Bi-Link® has continually evolved since we began in 1961. Now in 2015, we reflect on a major evolution in 2014 that will shape our company's future and impact on the industry. Last November, the Hardware Store™ by Bi-Link® officially launched with a deliberate goal: to give engineers quick access to the tools, support, and the community it takes to push the boundaries on early stage design.

The first Hardware Store™ location has launched near the heart of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in Morrisville, North Carolina. We're particularly fond of the space; it means a lot to our team. In RTP you can feel the innovative spirit of the region from the minute you land. We have had many wonderful ties to this engineering community over the years that we could not ignore such a location.

At the launch event we welcomed folks from the Morrisville Chamber of Commerce, the Research Triangle Park organization, as well as a crowd of talented engineers.

The Research Triangle Park had this to say in a recent blog post regarding the Hardware Store launch at RTP:

"They recognize the plethora of R&D companies we have here and how they need a third space to be more than a coffee shop – they need tools and gadgets and a place specifically designed for the engineering mind."

In addition to any tool and gadget, the human collaboration factor cannot be taken for granted. While the entire space is useful for fast iteration and ideation, the Midnight Lunch™ Lab is a unique space between engineering-focused sections of the Hardware Store™. In the same fashion that Thomas Edison and his employees once did, engineers can hold a Midnight Lunch™ — a collaborative discussion, usually over a meal, to think in a different way regarding a challenge or early stage idea. Bi-Link® is proud to collaborate on The Midnight Lunch™ Lab with Sarah Miller Caldicott, great grandniece of Thomas Edison and author of the book Midnight Lunch.

The Hardware Store™ is helping engineers transform abstract ideas into tangible, testable iterations in just hours. Bi-Link® is extremely excited to connect with RTP engineers in this new, more collaborative way. The next Hardware Store™ location, with its own set of goals to assist another unique engineering community, is set to launch in San Diego, California later this year. Keep checking the Hardware Store™ page and subscribe to updates to stay in the loop on this exciting new chapter in the Bi-Link® story.