Alger Hardware burned to the ground last August 11, after over 40 years in business at 2408 Eastern Avenue SE. Now a new store stands in its place, and employees are getting it outfitted with shelves and inventory in preparation for an April opening.
“It’s going to be totally different, with approximately 1,800 square feet more retail space than we had before,” said Kevan Krenz, a co-owner in the business with Bill DeJong. “[In the old store] we just didn’t have any room, and now we can expand our inventory.”
The former hardware was in two adjacent buildings that were built at different times with different building codes, Krenz said. As a result, the floor of one building was four inches higher than the floor of the other. During reconstruction, the buildings were combined into one 6,000-square-foot space and crews leveled the floor by dropping the higher foundation.
A new HVAC system will operate at 98% efficiency. Energy efficient fluorescent lighting, and UV-resistant windows will further reduce energy usage.
For the past six months, employees have kept the business alive by operating it from a temporary store just one-fifth the size of the original. Krenz is amazed at the amount of support the community has shown in helping them rebuild.
“We have volunteers stopping in and offering to help us put it back together,” he said. “We have commercial painters who volunteered to paint. Some contractors are building counters and volunteering their own time. We’ve even gotten materials donated by some contractors.”
“We’re all excited about the new store and happy to be coming back,” Krenz added. “Without the community help we wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
“When the fire happened, there was no doubt in my mind that we’d rebuild, because we’re committed to the neighborhood,” said landlord Steve Karrip. “It was never ‘are we going to?’ It was ‘when can we get started?’ There are so many people who shop there and need the hardware in the neighborhood.”
Cost of the reconstruction was not disclosed. A date for the Grand Re-Opening will be announced soon.
Holland-based Lamar Construction handled the design and construction.
Source: Kevan Krenz and Bill DeJong, Alger Hardware; Steve Karrip
Photograph by Brian Kelly
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