By Mike Hazlip—
Area residents have a new option for hardware and household supplies with the opening of a new retailer in the Almond Orchard shopping plaza at the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Madison Avenue.
Miller’s Ace Hardware opened June 27 with location owner Jessica Rowell-Greenfield and her son, Miller, on hand with employees for a ribbon cutting. Rowell-Greenfield said she plans to have grand opening event the weekend of August 4, 5, and 6.
Named after Rowell-Greenfield’s son, the 14,200-square-foot Miller’s Ace Hardware is in the suite formerly occupied by Beverly Fabrics. Tuesday’s events included a tri-tip BBQ, with the store opening at 7 a.m. to welcome shoppers for the first time.
With the city border running through the Almond Orchard shopping center, the location on the edge of the Citrus Heights allows Miller’s Ace Hardware to reach several communities, including neighboring Orangevale and Fair Oaks. The location is ideal for Rowell-Greenfield, who said her goal is to be part of a small community.
“It was just the idea of being part of a neighborhood, but a smaller city and community versus a large city,” she said. “I thought it was a better place for a community-based store to really just be part of a neighborhood, and we found the city of Citrus Heights to be very pro-business, which was also helpful in this whole process.”
Ace Hardware has more than 5,600 locally owned stores in all 50 states and 65 countries. Its latest third quarter revenues for 2022 were $2.2 billion, up 10 percent from the same quarter in 2021, according to a Nov. 16 news release from the company.
Rowell-Greenfield said her location is not a franchise, but store owners are part of a cooperative where each business owner has a stake in the company. The initial investment is typically between $292,000 and over $1 million depending on the size and location of the business, according to the company’s website.
“We’re grateful to be a part of the community,” she said. “We’ve hired within the community, we have a lot of great staff that are happy to welcome customers and friends. It’s our goal to be members of the community, and because we are, our tagline is ‘where community and customer service meet.’”
