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, November 14, 2026 · 9:00 to 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, and 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 to 4:00 pm
Riverside store, at 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, and 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, October 18 1 to 4 pm
- Sunday, November 15 1 to 4 pm
- Sunday, December 20 1 to 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 for wood, wiring, screens, bikes and 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, bring it. Sixty-four years in, the answer is usually ten minutes and a few dollars away.
Main Street
214 Main Street · Downtown Cedar Falls
- Monday to Friday: 7:30 am to 6:00 pm
- Saturday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
- Sunday: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Riverside
1080 River Road · Riverside, Cedar Falls
- Monday to Saturday: 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
- Sunday: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm