Cotton’s Ace Hardware customers will soon have two locations in Eureka to shop.
General manager Jim Viehman said the business expects to open a second location at 111 Hilltop Center Drive, which used to be a Schnucks supermarket, by early November. The business will continue to operate its location at 225 Thresher Drive, which opened in spring 2013.
“We are extremely excited to be growing in the city of Eureka,” Viehman said. “Some people call them customers; we call them neighbors.”
The Hilltop Center location, at 25,000 square feet, will be more than twice the size of the Thresher Drive store, which has 10,000 square feet.
The larger space will allow the store to have a lumber yard, sell major appliances and have a larger selection of barbecue and patio products, Viehman said.
“We can provide additional products to the customer base there,” he said.
Viehman said there are no plans to close the Thresher location once the Hilltop Center store opens.
“Unless there is a change in the market or something like that,” he said.
He also said both stores will carry Benjamin Moore paint, nuts and bolts and other hardware needs, with the Hilltop Center location able to offer a larger selection of those and other products.
Viehman said the company will hire about 30 new employees for the new store in early August.
He said the company feels “blessed” to be in Eureka.
“They have been very supportive of our current store,” Viehman said.
The second Eureka location will be Cotton’s Ace Hardware’s 14th store. The company opened in 1986.