In these tough times, most companies are slowing their growth as they wait for sales to pick up. But one Richmond-based retailer is among the handful that is actually expanding. Pleasants Hardware, which traces its roots in the Richmond area back to 1915, has opened its eighth store. “We saw this as a good time and a good opportunity for us,“ said James T. Hatcher III, Pleasants’ president, adding that the economic downturn actually helped in this case.