The Elder’s Ace Hardware in Halls has a new manager. Maygen Bowlin follows longtime manager Joe Rutter, who has been promoted to district manager.
Bowlin was in Chicago Aug. 8-10, attending Ace Hardware Fall Convention 2024. She’s excited for the opportunity. This was her first such convention – a chance to meet vendors and walk through a model store on the convention floor to show “best practices.” Ace has over 580 franchise stores across the United States and several other countries.
Although young, Maygen has worked at the Halls store for 7-1/2 years.
“My parents own two daycare businesses so I’m used to working,” she said. “My dad has always shopped at Ace Hardware and he suggested I apply here.” The family lives in Halls, and Bowlin was just a junior at Gibbs high school when she joined Ace.
Somehow you get the feeling she may stay as long as Joe Rutter.
The store:
The Halls store is open daily from 7:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. and 10-6 on Sundays. It is located in Halls Shopping Center on Maynardville Pike.
What is the busiest time? “Spring into early summer,” says Maygen, “plus the holidays … and blizzards.”
Weather events always drive traffic to the hardware store. During the Blizzard of ’93, all Elder’s Ace stores stayed open, some without electricity, with managers staying overnight to serve their customers.
Maygen is not the first female store manager for Elder’s Ace. Women manage stores in Townsend, Dixie Lee, Chattanooga and in North Carolina.
She says store managers have autonomy in merchandise selection and display.
Training is key to good service, she said. New hires are trained for multiple months in all departments, working ½-day on the floor. Next, they shadow staff to learn answers for frequently asked questions. Finally, Ace provides excellent training videos.
“Our staff should feel competent to handle whatever comes up.”
History: Elder’s Ace Hardware is a direct descendant of Glenn Brothers Hardware, founded in 1919 in Chickamauga, Georgia, by Elder Glenn’s father and sold in the ’80s. Glenn Brothers affiliated with Ace in 1963. In 1969, Elder Glenn opened his first store with three partners.
Elder’s Ace Hardware has grown steadily. The company entered the Knoxville market in 2000 with the purchase of Myers Brothers Ace Hardware. The Halls store followed soon after.
The business added the name Elder’s in 2014 to mark the passing of its founder, Elder Glenn, on April 11. Now with 32 neighborhood hardware stores in east and middle Tennessee, western North Carolina and north Georgia, the company is headed by Elder’s sons. Tom Glenn is president and Grif Glenn is vice president/CFO.
Elder’s Ace Hardware stays true to its mission: “Our job is to help, not sell. When we build relationships, our bottom line takes care of itself.”