Tool Store Opens at Granite Plaza in Braintree

With a stock of 5,100 different items in store and another 12,000 in its catalogue, Harbor Freight Tools brings, well, a whole lot of tools to Braintree with its new location at Granite Plaza.

The store has been open for three weeks, but had its formal ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday. Mayor Joseph Sullivan joined store manager Kim Arruda, district manager Robert Kimball, South Shore Chamber of Commerce President Peter Forman and several other employees outside the 727 Granite St. store during a brief pause in the rain.

Harbor Freight is the nation's largest discount tool supplier and has 350 stores in 45 states, six of which are in Massachusetts. Following the opening, the company made a $1,500 donation in tools and supplies to YouthBuild Quincy, a program where students work to create energy-efficient housing for low-income residents throughout the South Shore area.

"We are pleased to welcome Harbor Freight Tools to the Braintree community," Sullivan said in a statement. "As our employment base continues to grow, it allows our community to remain as having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state."