WHITEHALL — Ace Components expanded its choices earlier this year with the launch of a handyman company, and Wednesday, the new organization was officially welcomed to the White Lake area with a ribbon-chopping ceremony.
Chamber of Commerce govt director Amy VanLoon was on hand for the ceremony, as was condition senator Jon Bumstead.
The handyman company is owned by the identical team that owns the Ace retail store on Colby St., but will be headquartered just up the road in the outdated Plumb’s plaza, which occurs to be owned by that group as properly. The company is located just a few of doors down from Rite-Assist Pharmacy.
Emily Johnson, one particular of the entrepreneurs, explained the service started in May and had a superior summertime. She was happy to get very good feedback from the area, not just from on the web critiques — of which she explained all 40-furthermore were 5-star feedback — but phrase of mouth.
“Somebody at the Chamber (of Commerce) meeting on Monday night time arrived up to me and mentioned they were obtaining dinner with a few other couples and a person of the couples was just raving about the Ace handyman that experienced just been there,” Johnson claimed. “That tends to make me really feel great. I know from the assessments that people today are leaving five stars, but I like to listen to that word of mouth from people today far too.”
Johnson mentioned Ace has been pushing into the handyman area above the previous pair of several years soon after the company obtained a organization known as Handyman Issues in 2019. The firm was a franchise-primarily based business enterprise that ran points for a selection of nearby handymen and is now a standalone subsidiary of Ace. The organization has been escalating rapidly in Michigan, with hubs in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
“I feel there were probably 100 franchises when they purchased it and we’re now receiving ready to strike 400 by the stop of this calendar year,” Johnson said. “Ace Hardware has been conversing about it for a number of many years and it just made feeling to proceed that customer provider keep track of. Having hardware suppliers by now, we comprehended a small bit of what we were being getting into. It is a good coordination.”
Remaining beneath the Ace umbrella has its benefits, as the handymen often acquire the supplies wanted for a task at the neighborhood Ace keep.
The company has speedily located its market, Johnson stated, with function on the more mature residences that are common in the White Lake and surrounding places. Customized doorways and windows to match older properties that do not necessarily in shape the normal measurements that are now the norm has been a common ask for.
The firm is “staying in the handyman lane,” Johnson explained, and sticking to careers that can mostly be performed inside of a person day. When presented with a client who requires plumbing or extra difficult operate, craftsmen will refer them to area organizations that focus in that section.
Past the conventional handyman fare, the new small business has fielded some uncommon requests as very well. Chief craftsman Dave Gilonis confirmed off pics of a cat wall he just crafted for 1 client, consisting basically of shelves put all over a single wall so their cat can examine more territory.
For the instant, the company has only two full-time craftsmen, but Johnson said she hopes the enterprise can develop to the stage the place far more can appear on board.
“The additional craftsmen that you can employ the service of, then the more solutions you’re equipped to provide and expand and grow, and you are capable to take on far more market positions,” Johnson stated. “Our aim is to have even extra craftsmen and just about every craftsman has their specialty, the detail they’re ideal at.”
To continue to keep organization buzzing all through the coming chilly months, which will naturally restrict the outside do the job their craftsmen can do, Ace Handyman is offering different specials. Prospects can stop into their location, which is open up weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., for additional particulars.
