MCKINLEY PARK — A beloved local hardware store is abruptly closing, leaving about a dozen workers unemployed and loyal customers puzzled.
"Nobody told us nothing except to tell us we gotta be out by July 31. It's just a bad situation. A lose-lose," said a visibly upset store manager at Elston Ace Hardware who declined to give his name.
A spokesman for Regency Centers, the national realty company that owns the McKinley Park strip mall where the hardware store is located, said store owner Richard Donchin was paying month-to-month on the lease for the location, 1514 W. 33rd St., for the last six months.
Donchin had independently owned and operated several Ace Hardware stores throughout the city. He died June 5 at age 68, effectively ending any chance of extending the rent arrangement or negotiating a new lease at the McKinley Park store.
"They couldn't reach a rent agreement," Regency spokesman Eric Davidson said.
A new tenant, Dollar Tree, will open at the store later this summer. It's moving from another location in the same plaza.
Now, as the 25-year-old hardware store undergoes a forced liquidation — 30 percent off everything until it's gone — employees are piecing together what's next.
Ron Watson, 50, a longtime employee, was taking inventory in a half-empty plumbing aisle. He said phone calls from customers have been pouring in since word got around about the closing.
"Our customers are really upset. They'd rather be here than a Home Depot. We're one-on-one with the customers and a lot of businesses have accounts with us ... they don't want to have to go across town" to shop, Watson said.
In a nearby tool aisle, steelworker Ron Cushing was packing a shopping cart with air hoses and boxes of staples. Cushing works for the Stainless Sales Corporation, a short walk from the hardware store.
"We have a house account. We come here every day for something. This is our go-to place to get stuff. Little things here and there," he said. "It sucks they're going out of business but with 30 percent off you gotta stock up."
The store is expected to close for good on July 31.
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