A vacant Goodwill building on Old Sugar Creek Road in Fenton is getting new life as a Westlake Ace Hardware store, with remodeling set to begin in early 2027 and a soft opening targeted for that summer. The roughly 12,500-square-foot free-standing building at 99 Old Sugar Creek Road will house about 11,000 square feet of retail space, with access planned from New Sugar Creek Road and a large parking lot on site.
Ace Retail Group, the company behind the project, confirmed the plans in a report from HBS Dealer. Fenton, described as a community of roughly 28,000 residents in the greater St. Louis area, will become the newest addition to a company footprint that already includes six Westlake Ace Hardware locations around St. Louis, in Ballwin, Brentwood, Maryland Heights, Crestwood, St. Peters and Washington.
Bob Massengill, identified in the HBS Dealer report as president of Ace Retail Group, said the company is excited to bring what it calls the Ace Helpful Promise to Fenton. Massengill added that Westlake Ace Hardware has been a trusted neighbor in the greater St. Louis area for many years. It's worth noting that a separate report from the Kansas City Business Journal also identifies Massengill as president of Ace Retail Group, while an earlier company release referred to him as senior vice president of business development.
What's Going on the Shelves
Once finished, the store will feature lawn and garden supplies, fasteners, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies, per the HBS Dealer report. The garden center is set to carry annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, tropicals and shrubs, along with Scotts lawn care products.
Shoppers can expect several store-within-a-store concepts built around recognizable brand names. Power tools will come from Milwaukee, DeWalt and Craftsman, while the paint department will stock Benjamin Moore. Outdoor power equipment will include Stihl, Craftsman, DeWalt, EGO and Milwaukee lines, rounding out a lineup aimed at both casual homeowners and more serious do-it-yourselfers.
The store is also set to carry grills from Weber, Traeger, RECTEQ and Big Green Egg, alongside drinkware from Yeti, Stanley and Owala, including Yeti coolers and accessories. For errands beyond typical hardware runs, the Fenton location will offer key cutting, automotive key-fob replacement and propane tank exchange.
A Commercial Arm Too
Westlake Commercial representatives tied to the store are expected to give the Fenton community access to more than 800,000 products, according to the HBS Dealer report. That commercial side includes offerings like commercial lighting, appliances, and safety and cleaning supplies — a segment the company has leaned into as it expands.
That emphasis tracks with broader moves at Ace Retail Group. The company's commercial business has grown more than tenfold and now makes up nearly 13% of total company revenue as of 2025, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. The same report notes Ace Retail Group operates more than 260 locations across 18 states and continues to add 10 to 15 stores per year.
How Fenton Compares to Recent Openings
Westlake Ace's rollout style has shown up elsewhere in the St. Louis region before. A Westlake Ace Hardware opened in nearby Twin Oaks, Missouri, in 2023, with an 18,000-square-foot store stocking lawn and garden supplies, fasteners, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies, along with specialty departments selling brands including Milwaukee, DeWalt, Craftsman, Benjamin Moore, Magnolia Home, Stihl and EGO, according to Westlake Ace Hardware. That store also offered automotive key cutting and fob replacement, plus propane tank exchange.
More recently, a new Westlake Ace store in Shawnee, Kansas, included store-within-a-store concepts such as The Kitchen Connection, Power Tools and Outdoor Power, and Backyard BBQ, per a separate Westlake Ace Hardware announcement. That announcement, covering four new stores unveiled in May 2026, said all four locations would feature lawn and garden supplies, fasteners, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies — largely mirroring what's planned for Fenton.
The company has also been investing in newer store formats companywide. Ace Retail Group introduced a design concept called ELEVATE3 in August 2024 that creates immersive sections within stores, and the Kansas City Business Journal reports it was featured in 22 company stores with plans for a rollout to more than 100 locations over five years backed by a $40 million to $50 million investment. By the end of 2025, 28 Westlake Ace locations included The Kitchen Connection store-within-a-store concept, with 45 more planned for 2026, the same report states.
No details have been released on the Fenton store's final hours, staffing or total project cost, and whether the location will incorporate the ELEVATE3 design concept has not been specified. For now, Fenton residents have a timeline to watch: remodeling starting in early 2027, followed by a soft opening that summer.
