Springtime at Ace Hardware

Flowers, trees, succulents, baby chicks and turkeys arriving in fresh batches.

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AGE – Boston’s Ace Hardware has been a bustling store since the first day of spring, bringing along with it a myriad of colors, species of flowers, chicks and other baby poultry.  


“It’s probably the busiest we’ve seen it,” said Danielle Stewart, garden center manager at Ace Hardware, as she explained the hustle and bustle of the store located at 620 North Navajo Drive. “We have certainly seen an increased volume of customers. With our switch to Ace we’ve gotten a lot of things at better prices than we had before. And of course, with our (somewhat), unusually warm spring, we’ve got a lot more people … kicked into gear to get things growing.”


March is a notoriously fickle month for weather, but one thing that always comes whether it rains or not is spring, which officially came on March 20, when people began preparing their gardens for a successful season.


“It’s exciting for us because we get new shipments in, really, every week,” Stewart said. “Anything from annual flowers to veggies to shade trees and ornaments. The feeling’s good, especially after a long and kind of lonely winter. We were all dreaming of spring.”


But it was only a matter of time before the spring wind started kicking in. Last week was just the beginning as cold air also swept across the state.
“Once it starts to warm up, everybody’s pretty active and pretty excited,” Stewart said.


On an average day, the garden center sees between 60 and 100 customers looking to establish a beautiful yard and refresh it with new colors each season. Stewart says the garden center carries a wide assortment of garden plants, perennial flowers and seeds, plus flowering bushes and shade trees to complete one’s landscape.


“This previous weekend was one of the busiest we’ve ever had,” Stewart explained. “We had people coming in by the dozens at a time for flowers and veggies. This time of year, it’s a very high-volume.”


Stewart says her bestsellers depend on what people see blooming around town. For instance, the flowering pear trees and the forsythia on Lake Powell Boulevard.


“Of course, with the early spring vegetables are a huge sale for us right now,” Stewart said. “A lot of people are looking for fruit trees, wanting to get their harvest going, basically.”


Also, on her bestseller list are tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, squash, and lettuce.


“So, we receive orders almost weekly–– Pretty much from February through mid-May,” Stewart added. “Most vegetables and annuals will come in … almost every Wednesday. Then perennials, shrubs and larger items usually come in on Friday.”


Those who want to place special orders with Stewart must do so by the end of April.


Like the shipment of spring flowers, the chicks also arrive by mail every Friday for two months during the spring, said Dianne Schuler, feed department manager at Ace Hardware. The chicks and other poultry are shipped from Privett Hatchery in Portales, New Mexico.


“We get different types of birds,” Schuler explained. “Basically, I try to choose the ones that are the best egg layers, which is why people want chickens. We also get ducks, geese and turkeys.”


Schuler says when the order of chicks arrives at the store on Fridays, they are 3 days old and need a lot of tender loving care, including protection from the elements and from predators.


On an average day, at least 25 chicks are purchased, some of which are placed in a yard where predators such as coyotes, dogs, and hawks can get to them, said Schuler.


So, it is important for one to get prepared before buying the chicks.


“Make sure you know what you’re getting into because it takes a lot of tender loving care,” Schuler said, “and the expense of the food to take care of it.”
She added, “It’s a lot of fun.”


The chicks are the most-visited attraction, according to Schuler, who cares for the chicks when they arrive by providing them with clean water, a draft-free brooder pen and a red brooder lamp on at all times.


Then, a sign is posted warning visitors not to touch the chicks.


“The kids come in and it’s a major attraction for the store,” Schuler added. “They all love it. Some people come just to see the chicks. They don’t really shop or anything.”


Schuler mentioned that she once sold a chick to Page Councilor Levi Tappan, whose child last year entered the adult hen in the 4-H Fair in Flagstaff. That chick became the grand champion chicken.