CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Ace will be the place for the hardware and gardening needs of Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks customers as a new Ace Hardware franchise is set to open this summer in the Almond Orchard Shopping Center, 8079 Madison Ave. as soon as July.

The new 14,200-square-foot store, which was formerly home to Beverly Fabrics, fills a prime anchor location in the neighborhood retail center located on the border of Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks, near the corner of Madison Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard in Citrus Heights. The site had been vacant for more than six years.

Banner signage publicly announcing the new Ace Hardware store recently went up and construction crews have started working on improvements to the store’s interior.

The shopping plaza, Almond Orchard, is owned by Sacramento-based Ray Stone Inc. and was built in 1986.

The new store will be called Miller’s Ace Hardware, named after franchise owner Jessica Greenfield’s son, according to the Sacramento Business Journal. Her son is dealing with a rare neurological disease.

Building improvements will include flooring and a sliding glass door. In the long-term, there’s also a plan to add a dedicated garden section toward the back of the store, she said.

“We’re excited Ace Hardware will soon be opening in the Almond Orchard Plaza,” said Natalie Hinkel, vice president for commercial services for the property owner, Sacramento-based Ray Stone, Inc. “We’ve been looking a long time to find the right anchor tenant.”

The new Ace Hardware joins a mix of other long-standing community-oriented tenants in the plaza including The Moth Hole Consignment Store, Pastry Heaven, KORK Sips & Snacks wine bar, the Lil’ School which has over 100 preschool, kindergarten and summer camp attendees at any one given time, Birchfield Jewelers, a Vitalant blood donation Center, Fabian’s Italian Bistro, Lafitte Music School, Del’s Pizza and the El Gallo Mexican Restaurant.

Hinkel said Ray Stone Inc. continues to look to fill four individual commercial spaces in the plaza just adjacent to the new Ace Hardware, which total some 10,000 square feet suited for office or retail use. Lyons Real Estate, which occupied the largest space, vacated the plaza several years ago.

New Ace Hardware franchise owner Jessica Greenfield said she plans to have a soft opening as soon as July.

While Greenfield said she hasn’t run her own store before, she did spend a lot of time at an Ace Hardware store her aunt and uncle owned and operated in Arnold, in Calaveras County.

Because the Almond Orchard Shopping Center straddles the line between Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks, Greenfield said she expects her new store to draw from both areas and elsewhere.

“I wanted something close to home,” she said. “Really for us, the focus is on my son.”

The center’s owner, Sacramento-based Ray Stone Inc., didn't want to backfill with just any tenant, said CEO Todd Stone in an earlier news interview.

Ace Hardware’s reputation for customer service fits with the kind of feel Ray Stone Inc. wants in its properties, Stone said. “I think we’re a good fit for each other.”

Ace Hardware has more than 5,600 locally owned stores in all 50 states and 65 countries. Its latest third quarter revenues for 2022 were $2.2 billion, up 10 percent from the same quarter in 2021, according to a November 16 news release from the company.