SYLACAUGA, Ala. – Located next to the breezeway of the Ogletree Plaza Shopping Center, Sylacauga’s new Ace Hardware is less than one week away from its soft opening on Monday, Aug. 15.
According to owner Wade Pruitt, Ace Hardware is a “DIY (do it yourself), plumbing, and electrical hardware store.”
The local and independently-owned store will offer a variety of household names in the hardware sphere from Yeti products to grills such as Big Green Egg, Traeger, and Blackstone to the paint brands that can wholly remodel or simply touch-up a surface in Benjamin Moore and Clark + Kensington.
“[Ace stores] are kind of tailored to each individual setting of where the store is,” Pruitt remarked. “Ace carries a lot of stuff that you can’t get anywhere else such as our premium charcoals. They really take pride in what they do in their stores. They want the best, and I think that’s what sets [Ace] apart.”
Pruitt is new to the hardware business but quite familiar with retail. He spent thirty years with NAPA, an automotive retailer.
“I think it doesn’t matter, really, what you’re trying to retail in as long as you’ve got your customer satisfaction and you try to please everybody and you try to make your service better than everyone else,” Pruitt said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. If you service your customers, you don’t have to worry about anything else.”
Pruitt said he’s looking forward to the soft opening as he knows all of the hard work he and the Ace staff have put in to get ready for Aug. 15.
“[It’s great] having this location here and being able to make something of a space that was otherwise not used and kind of an eye sore in the town,” said Pruitt. “Now, we’ve got a beautiful store here that replaced all of the emptiness that we had over here in this corner [of the plaza].”
Beyond next week’s soft opening, Pruitt announced that Ace will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce for an official grand opening on Thursday, Sept. 1. There are also plans for a cooking school in October that features Ace’s grills and a large event sometime in November that will include food, drinks, and “a big party.”
Sylacauga’s Ace Hardware will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
