Mulletts retiring after 38 years in hardware business
March 31, 2025, 11:00 am
Nicole Taylor
Robert and Rose Mullet have sold their business, Mullett’s Home Hardware, and are retiring after 38 years of business in Moosomin. The store will remain a Home Hardware, and will be managed by Love Patel. The new owner of the store is Mike Patel, who also owns the Home Hardware in Indian Head.
“Rose used to live in Winnipeg, working with a company called Robinsons back in the days when we started dating,” said Robert. “I worked for Beaver Lumber, and Rose would come visit me.”
“He played hockey, so I always came to Moosomin to watch the Rangers play,” said Rose. “I have always liked Moosomin.”
“I traveled Saskatchewan, and when we got married, we thought we should do something together,” said Robert. “We had a store in Langenburg. It was a small town that was close to some larger centres, and we were scared it was not going to make it. When the gentleman that owned McLeod’s in Moosomin passed away, we put an application in to come back to Moosomin because we enjoyed it, so we ended up coming back here. Our vision was to have successful careers here. When we moved to Moosomin our plan was to have a comfortable hardware store with our family, and enjoy the people that we knew here.
“When McLeod’s went under, and True Value to came to Canada, our thought was we should grow, because in the States, everybody has multiple stores. We switched to True Value and that is when we built this store. There were thoughts about expanding, but we prefer a more hands on arrangement, we like to be with the people and work directly with our staff. We do not like walking in and giving orders and then heading out. Being hands on was a six and a half day a week project, it’s been that way for 38 years.” Said Robert.
“We started in Langenburg with McLeod’s, and in 1987 we moved to Moosomin, and it has been history ever since,” said Rose. “The Moosomin store started as McLeod’s for the first 10 years, then switched to True Value for 10 years, thenswitched to a Rona for 11 years, and for the last six years has been Home Hardware.”
“Three years ago when we decided we wanted to sell the business, we listed with Home Hardware,”said Robert.
“We didn’t want to close. We decided we can’t leave Moosomin without a second hardware store. We said we are not going to shut it down, we are going to get somebody in here to take over. Last year we had somebody ready to buy, but within the last few days something happened, that they could no longer do it.”
Robert said they considered liquidating the store. “We couldn’t keep dragging it on because one of us is going to get sick, or something is going to happen and we are not going to be able to enjoy retirement,” said Robert. “That is when Peavy Mart went under, so Ace Hardware in Indian Head had no supplier. So Love’s hardware store in Indian Head was fortunate enough to be accepted by Home Hardware, and they are converting their Indian Head store to Home Hardware, and they purchased this one in Moosomin.
“It has been a long drawn out thing to get to the point where we are happy that we’ve got good people here to run the store. We are certain it is going to be as good if not better than it was, with new, fresh ideas.” Said Robert.
“It feels weird to retire after this many years, but over time we will be able to let go,” said Rose.
“The people are the best part,” says Robert. “We are an hour and a half from any of the major centres, so we have a lot of support. Moosomin has been our family. Guys I have played hockey with, guys I have been on councils with, everything you do you are involved with good people. If something happens, everyone is there to chip in and help, being part of the community has always been a good part of Moosomin. One of the biggest challenges was when we lost our daughter, that was a really tough time to get through. There was lots of community support, everybody surrounded us with love, you couldn’t be anywhere else,” said Robert, “People were knocking on your door to see if they can help. We are very fortunate for the help from the community.”
Rose and Robert say what they will miss most is being with the staff and customers and meeting new people every day.
“You develop a bond over 38 years with certain customers that come in and you know what they’ve been up to. Sometimes you can help them through tough times.
With some customers you get to be a real shoulder to cry on,” says Rose.
“That’s something I am worried about,” said Robert. “ I am going to miss the commaraderie of being with people all of the time. When you are used to seeing people every day for 38 years and then you wake up and say ‘who am I going to talk to today?’
“The support from the community is fantastic in every aspect. People are going to shop at big companies like Amazon and Walmart, you can’t stop it, and you can’t have the best price out there. But at some point people realize if you want you to buy a rake to do your yard, they’re not going to drive to Regina to get it. We wouldn’t have been here for 38 years if we didn’t get the support,” says Robert.
Robert and Rose say they are excited to take time for themselves after retirement and travel.
“We plan on going to the East Coast hopefully this fall. We are going to spend the summer at the lake,” says Rose.
“We still want to be involved with the community, we can’t just walk away from being on the boards, or the teams and everything else,” said Robert. “We aren’t leaving, we just want to travel.”
