Maple Avenue hardware store transitions to reflect Medicine Hat and Canadian brand. Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

By Jayk Sterkenburg

BUSINESS

Medicine Hat hardware store makes transition to reflect Canadian brand

Apr 26, 2025 | 5:31 PM

A hardware store on Maple Avenue formerly known as Maple Ave Ace Hardware will now operate under a new banner after a transition to Medicine Hat Home Hardware.

The owners said this marks a new chapter not just for the store, but for the wider community as well.

Ace Hardware exited the Canadian market at the end of 2024.

Colin Hyland, co-owner of Medicine Hat Home Hardware, said the store was fortunate to receive a large inventory with Home Hardware.

“We weren’t getting the products we needed, and so we were kind of forced to find a supply company to ease us through that transition,” he said.

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“Ace didn’t want to renew in Canada, the market is too small for them,” he added.

“A lot of that had to do with French labelling, a lot of their products would’ve had to have been labelled in French, and there was a cost in that and they didn’t want to enter that cost.”

Hyland said the store was fortunate to receive a large inventory with Home Hardware. Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

The Maple Avenue location continued to operate independently while working towards acquiring Home Hardware.

The upcoming transition will also merge Hill Home Hardware on 4 Ave SE with the Maple Avenue location.

Hyland said there are no renovations that need to be done with the merge, and building materials such as lumber will not be made available due to the transition.

Myrna Stark, Hyland’s business partner and co-owner of Medicine Hat Home Hardware, said there was some initial confusion within the community once the store became independent.

She said there has been a lot of positive feedback following the switch to the Home Hardware name, because people love the Canadian brand.

“Our Ace store was completely Canadian, and Canadian owned. So we’ve always been proud of that, and we’ve always made sure people know that,” she said.

“But people do go to the [United] States and they see the Ace brand, and so they don’t always know if we were Canadian. But Home Hardware, there’s no confusion. Everybody knows it’s a Canadian brand,” she added

“We’re very proud of that. And more and more people are wanting to shop local, they’re wanting to shop Canadian.”

Stark said there has been a lot of positive feedback following the switch to the Home Hardware name, because people love the Canadian brand. Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

Stark said they’re also proud to offer local vendors in the store all of the time as well, because they’re all about shopping local.

Hill Home Hardware will merge with Medicine Hat Home Hardware on May 31st.

The owner of Hill Home Hardware declined CHAT News request for comment.