The rebuilt Hagan Ace Hardware at 1022 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park is now projected to reopen in June 2027, following the May 2025 fire that destroyed the store and its outside storage. The company marked the next phase of the recovery with a groundbreaking on September 17, 2026.
The location had served as headquarters for Hagan's 11-store Northeast Florida group and had been a community fixture for 45 years. According to Clay Today, the building collapsed after the blaze, and fire crews were still working to extinguish it 16 hours after it was first reported. Company president Bill Hagan credited community support and said Hagan Ace looked forward to returning.
The Blanding Boulevard location had operated as a 45-year community staple before the fire, and the disruption extended into the company's back-office operations. The building housed central computer equipment for the entire regional chain, and its destruction knocked servers offline and temporarily disrupted IT operations at several other Hagan locations, according to First Coast News, before the company upgraded its digital infrastructure.
Smoke Noticed Before Closing
Employees noticed smoke roughly 15 minutes before closing but were unable to suppress it with hand extinguishers, and all customers and staff evacuated safely.
What National Fire Data Can Tell Us
The U.S. Fire Administration estimated 111,900 nonresidential building fires nationwide in 2024. That broad category does not establish retail-specific patterns or determine the cause of the Hagan fire.
One Orange Park Fire Department firefighter was hospitalized for a heat-related medical emergency during the response before being released Sunday morning, per the same First Coast News account. Battling the fire on the night of May 23, 2025, required crews from Clay County Fire Rescue, Jacksonville Fire & Rescue, Orange Park Fire Department, and NAS Jacksonville, and the response forced a 14-hour overnight closure of Blanding Boulevard in both directions while hoses stretched across the roadway, according to Clay Today's original reporting. The road reopened at 8:45 a.m. Saturday, while crews were still spraying water on hot spots at 11 a.m.
Amid the destruction, three resident store cats named King Charlie, Timmy, and Evie were found unharmed in the hours after the fire was suppressed, First Coast News reported, noting the animals were popular among regular shoppers at the Orange Park location. Hoodline previously covered the blaze in a report on the initial fire and firefighter injury.
Displaced Workers Await Return to Rebuilt Store
The fire displaced approximately 40 store and administrative employees from the Blanding Boulevard site, according to News4JAX, and some were reassigned to other regional Hagan Ace Hardware locations during the extended closure. Many of those displaced workers are slated to return once the rebuilt store reopens in June 2027. In the meantime, the chain continues operating other Clay County locations, including stores at 1305 N. Orange Ave. in Green Cove Springs and 1480 Park Ave. in Orange Park, per Clay Today.
Reconstruction at the Blanding Boulevard site faced more than 14 months of administrative delays tied to municipal permitting and zoning adjustments before construction machinery finally began site work in late July, News4JAX reported. Bill Hagan said the company cannot wait to reopen and serve its friends, neighbors and community.
A Family Business Rooted in Northeast Florida
Hagan Ace Hardware traces its roots to 1962, when Don and Ann Brandies Hagan purchased a small 1,050-square-foot store in Hilliard, Florida, according to the company's own history. The business joined the Ace Hardware dealer cooperative in 1964 and has since grown into a family-owned business with 11 locations across Northeast Florida. Its stores serve communities across Northeast Florida.
The Orange Park rebuild also arrives amid broader retail turnover along the Blanding Boulevard corridor. Western wear retailer Cavender's Boot City opened a new store this month at 249 Blanding Blvd., in a space once occupied by Boot Barn. For Hagan Ace Hardware, though, the focus remains on getting its own doors back open after an extended closure that tested the family-owned chain's ties to the community it has served for decades.
