Ace is the place

ace-hardware logoAce Hardware is opening another store in Minnesota, with their new location at 2286 Como Avenue in St. Paul. Frattalone’s Ace Hardware purchased the building and will operate this store. At 7,000 square feet,
it is the smallest of the 21 Frattallone’s stores
in the Twin Cities. The plan is to open this March. 

Jake and Pat Mori will open their first Ace Hardware store, also intended to be this March. They have leased 14,980 square feet at the Westview Center in Hastings, taking some of space previously occupied by Goodwill.  

Ace Hardware is a cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois. They have 4,600+ locations, over 135 of which are in Minnesota – with annual revenues of over $13 billion. Ace was originally privately owned, and became a cooperative in 1973. Therefore, all the retail stores are owned by independent retailers – members who are owners of the Ace cooperative – and who need to adhere to strict standards to maintain the Ace brand. The advent of the hardware superstores back in the late 80’s and into the 90’s had a big impact on the smaller stores, but clearly Ace has found their niche of convenience and service with their customers to survive and thrive. 

Deb Carlson, who has completed many Ace Hardware deals in Minnesota and western Wisconsin says, “Ace is a great retailer to bring to cities and small towns with new and relocated stores. I have the opportunity to work not only with the Ace development guys on vetting markets and sites, I also get to work directly with the independent retailers on insuring they get the site and the deal they need to make a store work. Even with all the Ace stores in the market, we continue to look for more opportunities to grow the brand.” 

Look for more Ace Hardware stores opening in 2016 and beyond.  

 

2015 a Success for U.S. Shopping Centers; Will 2016 Be a Challenge?

Vacancy in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area retail market is below the Country’s average. This is our strongest year since the recession, fueled by grocery anchored centers and regional mall activity here. We believe Minnesota will continue to beat the U.S. metrics of GDP growth and consumer spending in 2016, as well as unemployment, and retailers will continue to expand, relocate and right-size in our market in the near future.

Read our Q4 2015 Marketbeat for more retail real estate insights around the U.S.