Hardware Store Serves as Site For Film Shoot

One local retailer has gotten a taste of Hollywood.

Last fall, Papa’s Hardware in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, was the site for an independent movie being shot in the area. The movie, titled “The Fixer Upper,” features a couple who buys and fixes up an old home. Papa’s Hardware is the local hardware store they visit to buy their materials.

“The producers said they wanted a hardware store with a small, hometown feel,” owner Fred Betti says.

The shoot only required one day, so Betti and the producers worked together to schedule a day for the film crew to visit. “They said it was a small independent film, so I expected two guys and a camera,” Betti says. “They showed up with two trucks and lots of equipment. It was quite impressive.”

Assistant managers Andriana Betti and Paula Rubley even got to be extras in the film.

The store got a little free advertising, too. The local media picked up the story of the shoot, which brought more customers into the store, Betti says. Also, the exterior Papa’s Hardware sign will appear in the film, and Ana Betti and Rubley wore Papa’s Hardware shirts in their scenes.

“I know that’s probably not the most prudent way to do advertising, but we didn’t do it for the publicity,” says Betti.

“It was a good opportunity, a unique opportunity, for us and our store.”