Groundbreaking held for new Home Hardware in Essex

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Essex on Wednesday, to celebrate the construction of a new Home Hardware Building Centre at 300 Maidstone Avenue West.

The retail outlet will service Essex and surrounding area, offering a range of hardware and building centre products.

The total cost of the project is estimated to exceed $13-million.

Due to the tremendous success of the original location, Dealer/Owner Kimberly Seguin-Gauthier says they decided to re-locate to a more visible and central location to better serve the community.

"We've been waiting for so long and it's very exciting," she continued. "The steel is up, things are progressing, and it's scary but at the same time very exciting."

Seguin-Gauthier says they're going to be about the same size as the previous Home Hardware store in terms of staff.

"We are going to be hiring probably I would say between 20 to 30 people to fill different positions, and the layout will be much different obviously. So, like Mayor Sherry Bondy said we do a lot for the community and I continue to carry that on," she stated.

The current Home Hardware in Essex, located at 47 Wilson Avenue, is a very old building and Seguin-Gauthier says the time was right. 

"It has a lot of great history, but yes it's that time where we have to update and make some major changes and here we are. It will be nice to be new, updated and modern."

According to Seguin-Gauthier, they also have future plans for the surrounding parking lot area on the property which includes the development of additional businesses, including drive-thru businesses, contributing to the creation of more jobs but she couldn't reveal any specifics just yet.

Mayor Sherry Bondy was also on hand for the announcement, with other members of Essex council, and says they're thrilled to see the development of the new Home Hardware Building Centre.

"The expansion of this national chain represents the tremendous success for business development within the Town of Essex. It is exciting to see the growth of our local economic landscape and we look forward to building on the momentum," she added.

Home Hardware is Canada's largest independent home improvement retailer, as the company is owned by close to 1,100 independent small business operators from every corner of Canada.