-August 12,2021-
Illinois-based Ace Hardware will open a 1.03 million square ft distribution center in Visalia in the next year. Developer Seefried Industries filed for a permit to build the complex on August 6,2021. The permit names Ace Hardware as the tenant.
The permit is valued at $90 million with the contractor listed as Clayco who has built other projects for Seefried including the Amazon warehouse in Fresno.
Earlier Seefried had presented a detailed site-plan for the 81 acre property they are buying at Plaza and Ferguson in the Visalia Industrial Park that said the tenant would hire 400 working in three shifts.Seefried Western Manager Sean Sheppard confirmed the deal this week saying he hoped the warehouse would be open by October of next year.
For Visalia, the news is further evidence that the logistics industry has selected Visisa as one of the best places to reach California markets within a day’s drive, delivering goods increasingly directly to customers. In this case, Ace is the news but Visalia is the place.
This would be the18th Ace distribution center in the US with one in Sacramento. The new Visalia center will serve hundreds of Ace Hardware stores . The company continues to expand with 11 new locations in California this year. The private company is a cooperative with an ownership stake by each local store.There are nearly 5500 stories in the US. Visalia has a large store just off Mooney, in a former OSH.
Phoenix-based Seefried’s operational statement filed in June, described a 1,033,180 square foot warehouse and distribution facility (+/-1,002,980 square feet of warehouse and +/-30,200 square feet of office) to be constructed on a 81.35 acre parcel located at the southwest corner of N. Plaza Drive and W. Fergusson Ave.The parcel is the largest remaining open space piece in the heart of the industrial park, formerly known as the Jacuzzi property. It has frontage on both Plaza and Goshen Ave.
The square footage description filed in June exactly matches the permit request filed in the past days for Ace Hardware. While there has been no announcement ( Amazon was mum for many months) Ace will likely lease the new warehouse from the developer, as they have elsewhere.
Site could grow to 1.4 mil sf.
The site can accommodate a future 356,160 SF expansion, which is not being contemplated for now. The design of the site provides 752 auto parking stalls (15 accessible per code) and 304 trailer stalls.
The facility will be constructed to a height of +/-55’ above current grade to accommodate a minimum clear height within the facility of 40’, and parapets around the perimeter to screen mechanical equipment on the roof. The Facility will be fully conditioned with an Early Suppression, Fast Response (ESFR) fire sprinkler system and code required fire alarm system.
Access will be provided thru driveways off Plaza Dr., Fergusson Ave. and a private access road just south of the facility. Trucks will utilize Ferguson Ave. primarily, and employees will utilize Plaza Dr. There will be a main point of access to the facility off Plaza Dr. thru the office area, with code required fire access around the perimeter.
24/7 operation
The statement continues that this” facility will operate 24 hours, 7 days a week utilizing +/-400 employees in two (2) shifts (8:00 am-5:00 pm- DAY and 6:00 pm-4:00 am- NIGHTS). It is estimated that 280 employees will operate during the day shift, and 120 employees during the night shift.”
Ace Hardware successfully competes with rival big box hardware stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s reporting record fourth quarter revenues of $2.1 billion – an increase of 39.2 percent from last year and record fourth quarter net income of $43.1 million, an increase of $39.6 million from last year. Ace’s same store sales were up 28.7 percent during the quarter and 25.9 percent for the year.
An Ace company report describes how US customers recently funneled a ” disproportionate share of their discretionary spending into their homes and gardens.” Founded in 1924 as “Ace Stores”, the company changed its name to “Ace Hardware Corporation” in 1931. After the retirement of longtime president and founder Richard Hesse in 1973, Ace was sold to its retailers, becoming a retailer-owned cooperative. It first reached $1 billion in wholesale sales in 1985 and $5 billion in 2015.
The hardware store advertises itself as a neighborhood store featuring employees who, in contrast to big box help, offer caring assistance on do-it-yourself projects. A few years ago they changed their popular jingle from “Helpful hardware men” to “folks”.
Landing the big retailer is another huge catch for Visalia who has recently seen the opening of the new United Parcel Service hub in the industrial park and next door. the 1.2 million square foot Amazon fulfillment center to open this fall. And there is more to come including another million sf -plus tilt-up building to the north of Amazon, expected to break ground in the next month.
Big numbers
With the addition of this $90 million permit, the city will have permitted over $100 million in new commercial projects in 2021 so far – on the way to matching last year’s total of $182 million and 2.4 million square feet.
Ace uses its own employees and customers in ads. Credit: Ace Hardware Corp.
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