Ace Hardware will employ 400 people at its new distribution center opening in Visalia on March 2
VISALIA – Visalia will officially be the place for Ace this week.
The new 1.1 million square foot Ace Hardware logistics center on Plaza Drive will hold a grand opening on March 2 with Mayor Brian Poochigian cutting the ribbon.
“We are really excited to have Ace invest in our community providing good jobs to the residents of Visalia,” Poochigian said.
Ace Hardware Corporation, the world’s largest hardware cooperative with 3,600 affiliate retailers, announced plans in August 2021 to open a new Retail Support Center in Visalia, Calif. The new facility has been under construction for 16 months and will employ more than 400 people in the area. It will also augment the company’s Rocklin, Calif. (Greater Sacramento Area) and Prescott Valley, Ariz. distribution centers and will be centrally located in California, between Sacramento and Los Angeles.
The company was brought to Visalia by Arizona-based developer Seefried Industries. They are leasing the building to Ace. Seefried is developing two more spec projects in Visalia including a 553,500 square foot facility next door to the new Ace complex. They also have a contract to develop a huge, 280-acre industrial park north of Riggin Street and just west of Shirk Avenue.
The Ace building is located at 2045 N. Plaza Drive, on an 81-acre site just over 2 miles north of the interchange of state routes 99 and 198. It features a cross-dock configuration, offering 155 dock-high and four grade-level loading doors, 40-foot clear height and 140-foot-deep truck court. An approximately 20,000-square-foot office is part of the development as well as a 348,528-square-foot potential future expansion. Contractor on the big project was Clayco.
Ace officials are proud of their new California facility.
“Ace Hardware continuously evaluates distribution capabilities to ensure we meet our growing business demands and offer the best support and service to Ace retailers and our wholesale customers,” said Jeff Gooding, Corporate Vice President of Marketing, Ace Hardware. “Opening this new facility is essential for Ace to keep up with our historic growth and better serve our network of retailers, and ultimately, our Ace customers.”
The Visalia facility features new technology, a climate-controlled environment, and improved automation to help streamline and enhance operations—and importantly includes room to expand.
Ace has recently built or is in the process of building several new facilities around the country as the company continues to grow. Ace’s network of distribution facilities, strategically located around the world, serve more than 5,500 retail locations. The new Visalia distribution center will serve more than 300 Ace affiliated stores in multiple states.
The need for more warehouse space was mentioned in the company’s third quarter earnings report in November. Ace’s wholesale operating expenses increased $24.9 million, or 15.8%, from the third quarter of 2021 partially due to “greater lease expense driven by the expansion of our warehouse space and increased advertising expenses.” The hardware cooperative’s wholesale operating expenses as a percent of wholesale revenues increased to 9.0 percent in the third quarter of 2022 from 8.6 percent in the third quarter of 2021 as the company reported record third quarter revenues of $2.2 billion, an increase of more than $230 million over 2021. Net income was $100.6 million for the third quarter of 2022, an increase of $1.3 million from the third quarter of 2021.
“My sincere thanks to the entire Ace team for their determined and relentless pursuit of our three strategic imperatives – service, convenience, and quality – which delivered yet another quarter of record sales and profit,” said John Venhuizen, President & CEO. “Revenue and income were up 10 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively for the quarter. They now stand 44 percent and 66 percent higher than just three years ago. Despite, and in some cases because of rampant inflation, the Ace team continues to deliver superior financial results and exceptional customer service to and for our neighbors.”
