all of their potential and shoved it...

I just had the most amazing experience at Hippo. For the last 2 years I have been living with a broken mortise lock on the front door of my 100year old house. I’ve had multiple people look at it, including a locksmith, and no one could fix it. The only option appeared to be a full door replacement. Looking on line for ideas I came across a review of Hippo Hardware. I packed up my lock, went in and was directed to Colin. Thats when the magic happened: Disassembling the entire mechanism, Colin identified the problem, scavenged replacement parts from other old locks, machined pieces that didn’t quite fit, cleaned and oiled everything and suddenly I not only had a cassette that would simply fill the big empty space in my door, I had a lock that worked the way it was originally designed - far beyond my hopes and expectations!! Thank you Hippo and thank...