On the calendar
Learn a fix, or bring one in
Two standing traditions: a hands-on workshop where you leave knowing how, and a monthly Repair Café where the whole neighborhood fixes things together. Both run on coffee and the big workbench.
DIY workshop
Patch, Prime, Paint: Wall Repair 101
Saturday, August 15, 2026 · 9:00 – 10:30 am
Main Street store — the back room · $10, includes a take-home patch kit
Nail pops, doorknob craters, and the anchor hole from the shelf that didn't work out. Ninety minutes, and you'll never fear a wall again.
What the ninety minutes covers
- Hands-on: everyone patches, sands, and primes a practice board
- Spackle vs. joint compound vs. the patch kits — when each one earns its keep
- Matching wall texture so the fix disappears
- The take-home kit covers about a dozen small repairs
- Coffee's on; wear clothes that can take a dusting
Taught by Grace Okafor — 23 years at the paint counter
You're on the sheet
This is a sample site — no seat was actually saved.
Community repair café
The Holloway Repair Café
Third Sunday of every month · 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Riverside store — the big workbench · Free — parts at cost if you need them
Bring the wobbly chair, the dead lamp, the torn screen, the bike that clicks. We fix it together — you leave knowing how it works.
House rules, such as they are
- Volunteer fixers on hand: wood, wiring, screens, bikes, small appliances
- One item per visit while the line's long — two if it's quiet
- Kids welcome; there's a supervised take-apart table with old radios
- No fee, ever. If a part is needed, you pay our cost for it
- Handy yourself? Come fix instead — volunteer at the counter or by email
Hosted by Sam Holloway and a rotating crew of neighborhood fixers
Next three cafés
- Sunday, July 19 1–4 pm
- Sunday, August 16 1–4 pm
- Sunday, September 20 1–4 pm
No sign-up needed — walk in with the broken thing. Long lines move fastest for lamps and screens; furniture takes a mug of coffee's worth of waiting.
Handy? Fix instead.
The café runs on volunteer fixers — wood, wiring, screens, bikes, small appliances. Leave your name at either counter or write to workshops@hollowayhardware.example.
The whole pitch
Bring the broken thing. We'll take it from there.
The bolt, the chip of paint, the photo of the drip — whatever you've got. Sixty-four years in, the answer is usually ten minutes and a few dollars away.
Main Street
214 Main Street · Downtown Cedar Falls
- Monday – Friday: 7:30 am – 6:00 pm
- Saturday: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
- Sunday: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Riverside
1080 River Road · Riverside, Cedar Falls
- Monday – Saturday: 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Sunday: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm