Hardware stores are perhaps the most ideal place to acquire all the shovels, flashlights, and mole-man repellent necessary for digging to the center of the earth. Get to the bottom of your latest project with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of home-improvement supplies at Stephens Ace Hardware, located in Fuquay-Varina.

Family owned and operated since 1934, Stephens Ace Hardware aids the domicile-development needs of professional handymen and fledgling fabricators alike, offering a range of practical products from gardening gear to Benjamin Moore paint. Prospective Tim Taylors can pick up a 10-piece combo wrench set ($4.99) to firmly hammer nuts and bolts into a wall or seize a heavy-duty Craftsman LED flashlight ($19.99), which is useful for finding the source of night noises in poorly lit nooks and crannies. Sunflower bird seed ($15.99 for 20 lbs.) and Scotts Lawn Pro Super Turf Builder lawn fertilizer ($15.99) help attract the proper flora and fauna to yards; homeowners can also supplement their abode with an array of pet supplies and toys (many under $20) and feed 21st-century coffee robots with cute Keurig K-Cups ($10.49) ready to be popped into their mechanical counterparts.

Although established as a housewares retailer, Stephens Ace Hardware also ventures into amusement-park territory by doling out free bags of popcorn and suspending a working model train above the aisles, enhancing the shopping experience of both kids at heart and kids constructing their first armoire.

Reviews

Seven Yahoo! Locals give Stephens Ace Hardware a 4.5-star average, and three InsiderPagers give it a four-star average:

• Real customer service the way it should be. – HollySpgsHandyman, Yahoo! Local
• I have been very pleased with my dealings with Stephens. Every time I go in there, the staff is very friendly and helpful. – E. S., InsiderPages