
According to Rick, the original store in Groton was started by his Grandfather in 1922. In the ensuing years, the store moved several times and in 1993 moved to it's current location. The store is still family operated with five generations having worked in and/or managed the store. While Rick is the current owner of the Groton store, every since he was a kid, he has always dreamed of opening a second store. When his son Neil (who will manage the Bedford store) showed an interest in the family business, Rick begun to do market studies in the Bedford/Lexington area to look for a second location (Rick was already familiar with the area as his oldest brother Harold Jr. is a pharmacist at the Bedford Stop and Shop). After the Santoros in Bedford closed down, an auctioneer notified Rick of the available merchandise. While Rick decided not to buy any of the old merchandise, he realized that Bedford would be the perfect location to open a second store.

Construction started in the fall, and the new store is scheduled to open in late April. A Grand Opening celebration has been planned for the weekend of May 30th-June 1st. The Bedford store, which is larger than the Groton store, will stock close to 22,000 different items and is expected to have around 16 employees when fully open. The store is planning to be open 8am-8pm during the week and until 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Rick mentioned his stores really pride themselves on 100% customer service. One example he mentioned is that most employees have remote radios, so if you have a specific question and the person doesn't know the answer they will ask the question over the radio and usually get a quick answer to your question rather than waiting while the employee walks away to track down the right person.


I asked Rick about online ordering over the acehardware.com website. Rick mentioned you can pay shipping and have the order sent to your house, or you can get it shipped for free to his store and then you come in and pick it up. In addition, the website has a lot of additional products available, close to 64,000 items in all. Rick also mentioned they have a Ace Hardware rewards program available where you get 10 points for every dollar you spend in the store or online. For every 2500 points you get a $5 rewards card which is treated just like a gift card.
While his son Neil will manage the Bedford store, Rick will split his time between both stores. Rick's father Harold Sr. while 'semi-retired' still does some work at the Groton store and will be cutting the ribbon at the Grand Opening.
My last question to Rick was would he be interested in opening a third store. Rick mentioned he would love to, just not this year.

In a previous post, I mentioned that a Home Depot store was supposed to built in Billerica. The fight over building the Home Depot has continued and I am now not so sure that it will go forward.
Once the Ace Hardware opens, the Great Road Shopping Center will be fully occupied again. It appears that Stop and Shop will be undergoing a renovation by July. Hopefully it will include exterior renovations or at least fix all the peeling paint on the outside. With the upcoming renovations at the Great Road Marketplace (formerly Bedford Shopping Center), it will be interesting to see if the Great Road Shopping Center itself will undergo renovations to keep itself competitive.
No comments:
Post a Comment