Food City Going Into Hardware Business

Grocer partners with Ace Hardware

4/29/2022

Food City will launch its line of Curt’s Ace Hardware stores later this summer.

Food City officials have revealed plans to join the Ace Hardware family of stores. The food retailer will launch its line of Curt’s Ace Hardware stores later this summer.

“We look forward to bringing Curt’s Ace Hardware store locations to the communities where we know there is a need,” said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and CEO. “Given our vast merchandising and marketing experience, I’m confident that our team will do an excellent job managing and operating these locations.”

The company is evaluating several Food City locations for Curt’s Ace Hardware in Tennessee, including Piney Flats, Erwin and Elizabethton, in addition to Mize Farm & Garden Supply Co. in Gray, which Food City recently purchased. Virginia is also a possibility, with Abingdon and Bristol in consideration.

“We greatly appreciate the support that our loyal customers have shown us, and we want to leverage our Curt’s Ace Hardware brand to better serve the communities where we already do business,” said Smith.

The name Curt’s Ace Hardware comes from Smith’s grandfather.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware is known for its wide variety of home products, including Benjamin Moore paints, Big Green Egg, Trager and Weber barbecue accessories, as well as power tools and equipment, hardware, lawn and garden, and other home improvement supplies. The retailer-owned hardware cooperative has more than 5,500 locally owned and operated hardware stores in approximately 70 countries.

Food City will share more details on the partnership as they become available.

Meanwhile, Food City recently broke ground on a new store in Alcoa, Tenn. The more than 54,000-square-foot supermarket, which will serve as a replacement for an existing location, is expected to open in early fall.

The company also opened a new store on April 6 in Cookeville, Tenn. Located on East 10th Street, the approximately 54,100-square-foot supermarket is the retailer’s first location in Cookeville. The location includes GoCart curbside pickup, a Starbucks café, a Food City Pharmacy equipped with a drive-thru and consultation room, and a Food City Gas N’ Go featuring a large five-pump station with diesel. The grocery store is equipped with several award-winning energy-saving concepts, ranging from energy-efficient glass cooler doors, parking lot lights and refrigeration systems to motion sensors and 100% LED lighting, as well as an open-rafter ceiling design.

Food City’s parent company, Abingdon, Va.-based K-VA-T Food Stores, operates 138 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia and Alabama. K-VA-T is No. 70 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.