Rooster Home & Hardware closes after 10 years, leaving behind a Lake Highlands legacy

Rooster Home & Hardware has officially closed its doors after 10 years of serving the Lake Highlands community, saying goodbye to the customers who made it a neighborhood staple. 

The closure marks the end of a decade-long gathering place where families browsed for gifts, children held baby chicks and neighbors lingered long after they finished shopping. 

For Rooster owner Sharon Anderson, who also serves as CEO of Half Price Books, the store was never about simply selling hardware. Instead, she wanted to create a welcoming space inspired by the nostalgic feeling of going to a small-town hardware store that magically appeared on every corner. 

“I wanted something different for Dallas, something slower, a place where everybody could just hang out, you know,” Anderson says. “I didn’t want people to just pop in and shop, I wanted them to spend time.” 

Rooster, located in the Northlake Shopping Center, struggled financially after the grocery store in the shopping center closed in 2017, just two months after Rooster had opened, dramatically reducing customer traffic. Combined with operating costs, competition from big-box retailers and online shopping, and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the shopping center itself, Anderson said it was no longer sustainable to keep the business open. 

“[Rooster] rarely made money to cover expenses, so I would always supplement it,” Anderson says. “The original lease expired in 2024 and that’s when we considered [closing] it, but I just wasn’t ready to let it go.” 

Rather than closing it immediately, Anderson renewed the lease several times with six-month extensions before it eventually shifted to a month-to-month agreement. She said the short-term leases made it difficult to plan for the future while rumors circulated about potential redevelopment of the shopping center, although property owners never confirmed any plans. 

“I was basically paying to create this beautiful little environment for people,” she says. “And the property owners never gave us anything and I didn’t know what they were ultimately landing on.” 

Relocating the beloved neighborhood store also wasn’t in the cards. At 67, Anderson said she already has a fulfilling full-time job as CEO of Half Price Books and didn’t have it in her to start over at a new location. 

“It would have been way too expensive to move, you know. It’d be more than half a million dollars,” she says.

The closure also affected Rooster’s 12 employees. Anderson said several longtime staff members had been with the store for years, including department managers and specialists.

While she has no plans to reopen Rooster herself, Anderson said she would be open to selling the brand and concept to someone interested in carrying on its legacy. She believes the business would be a good fit in Oak Cliff. 

The announcement of Rooster’s closure prompted an emotional response from the customers who had spent years shopping there. 

“There were probably 20,000 views on the final post, and then there were six or 700 reactions, and then probably about 100 and something beautiful notes,” Anderson says. 

Not only was she receiving hundreds of emotional messages, but customers would walk through the empty store, many leaving in tears. Anderson believes the outpouring of support reflected what Rooster had become over the past decade. 

“It was just a community center for people, I think,” she says. “There’s not a lot of places where you can go with the whole family and just hang out.” 

Over the years, Rooster became known for its resident rooster George, baby chicks, beekeeping classes, local artisans and holiday events that brought all the neighbors together. 

Even though saying goodbye was difficult, Anderson said she was grateful she did not have to throw anything away. By the time Rooster closed, nearly everything had been sold or repurposed. The 14,000-square-foot store donated its remaining four pallets of merchandise to Habitat for Humanity ReStores. 

When asked what she’ll remember the most, Anderson didn’t mention sales or products. Instead, she thought of the children. 

“I always loved seeing the little kids with Bob, we called him the chicken tender, and he would be there for hours letting little kids just hold chickens and pet them,” she says. “For little kids to do that in the middle of Dallas, Texas, was a great experience.” 

While Rooster’s chapter has come to an end, Anderson says she’ll continue focusing her attention on Half Price Books, where she plans to keep expanding community events and programming. 

Anderson hopes the store will be remembered as the neighborhood shop where everyone felt welcome. 

“Thanks for supporting us and making Rooster a part of your neighborhood and life,” she says. “We’ll miss everybody.”