WAYNE – A long awaited ribbon cutting, or board cutting was held this past weekend by a company who filled the void of Shopko in the community of Wayne as the official Grand Opening took place for Wayne Ace Hardware and Home.
Governor Pete Ricketts made remarks Friday afternoon to help celebrate the official opening although the store has been open since mid-April.
Store owner, Steve LeGrand who also owns the Blair store, led the event in the parking lot from Ace located at 615 Dearborn St. in Wayne. Other speakers included Wayne Area Economic Development Executive Director, Luke Virgil and Mayor of Wayne, Cale Giese. The Northeast Nebraska Investors Group and Retail Reclaimers (Ace team) were thanked for their hard work and dedication in filling the empty space.
Store Manager, Brandon Hall said there’s still a lot of moving parts as they’re look to make some more additions to the store soon.
“We put the awnings on the front of the store (and) we’re looking at putting a garden center on the south side,” said Hall. “So, hopefully by Spring time rolls around we’ll have that done. We’re looking at we got it planned or booked to have a fishing and hunting section supplies. I mean no firearms but fishing equipment and hunting equipment.”
Everyone who visited the store this weekend was also able to sign up for prizes and sign the board that was cut Friday afternoon.
From the grand opening event Friday with free hotdogs and cake, to Big Green Egg demo and STHL chainsaw and trimmer demonstrations throughout Saturday and Sunday, there were plenty of opportunities to visit Ace.
Governor Ricketts stated the community of Wayne should be very proud of the store. He also provided information from the Department of Labor that Nebraska has the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4%.
“What that shows, is again is Nebraskans will overcome the challenges we face,” Governor Ricketts added. “We will pull together in the face of adversity to make sure that we continue to have the best place in the world right here in Nebraska.”
Wayne Ace is open from 7:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday – Friday; 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday’s and 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday’s.
Visit acehardware.com/store-details/17553 for more information and call the store at 402-833-1331 with any questions.