Long-time Sterling hardware store in liquidation prior to closure
Stores in Brush, Fort Morgan also being sold out, shuttered
The pending closure of three locally owned hardware stores in northeast Colorado has taken the communities by surprise.
Mr. D’s Home Improvement
Centers in Sterling, Brush and Fort Morgan were suddenly locked up on Jan. 10. The stores re-opened on Jan. 28 for going-outof-business sales.
Customers waiting to get into the Sterling store on Thursday told the Journal-advocate they were surprised at the suddenness of the closures.
The closures come on the heels of foreclosure filings in Logan and Morgan counties against various entities tied to the Lebsock family of Sterling. The foreclosures are filed in the names of Dave and Cher yl Lebsock; David and Cher yl Lebsock; David Lebsock, LLC; L7holdings, LLC; Lebsock 200 Hays, LLC and Rosie’s, LLC.
A spokesman for the family said Monday they are unable to comment now on the situation but hope to have more information later.
According to documents filed with the Colorado Secretary of State, L7holdings is registered under Bradley Lebsock at 17408 Highway 14. That’s the address of what is now Sky Ranch Golf Course, formerly Northeastern 18, which David Lebsock sold last fall to a group of Sterling investors, Sterling Golf, LLC. Rosie’s, LLC, is listed as a wheat business with David Lebsock named as the manager.
The foreclosures could amount to as much as $7.27 million, although it’s difficult to tell the exact amount owed. Logan County’s public trustee records list the amounts of the original loans but not what is currently owed, while the Morgan County records list the amounts currently owed but not the original loan amounts. The delinquent loans all are with Bank of Colorado. Logan County properties listed in the foreclosure documents are a residence at 103 Parkview Drive, Sterling; a residence at 13407 County Road 370, Sterling; a residence at 17010 County Road 30, Sterling; a residence at 17006 County Road 30, Sterling; a residence at 13479 County Road 37, Sterling; Mr. D’s
Ace Home Improvement Center at 1350 West Main, Sterling; the Mr. D’s Farm and Ranch warehouse at 200 Hays Ave., Sterling; and a residential-commercial proper ty at 14273 Highway 14, Sterling.
In Morgan County, the properties listed are Mr. D’s Ace Home Center at 1000 East Platte Ave., Fort Morgan, and Mr. D’s Ace Hardware at 122 Custer St., Brush.
The Mr. D’s owners aren’t alone in their retail struggles. According to reporting by the Associated Press, PR Newswire and the Wall Street Journal, while the Ace Hardware corporation continues to grow and prosper, independent Ace stores are closing all over the country. Most Ace Hardware store closures appear to be the result of local economic conditions; inflated rents, depressed local economies, “big-box” store openings and the coronavirus pandemic are most often cited.
Ace isn’t the only company suffering localized closures; similar articles can be found about the company’s main rival, True Value.
Don and Gloria Connell opened Mr. D’s Hardware in 1969 in what was then the Fair Shopping Center after the couple moved to Sterling from Trenton, Mo.