LIBERTY, Maine At 7:30 on Saturday morning, a group of eight people stood on the road outside a three story shop thats housed in a former inn at the center of town.

They were waiting for Skip Brack, the owner of the shop, Liberty Tool Co., to unload the most recent haul of tools hed picked up in towns across New England and brought to Maine to clean, refurbish and sell.

Brack, 69, had hardly opened the doors of his van before the group descended on the boxes of tools, picking through hammers, saws, axes, planes, drill bits and chisels.

A lot of these people are here every week, said Laure Day, who has worked at Liberty Tool for five years. Theyre not just shopping for something they need, but because of a shared passion, she said. Its part tools, part camaraderie.

The regulars consisted of boat builders, timber framers, collectors and a jeweler. They come early to get first dibs before the newest finds get mixed in with the thousands of other tools that line the shelves and fill labeled jars and drawers throughout the store.

As of about a week ago, its not only tools that are up for sale. After 44 years in business, Brack is selling the whole store and business, as well as a storage facility across the street and Captain Tinkhams Emporium in Searsport.

Brack is hoping to find someone who will carry on the business, he said. Hes posted the sale on craigslist and said hes received emails from a few potential buyers.

I want to make sure that Liberty Tool will still be in business if Im not up to doing what I do now, he said. He explained that he works 70 to 75 hours a week, driving up to 1,200 miles in a week to find tools, clean them at his barn in Bar Harbor, set prices and manage the stores. Now that hes a few weeks away from turning 70, he wants to scale back.

Brack said he would keep the tool shop that he runs in Bar Harbor and continue to operate the Davistown Museum, a space across the street from Liberty Tool where he displays his most prized discoveries, along with work by Maine artists.

The historical aspect has motivated me, he said of his business.

Originally posted here:

After 44 years in business, Liberty Tool Co. is up for sale