New hardware store opens at Save-A-Lot plaza in Albion

Photos by Tom Rivers: John Hedlund, left, and Leo Anger opened Albion Pro Hardware on Nov. 3 at the Route 31 plaza that includes Save-A-Lot. Hedlund has run the Save-A-Lot in Albion since June 2018.

ALBION – John Hedlund is upping his investment in the Albion by opening a new hardware store next to the Save-A-Lot he has been running at the plaza on Route 31 the past 3 ½ years.

Hedlund and Leo Anger are partners in the new Albion Pro Hardware. The store opened on Nov. 3 and will celebrate its grand opening Dec. 1-4 with in-store bargains and other promotions.

Hedlund owns five Save-A-Lot stores with locations in Albion, Le Roy, Batavia, Niagara Falls and Salamanca.

The Albion Pro Hardware is his first hardware store. He sees the 7,000-square-foot site as complimentary the Save-A-Lot next door and giving the community another option for hardware supplies, paint, plumbing, lawncare, auto fluids and seasonal products.

“With these stores side by side, it creates a one-stop shop,” Hedlund said. “The opportunity became available and we wanted to breathe more life into the plaza.”

Customers have given Hedlund and Anger good feedback so far. They see many do-it-yourselfers tackling home projects.

“There are excited there is another place to shop in town,” Anger said. “We have a knowledgeable staff.”

Many of the hardware stores are struggling to maintain a supply of products doe to a shortage of materials nation-wide, Anger said. If one hardware store doesn’t have a product in stock, it’s good to have another option in the community, Anger said.

Anger has worked in retail for 20 years with parts of his career at Save-A-Lot and Walmart. Albion Pro Hardware will make customer-service a focus. If the store doesn’t have a product in stock, it can often order it and have it in the store soon.

“We are looking forward to serving the community,” Anger said. “We have pretty much anything a department store would have.”

Albion Pro Hardware will celebrate its grand opening on Dec. 1-4. The store will have a new sign on the building in mid-December.