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Tools, locks, paint brushes and even kitchen measuring cups are among the useful items that fill the aisles of Win Long Hardware on Ingleside's Ocean Avenue.
The one-stop shop for all manner of light construction and household goods opened in 2014, bringing a much-needed hardware store to a neighborhood.
In May 2025, its decades-old sister store on Irving Street qualified it to join the San Francisco Legacy Business directory.
Immigrating from Shantou, Guangdong, China, in the late 1980s, the husband-and-wife Julie and Simon Chin opened their first location in 1990 on Irving Street in Outer Sunset. By 2014, 19 years after Simon passed, Chin opened a sister store on Ocean Avenue near her home. Julie said at the time that the inconvenience of not having a nearby store to get a screw for her bathroom remodel project inspired the second location.
“Terrific inventory in a small space,” Nextdoor user Rita E. said. “Everyone who works there knows where everything is, and they are always very helpful. We are so grateful to have a hardware store nearby, and we've shopped there for years.”
“It’s very good,” store manager Andy Vinh said of the designation, pointing out that the recognition is hard-earned.
Ocean Avenue’s opening brought back a much-needed hardware store to the Ocean View-Merced Heights-Ingleside area, which had been without one for 25 years, according to its Legacy Business nomination. It was also the first in the neighborhood to serve the growing Asian population with Chinese-speaking employees.
“We are happy to welcome Win Long Hardware to the Legacy Business Registry,” San Francisco Office of Small Business Programs & Communications Manager Michelle Renyolds said. “Local shops like theirs on Ocean and Irving are indispensable for residents, both in selling goods for day-to-day life and as places to build community. If you live near either location, we hope you stop in to shop locally.”
Win Long Hardware carries a veritable cornucopia of tools and supplies. | Anne Marie Kristoff/Ingleside Light
The well-stocked store is a craftsman’s paradise with three aisles of building and do-it-yourself materials like kitchenware, lightbulbs, chains and hooks, construction glue and paint. They are a part of the True Value Cooperative, which strives to bring affordable hardware products. They also cut keys and rekey locks.
“We have almost everything,” Vinh, who prides himself on helping customers with their plumbing needs, said. “We’re very helpful and friendly.”
Win Long Hardware
Address: 2244 Irving St. and 1556 Ocean Ave.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Phone: 415-753-6862 and 415-769-5318
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