Rylee's Hardware ready to break ground on $4M Grand Rapids store

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Substantial changes to the site plans for a new $4 million Rylee's Ace Hardware store could end up creating a more customer-friendly store than first proposed. And now that the kinks are out, construction will break ground for sometime in June.

The previous site plan situated the hardware store at the rear of the former Army Armory site at 1234 Michigan Street, Grand Rapids, just a block from Rylee's current store. Plans included a separate building at the front of the property in order to comply with zoning code requiring new commercial construction to have a shallow setback from the sidewalk.

But after dropping plans for a back entrance off Fuller Avenue, designers combined the hardware and retail spaces in one 33,000-square-foot building, moved it up to the Michigan Street sidewalk and located the 100-space parking lot behind.

"We think this fits the new zoning requirements better than the first site plan," says owner Lori Terpstra.

The Ace Fix-It Shop, which is across the street from the current store located at 1121 Michigan, will be part of the new store, putting all services under one roof.

In addition, the new store will have an outdoor garden center offering plants, flowers and patio furniture, and an expanded specialty housewares department that includes a demonstration kitchen.

"We plan to hold events for the neighborhood," Terpstra says. "Kids could come for a birthday party and make and decorate cupcakes, or we might have a canning expert demonstrate how to can. We've talked to several chefs and we could hold events to teach how to make a great pie."

The leasable space offers 1,200 to 3,300 of retail area and can accommodate from one to three tenants.

Source: Lori Terpstra, Rylee's Ace Hardware

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].