Ziegler’s Ace Hardware on Elgin’s west side is closing, with a store liquidation sale set to start Wednesday.
“We have made the difficult decision to close the store at 1158 Lillian St. This is the only Ziegler’s location closing,” Ziegler’s Ace President Adam Ziegler said Monday. “I want to thank the customers of that store for their business over all the years and for them to know our other stores are still open.”
Ziegler said the west side store has been losing profitability, particularly over the last several years during which inflation and expenses have risen.
“It’s definitely sad, and we don’t like doing this,” he said. “But customers can come visit us at our other locations, where they will see some familiar faces.”
The 15 or so employees at the west side store have been offered jobs at Ziegler’s other locations in downtown Elgin, South Elgin, Bartlett, Carpentersville, Cary, Crystal Lake, Huntley, Lake in the Hills and Roscoe, near Rockford, he said.
The west side store has been open since 1981, and the property will be put up for sale, Ziegler said.
No official closing date has been set. That will depend on how liquidation sales go, he said.
Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said the closure was a hit for the city.
“This is more than the loss of a store,” he said. “It’s the loss of an institution, and I don’t use that term lightly. They were always helpful, honest and worked hard for their customers.”
Ziegler’s Ace locations have been known for their personal touch, including sending handwritten thank you notes to customers who buy big ticket items. Such gestures, Kaptain said, make stores like Ziegler’s stand out from big box competition.
“They are all about service,” he said.
Carol Gieske, president/CEO of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, said she also was saddened to hear about the closure.
“Their stores are known for their friendly, knowledgeable service,” Gieske said. “With the downtown location and the west side store, this family-owned business has been a cornerstone of the Elgin community for nearly a century, providing not only essential hardware supplies, but also a sense of local pride and generous corporate citizenship.”
The west side spot is also the location where Fabian Seafood of Galveston, Texas, sets up shop in the Ace store’s parking lot on select Saturday afternoons from spring through fall to sell fresh shrimp, crab meat, crawfish, oysters and snapper.
Ziegler said he not yet notified the business’ owner but they will be welcome to continue to use the lot until building is sold. It will be up to the property buyer if that will continue into the future, he said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
