Nelson’s Ace Hardware is continuing its tradition of serving Whitefish as its new location on U.S. Highway 93 opened to customers early Monday morning.

Owners Rick and Marilyn Nelson, along with their daughter, Mariah Joos, operate the hardware store started by Rick’s parents on Central Avenue. The family last week closed the downtown store prior to opening in the new larger store, they say, will provide better access and a larger number of products while still retaining the same customer service that has been a source of pride for them.

“We want to continue to go above and beyond to make it worthwhile for the customers who have supported us to come here,” Nelson said. “We want people to come here when they need help solving their [home repair] problems.”

“We’re so lucky that the community has been so supportive of us,” Joos adds.

Nelson’s Ace Hardware celebrated 70 years in business last summer, while also breaking ground in July on the new building at the intersection of Highway 93 and Commerce Street. The hardware store has been crowded in its Central Avenue location for some time and its owners identified constructing the new building as the best way to serve customers moving into the future.

The new store is a 14,500-square-feet red barn-inspired design including weather vanes and cupolas. A 3,000-square-foot garden center is also part of the building allowing for the sale of live plants and flowers sourced locally from Foster Flower Company.

The parking lot includes 55 parking spaces, the owners note, that will allow customers the convenience to shop at the store that wasn’t always possible at the downtown location. The new store is double the size of the Central Avenue location, and aisles are stocked as full as possible with 8-foot high shelves and sliders that allow for double the merchandise.

“We’re going to be able to display items so people can look at them,” Joos said prior to the opening. “We can have 15 grills on display, tool chests and lawn furniture.”

“People will be able to touch the lawn furniture and not just look at a picture of it,” Nelson adds. “They will be able to see and touch it, and decide if it wants to join their life.”

The hardware store has added a pet section including food and toys, and a full section of bird feeders and bird feed, the housewares section is expanded, and there is also be an arts and crafts section. New brands include Stihl chain saws and Benjamin Moore paints. In selecting items to carry such as the pet food, the owners have been intentional about selecting brands that aren’t carried by other retailers here.

They are also aiming to offer more sustainable products whether in its garden center or paint section. In addition, the store includes a water fountain for filling reusable water bottles, and the building itself is energy efficient operating with a computerized system for heating and cooling.

“We’re searching for ways to bring more sustainability practices into the store,” Nelson said. “We want to find options to help our community have a softer foot print.”

Wayne Saurey, of Saurey Custom Builders, wass the general contractor on the project. Many of the subcontractors on the project are local.

Workers just days before the opening were still putting up wood trim and installing siding on the outside of the building, while at the same time merchandise was being stocked on shelves.

“We’ve all coexisted — the construction workers, the merchandisers and our team,” Nelson said. “We’ve had a cooperative environment and every has been cheerful. I can’t believe how everyone has worked together.”

The Nelsons will retain the downtown building and intend to lease it out, but have not yet selected a tenant.

Rick’s parents, Wilfred and Ruth Nelson, purchased Marshall Wells Hardware when they moved to Whitefish in 1947. Rick’s brother the late Don Nelson was partner in the store until he retired in 2005.

When they were young the brothers were known to play in a sandbox out back of the store and Ruth would go upstairs to the family apartment to put dinner in the oven before coming downstairs to work. Through the years most of the Nelson family has worked at the store, often as youngsters sorting nuts and bolts.

Even in the new building and location, that family atmosphere will continue as Nelson and Joos excitedly point to a small area near the front of the store designed to be a kids zone play area with toys and tables and chairs for Ace coloring books.

The hardware store has continued even under the pressure of big box stores because of their continued commitment to customer service and loyalty of their customers, they say.

“We’re only here because the community supports us and continues to do so,” Nelson said.

“And we don’t take that for granted,” Joos adds.