AFTER 111 years in business, LasTres Américas, Costa Rica’s first hardwarestore, closed its doors recently.The store, which opened in 1893,became a landmark in Heredia, a city 30minutes northwest of San José. The family-owned business survived economiccrises and the civil war in 1948, and continuedto be successful up until the end,when the Zumbado family, its owners,decided to rent the space to another company,according to the Heredia edition ofSu Cantón, a supplement of the daily LaNación.Allan Zumbado told the daily thedecision was a difficult one and that communitymembers asked him to reconsider.His daughter, Melania Zumbado, saidmany small business owners and evenemployee marriages have gotten their startat Las Tres Américas over the years.
