News Photo by Julie Goldberg Left to right, co-owner Byron Clouse, store manager Tina Jackson, co-owner Ryan Clouse, co-owner Naomi Clouse, and co-owner Brandon Clouse cut the ribbon to officially open a new ACE Hardware in Hillman on Friday.

HILLMAN – When people drive through Hillman on M-32, they’ll notice a new store open for business: an ACE Hardware.

The store had its official grand opening on Friday and had a toolset giveaway for customers. Today will feature a grill giveaway and Sunday will have a cooler giveaway.

The Clouse family — Roger, Byron, Ryan, and Brandon — all own the store. The family purchased the store in April and opened earlier this month.

“It actually went really quick,” Byron said. “We saw the building on April 1 and drove past it and thought, ‘That’s a great spot for a ACE Hardware.’ So I contacted the previous owner.”

Byron said the process to get an ACE Hardware in Hillman starts with a good gut feeling. He said they had to look at the demographics in the area.

“The demographics came back positive,” he said. “We had ACE come measure the store and they did a design layout for fixtures. We mechanised the way the store laid out ourselves and then we had to order all the fixtures and all the equipment. We put them all in and remodeled the building.”

The new store has a 32-camera security system and every inch of the building is covered.

Byron said he didn’t post for hires because, after people have walked into the store, he’s talked to them about working. He said a lot of people went to other stores the family owns and asked about job openings at the new location.

The Clouse family now owns five ACE Hardwares, two grocery stores, a Napa Auto Parts store, and some real estate properties.

“Retail is in our blood and all we know for us boys,” Byron said. “This is all we know.”

The store will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Sunday for the grand opening weekend. Normal store hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

“People are going to see two things: we are super customer-oriented and very friendly and we’re big in giving back to the community,” Byron said. “They’re going to be surprised with how much inventory we have and how much we carry core hardware in this small store.”

Byron said everyone is excited to have the store open and have people come in.

“We’re happy about the store,” he said.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5688.