Ace Hardware opens store on Ham Lane

Ace Hardware Store located in the Lakewood Mall plaza on Ham Lane is bringing back that small town feeling to Lodi. The hardware store opened its doors to the public on Tuesday.

“We’re going to give the one-on-one service that our customers definitely want to get when they come in the store,” manager Paul Lebarre said. “We’re going to actually have people that can help and take people to what they’re looking for and help people with projects that they’re working on and make sure that they get all the things they need, so they are not making several trips.”

According to Lebarre, Ace customers can expect excellent customer service and a friendly neighborhood store.

Lebarre pointed out that all Ace Hardware stores are independently owned by a co-op of owners. There are no corporate stores.

“We’re just a local small business with a banner that’s more corporate driven,” Lebarre said. “It gives us a lot of latitude to not only carry what’s in the warehouse, but we can buy locally. We can carry pretty much anything we want to.”

Services currently available to customers include making keys and chip keys, glass cutting and spring repair.

Lebarre said this particular Ace location is a designated Steele dealer that offers repair services of Steele products. He said more services may available in the future after the grand opening.

“Myself and my whole team are dedicated to the kind of customer service that used to be around years ago and that still is in some places,” Labarre said.

Even though the store opened on Thanksgiving week Lebarre said there will not be any special events for Black Friday. A grand opening for the store will be held next March. The biggest months for a hardware store are from March to September.

Lebarre said Ace will start sending out coupons next week and that when the grand opening is held the entire community will be invited for a barbecue and day of fun.

Store hours are currently 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The store will be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“We’re kind of that old traditional company. We definitely value our employees and want to make sure they get time with their families and everything,” Lebarre said.