Ace Hardware Opening Distribution Center In Joliet

JOLIET, IL — Joliet's economic development specialist Derek Conley said that Ace Hardware will be filling a vacancy at one of the large warehouse properties along Laraway Road across from the Chicagoland Speedway.

Conley told Joliet Patch on Tuesday that Ace Hardware will occupy about 180,000 square feet of space at the property in the 1100 block of East Laraway Road. The rest of the 800,000-square-foot warehouse is used by New Stream Enterprises, he said.

Conley said it was his understanding that Ace Hardware hoped to have its new warehouse operational before the end of December. According to the company profile, Ace Hardware was founded in Chicago in 1924 and now has its corporate headquarters in Oak Brook.

The addition of the Ace Hardware distribution center opening in Joliet is another sign of Joliet's vibrant economic, despite the pandemic, Conley added.

"A lot of the empty warehouses we had a year ago are now filled," Conley said. "There is a very strong industrial market here in Joliet and it's only getting stronger."

During the past year, Target opened its new 1.2 million square foot distribution center along Channahon Road near the Hollywood Casino. Then in Joliet, the GP Transco trucking company moved into new company headquarters near the new Target facility.

Last month, Patch reported that SRC Logistics, based in Springfield, Missouri, would be filling a 1-million-square-foot spec building on Laraway Road near the giant IKEA warehouse.

Elsewhere in Joliet, Harbor Freight's construction of a 1.5-million-square-foot logistics building in CenterPoint is well underway, Conley remarked Tuesday.