Illinois Ace store to close

An Ace Hardware store in Rockford, Ill., will shut down after opening just last year, according to an article in the Rockford Register Star.

The 18,500-square-foot store opened in the summer of 2007 to serve as the anchor store of Riverside Pavilion shopping center, which was bought by Kentucky-based Paul Hemmer Cos. earlier in the year. The Ace store took over the space of a former Eagle Food store that had been vacant since 2000.

Rockford area customers received a mailing from Ace last week announcing a going-out-of-business sale, and store officials confirmed they will stay open until existing inventory is liquidated, the article said. The store employs 10 people.