CANFIELD — A new Ace Hardware store set to open by month’s end will not only fill an area need, but also will fill the Colonial Plaza and bring a Canfield grad back home.

“We felt there was a big need for this type of store,” said owner Ron Graff Sr. He said a study was done by Ace and it was determined Canfield city and the Colonial Plaza offered a great location.

The Graff family is versed in business operations. The owners of the new store will be Ron Sr., Ron Graff Jr., Cheryl Graff Shartle and Bob Graff.

According to Ron Sr., the family opened its first store in Columbiana in 1978, a Super Duper grocery store sold in 1986. They also operated a Super Duper in downtown East Liverpool that opened in 1980 and was switched to a Giant Eagle store in 1986.

The family in 1986 bought an old Kroger store in Calcutta and reopened it as a Giant Eagle. Another Giant Eagle was added in 1989 in Liberty, on Belmont Avenue, which was upgraded with a new store in 1999. In 2017, the family turned to hardware and opened its first Ace store in Calcutta.

Ron Sr. knew the area very well. He lived in Boardman for 19 years, then 20 years ago moved to Canfield. In those 20 years he noticed the former Sparkle Market in the Colonial Plaza remained empty and felt it was time to fill a need and bring an Ace to the plaza.

To help run the store, the family brought in Glen Marrie who was assistant manager at the Liberty Giant Eagle for 27 years. He will serve as manager.

Assisting Marrie will be Dave Felger, a 1978 Canfield High School graduate who left the area and moved to Hawaii for many years. He ran a general store there, but jumped at the opportunity to come back home to Canfield.

Ron Sr. said the plan is to officially open at the end of October. With the Ace Hardware, the Colonial Plaza will be filled for the first time in more than 20 years. That fact has Canfield Mayor Richard Duffett very pleased.

The filling up of the plaza takes Duffett back to his younger days when the plaza was full. During those days, back in the 1960s and ’70s, he said he would ride his bike over to the Colonial Plaza where he would go to the Ben Franklin’s to buy candy and then go bowling at the Colonial Lanes which was located where the Giant Eagle is now.

“I am ecstatic that the old Colonial Plaza is finally full again,” Duffett said.

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