Robert Sullivan came home from two wars and opened a hardware store. That was 1954. His wife Rita ran the first shop on East Washington Street while he kept his contracting business going.
Seventy two years later the store is at 71st and Keystone, it covers 30,000 square feet, it has a restaurant inside it, and its owner hosts a radio show. Almost every independent hardware store that existed in 1954 is gone. This one is not, and the reason is worth understanding.
For anyone building an outdoor space on the north side, it is also one of the more useful places in the city.
About Sullivan Hardware and Garden
Sullivan Hardware and Garden was founded in 1954 by Robert Sullivan. According to The Sullivan Story, Rita Sullivan ran that first East Washington Street store while Robert continued running his contracting business. The store later moved to 71st and Keystone, where it remains.
Robert retired in 1989 after 35 years in the hardware business, and his son Pat took over. Pat has since opened additional locations at 49th and Pennsylvania and in Cicero, Indiana, and later purchased Allisonville Nursery in Fishers. Robert Sullivan was named Irish Citizen of the Year in 2008 and died in 2010.
The company is a member of the Do it Best cooperative. Pat Sullivan co-hosts The Home and Garden Show on WIBC 93.1 FM on Saturday mornings with Denny Smith, and appears in a home improvement segment on WTHR on Sunday mornings. Current stock and events are at sullivanhardware.com.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Address | 6955 N Keystone Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46220 |
| Phone | (317) 255-9230 |
| Founded | 1954, by Robert Sullivan |
| Ownership | Family owned, second generation, led by Pat Sullivan |
| Flagship size | About 30,000 square feet |
| Known for | Nursery, patio furniture, grills, artificial Christmas trees, gifts |
| Other locations | 49th and Pennsylvania, Cicero, and Allisonville Nursery in Fishers |
| Hours | Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
The Decision That Saved the Store
When Pat took over, two things arrived in sequence that killed most independent hardware stores. First the big box chains. Then online shopping.
Pat’s response was not to compete on breadth. It was to pick a small number of categories the chains handled badly and go deep on those.
Four of the five worked. Fireplaces did not, and a gift department took that space instead. Pat has been candid about that in interviews, which is more than most businesses manage about a category they abandoned.
The answer to online shopping was different again: events. The store runs cooking classes, a Christmas spectacular with a train ride to meet Santa where thousands of tickets sell out in hours, a PumpkinTown experience in autumn, and grilling classes through the year. Pat’s own explanation is that events tie people emotionally to the store, which is a fairly clear eyed description of what a warehouse cannot replicate.
What This Has to Do With Your Deck
Look at the four surviving categories again and notice what a newly finished deck actually needs.
It needs furniture, and outdoor furniture is a category where the difference between a set that lasts two seasons and a set that lasts twenty is genuinely hard to see in a photograph. Frame construction, fabric grade and cushion foam all matter, and all of them are easier to judge by sitting in the thing.
It frequently needs a grill, and grills are an enthusiast category where the specific model shapes the space around it. A kamado style ceramic cooker, a pellet smoker and a gas grill have different clearance requirements and different weight, and any of them may need to be decided before the deck layout is finalised rather than after.
And it usually needs planting, because a new hard surface in a bare yard reads as installed rather than lived in until something green grows near it.
Deciding what goes on it
It helps to look at finished spaces before buying anything. Being able to browse finished deck projects gives you a sense of scale that a showroom cannot, because furniture always looks smaller in a large store than it does on an actual deck.
Then work out the list. patio furniture that suits a new deck is partly about style and mostly about proportion: a dining set that seats eight needs considerably more clear space around it than the table footprint suggests, once chairs are pulled out and people are walking behind them.
A note on weight and clearance
Two practical points worth raising during deck design rather than after. Ceramic kamado grills are heavy, particularly in a fixed table or nest, and where one sits is worth telling your builder about. And any grill needs clearance from railings, walls and anything overhead. Both are easy to plan for and awkward to retrofit.
Location, Directions and Access
Sullivan Hardware and Garden, 6955 N Keystone Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46220. Phone: (317) 255-9230.
The flagship store sits at 71st Street and Keystone Avenue on the north side of Indianapolis.
From Interstate 465 on the north side
Take Keystone Avenue and head south. Keystone meets I-465 near 86th Street, in the Keystone at the Crossing district, and the store is south of there at 71st.
From Broad Ripple Village
Head north on Keystone Avenue. Broad Ripple Avenue crosses Keystone, and the store sits north of that crossing at 71st Street.
Access notes
- Open seven days a week with long hours, which is unusual for an independent and genuinely useful on a weekend project.
- There is a restaurant on site, Sully’s Grill, which changes the calculation if you are dragging family along.
- The store offers mulch and firewood delivery, worth asking about rather than hauling bags.
- Special ordering is available, with the company advising a turnaround of a few weeks. Plan furniture orders ahead of the season rather than in June.
- Events sell out fast. If you want the Christmas train or PumpkinTown, watch for tickets going live rather than deciding late.
- There are several Sullivan locations. This guide covers the Keystone Avenue flagship, which is the largest.
Planning the North Side Project
The north side of Marion County is a mix of established neighbourhoods with mature trees and newer development further out, which means backyard conditions vary widely across a short distance.
Permitting varies too. Addresses inside the City of Lawrence follow their own process rather than the Marion County one, and if your property sits in that area, understanding deck permits in Lawrence, IN early will tell you what your timeline really looks like.
Platinum Deck and Patio builds decks and paver patios throughout the Indianapolis metro, including these north side neighbourhoods. The order that avoids regret is straightforward: confirm the permitting path, settle the structure and surface, and decide the big furniture and grill items early enough that they shape the layout instead of fighting it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Sullivan Hardware?
The business was founded in 1954 by Robert Sullivan and has been family owned across two generations.
How many locations are there?
The Keystone Avenue flagship is the largest. There are also stores at 49th and Pennsylvania and in Cicero, plus Allisonville Nursery in Fishers.
What are the hours?
Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Is there really a restaurant inside?
Yes. Sully’s Grill operates on site, and the store has historically run cooking classes there.
Do they deliver mulch?
The company lists mulch and firewood delivery among its services. Contact the store for current pricing and scheduling.
How far ahead should I order patio furniture?
The store advises a turnaround of a few weeks on special orders. For a deck being finished in spring, deciding furniture over the winter is far more comfortable than deciding it in May.
The Bottom Line
Sullivan Hardware has survived the arrival of national chains and the arrival of the internet by doing the two things neither of those can do: stocking things people want to touch before buying, and giving people a reason to turn up in person.
If you have a deck going in, the useful visit is the one where you sit in the furniture. Photographs flatten scale and hide construction quality, and outdoor furniture is bought roughly once a decade. It is worth an afternoon.
Take your deck dimensions with you. And if the trip ends with lunch at the grill and a conversation about smokers you did not intend to have, that is more or less the business model working as designed.