I love, love, love the Ace Pastime Hardware store on San Pablo Ave in El Cerrito! The people are extremely helpful — you can walk in with any old gizmo you need to match or replace, and they will have something. If you have a project in mind, but don’t know how to tackle it, they will work through ideas with you. The place is vast, with patio furniture, all sorts of yard and irrigation equipment, paint, hardware, pipe, fencing, shelving, tools, light bulbs, kitchen ware — I could go on and on. But what I love most is their amazing selection of all types of storage containers, cans, bins, and buckets. It’s worth a trip from anywhere in the East Bay. Trust me.