'Soft' opening this week at new Ace Hardware on Centennial Boulevard

       The new Ace Hardware at the West Wind shopping center will have a “soft opening” this week, according to owner Darek Barnes.
       The low-key approach is to make sure the facility at 4201 Centennial Blvd. is properly serving customers' needs before the “grand reopening,” slated Nov. 18, he said.
       The word “reopening” relates to Ace's former Westside location. That site, in the Uintah Gardens shopping center, closed last June; in July, Ace bought the free-standing building (near West Wind's Albertson's grocery) that originally was a McKinzey- White bookstore and has been stocking and remodeling the 13,500-square-foot building ever since.
       Barnes also owns the other two Ace Hardware stores in Colorado Springs.
       After the purchase, he had expressed enthusiasm about incorporating some of the bookstore's decorative design touches into the new store - including high ceilings, a fireplace, a tiled walkway and a mezzanine. This week, with the doors about to open, he said the place “looks three times better than I expected.”
       The store will be open daily. Returning as store manager will be Ricky Martinez, who had been at the Uintah store for 10 years.
       “The Westside has got a hardware store again,” Barnes said.

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