Edmonds Ace Hardware closing; says second floor unable to support store’s weight

The Edmonds Ace Hardware on the second floor of the Old Milltown building. (Photo by Amber Salinas Photography)

Edmonds’ downtown Ace Hardware store in Old Milltown is liquidating its inventory immediately and closing as of June 1. According to a letter released by the store’s manager, Jared Burris, today, the closure is due to the inability of the building to support the weight of a hardware store. We will follow up with more details as they become available.

Here is the letter:

The Edmonds Ace Hardware store is liquidating its inventory and closing its doors, effective immediately.  The liquidation will be handled by Wingate Liquidators from the store’s location at on the second floor at 201 5th Avenue South.

Edmonds Ace hardware has enjoyed tremendous support from the community since it opened in 2009.  Unfortunately, when the building was renovated, it was not designed or constructed to support the weight of a hardware store.  Edmonds Ace Hardware worked closely with the developer and was assured by the developer’s team that the floor could easily support the store, but we recently learned that this is not true.

Parts of the store including the paint section exceeded the allowable loads for the floor.  We have worked with Cascade Bank, which took the property back from the developer, to find a way to repair the floor and keep Ace Hardware in the space.  Unfortunately, the necessary work would require Ace to move out of the space for many months and would disrupt other tenants for months as well.

The building was designed and constructed for normal office and retail use.  Now that the paint and other heavy items have been removed from the floor, the building is safe.  Edmonds Ace Hardware and Cascade Bank concluded that is just did not make economic sense to spend the time and resources to upgrade the building when it was already usable as retail and office space.

We have looked, but found no other downtown location for a hardware store. The Old Milltown building presented a unique opportunity to offer a downtown hardware store. Cascade Brank has graciously given us until June 15 to complete the inventory liquidation.  We would like to thank our loyal customers with big discounts.

We would like to thank Edmonds for its patronage and support.  Thanks to you, the store has done very well, and we would not be leaving but for the problem with the floor.

Sincerely,

Edmonds Ace Hardware

  1. Thats sad! I liked going there, instead of those huge stores like home depot and lowes.. It was nice to have a smaller hardware store where we live.

  2. I am so disappointed that this didn’t work out for ACE and for Edmonds. It was such a convenience to buy all of our hardware supplies in Edmonds rather than drive out of town.

    Thanks for trying, ACE. It was great while it lasted.

  3. How about a moving party? We can all pitch in & help move the inventory downstairs. The floor there must be stronger, no?

  4. Yes it is to bad they are closing but remember there are local store such as House wares, Woodinspoon for kitchen and bathroom products and Garden Gear and Gallery for garden tools , bird seed and feeders and other garden items. There may be other local stores to shop at to replace part of the lose of ACE hardware. SHOP YOUR LOCAL INDEPEDENT LOCAL MERCHANT

  5. Thinking of the former Safeway property, and the Harbor Square complex, it is hard to
    realize this is a whole town without a suitable site. It has been so convenient to shop at Ace. We will miss you.

  6. This is truly sad. A hardware store Is as Edmonds as the 4th of July parade. If it helps, my wife and I won’t shop there anymore–that should reduce the load by about 300 pounds!

  7. It’s a crying shame! We loved patronizing Ace Hardware here in the bowl. It was so incredibly convenient and the staff was so helpful. It was just a few years ago (when there was an effort to redevelopment the Antique Mall / Harbor Square area) that the people of Edmonds voiced clearly that the number one place they hoped for would be a hardware store. It’s hard to believe there’s not a spot for them to move to. How about the multi use building that is to house the new post office going up at 2nd and Main? It wouldn’t be this year, but it sure would be something to look forward to.

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