Sara Stadem | Editor
The journey for the Hartford ACE Hardware that started with groundbreaking in the fall of 2020 will be hitting another milestone when their doors open on April 1.
Jason Melcher, one of six partners of Hartford ACE Hardware, said doors will open April 1 and explained they will be open that weekend as well (April 2, 3 and 4) due to special promotions they have going over the weekend.
Melcher and store manager Scott Schrader explained the ACE Hardware crew has been working hard to get the store ready.
“I know that it might not look like it right now but it’s amazing how fast we get stuff done,” Melcher said. Schrader added, “The transformation in a week was awesome. It’s been amazing.”
Schrader, previously at the Harrisburg ACE Hardware, and his family will be relocating from Worthing in May once school is done for his children. His wife, Mateya (Taya) is a paraprofessional and will start with the West Central High School next fall.
The partnership of owners has stores in Dell Rapids, Brandon, Harrisburg, Tea, Lennox and Sisseton. When asked how Hartford was chosen, Melcher explained, “We’ve actually been looking at Hartford for several years. It kind of fits the communities around Sioux Falls that we are already in.” Melcher continued, “We had a few other projects come up first and then it worked out that we found a location and it worked out. It really completes our stores on all sides of Sioux Falls.”
Currently, ACE has 10-15 employees which includes full-time and part-time. Melcher said they hope to grow as needed which flows with seasonality.
Customers can plan on a couple of big events with ACE over the next few months. The first Saturday in May will be their Open House and the weekend of June 4-6 will be their official ACE Grand Opening Extravaganza which will include food and giveaways. The ACE grand opening will also be the Chamber Ribbon Cutting event for ACE which will have the ownership crew in attendance.
Store hours will be:
Monday through Friday: 8 am-8 pm
Saturday: 8 am-6 pm
Sunday: 9 am-6 pm
Melcher and Schrader said the community has been very supportive and is excited for ACE to open.
“Last week we went out to just introduce ourselves to the local businesses. As soon as we introduced ourselves, we had two questions: When do you open and what’s your number,” Schrader said.
Melcher added, “We are super excited to be open. We have had so much great feedback from around the community as to when we will be open and that day is finally here! We think it will be great for everyone,” He concluded. “Everyone in the community is just as excited as we are.”