ACE Wellesley Hardware

Stopped by Wellesley ACE Hardware today for a few items to get my house set up for the holidays (extension cord, extra lights, Command Strips, etc, etc).
Entered Linden Square, found parking quickly, and walked right in. IMMEDIATELY received service. Amazing. That barely ever happens anymore, anywhere. The employees I encountered throughout the store (the guy when I first came in, as well as the cashier), were both very friendly, helpful, and both extremely knowledgable about everything in the store. The store in general was also very large, organized, and contained anything a good handyman or anyone looking for some quick hardware, or household supplies at a convenient location and not sky high price. By the way, the prices are not out-​of-​this-​world (such as the new TrueValue in Norwood), they are actually only slightly above Lowe’s or Home Depot and superlative for the Wellesley area. Located in Linden Square in Wellesley, right off Route 135.
Highly suggested. 5 stars.

Divergent in my experience, it appears, from most other reviewers of this Ace Hardware, my experience has been 90% positive. If you’re like me, as soon as you move to a new place, you want to get a beat on the friendliest and most helpful hardware store near you. Because of their business model, I suppose, many of these have been Ace stores, and have met my local hardware store needs pretty well in the dozen or so metro areas I have lived in on either coast, and in between. While the selection at Ace Linden is usually adequate for me, if I can’t find something and they cannot get it to me any faster, I will just get it from Amazon. The best part of this store, however, is not the selection, which is what it is, but the personal, knowledgeable, helpful advice I get from the more senior staff there. Occassionally they have some kind but not terribly helpful teenagers on register, which means I usually will not leave with the verifications or revised guidance I expect when I have a question only a hardware store can answer, but these encounters have been infrequent and are usually just ahead of closing time on weekdays.

Convenient location and has the basics, but they often don’t have what I need. Unfortunately I find the staff very lackluster. It seems like the majority of workers are local high school kids, who unfortunately just don’t know anything. Not only do they struggle to locate things in the store, but they also don’t have any knowledge about how to do simple projects. Such as — how do you hang this hook? Do I need x to do z? What kind of glue works best for this? Etc. I need this type of help at a hardware store and I usually have good results at other places.

Not a lot of selection, and the store just has no energy. It’s a confused place. Greens is MUCH better, and close by.

The staff is nice, but the store rarely has what I need. I was surprised at the basics missing from the inventory (toilet plunger, plastic piece to get hair out of drain –I can’t remember the other items but out of about 6 visits, they had items I needed twice). .I think they’d be great if they just added stock. My advice: Call ahead!

Wellesley ACE is a big hardware store that also sells the other kinds of things that big hardware stores tend to carry: small appliances (even trendy ones like the SodaStream), Umbra picture frames, and bathroom accessories, among other things. They carry a lot of stuff that I don’t need and therefore am less familiar with (lawn and garden care items and machines), as well as a key cutting station, lots of paint, screws/​bolts/​etc, and winterizing products.
One thing that surprised me about Wellesley ACE is that staff seem to care about their customers to a degree that I didn’t think existed anymore. For example, I was having a very hard time getting more than one apartment key from my landlords, and it was a complicated blank to process, but the staff cut (and recut!) the keys I needed with patience and kindness. Believe me, moving weekend sucks, and having someone be kind to you during that maelstrom makes a huge difference.
These people are really nice. They have a good selection. There is a price premium that I don’t mind because they are an independently-​owned store (yes, in the ACE franchise). Sometimes they are chattier than I need them to be, but you know what? That’s part of how caring they are about their customers, so I don’t think I’d change it. I wish their hours were more expansive, but there aren’t too many places I can’t say that about in this town.

It’s really tough to be fair here. It is pretty large store, the staff is helpful, and they’re honest. But in my case trying to buy a snowblower, they just did not come through. After waiting only a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon, the main guy who knows snowblowers came over and walked me through what to consider. Really a great orientation to snowblowers in 5 – 10 minutes — could not have asked for more! I was sold! So I paid in full for one and left thinking I’d just need to wait a week for the machine to be shipped to the store — that was the rough timing, they said. Four days later on Thursday, I called to check on status only to find that they forgot to put the order in on Sunday to the Ace warehouse. And then they did not call me immediately to say «whoops, we made a mistake.» With the mid-​week storm, every snowblower on the east coast was sold out. All they had to do was enter the freakin’ order in the computer! Or had they called me on Monday, I could have run to a big box store and grabbed one just before the rush. So we have ended up shoveling the driveway the old fashioned way thanks to the clerk that did not enter the order. So overall a very nice, helpful store, but my family probably won’t be back.

I was in need of specific sized lock nuts and washers the other day. So, I made trips to various local hardware stores to look at their selections of nuts, blots, washers, etc. After a couple failed attempts at TrueValue and Home Depot I decided to give Ace Hardware a try. My biggest issue was that each store carried a different of manufacturer which made it hard to find the correct size. Not only did the size of the lock nuts had to be perfect but the height of the nut itself. Try explaining to a hardware guy that the nuts you need are for roller skates and you too will feel extra doofy.
At each store I walked in with samples of the nuts and washers. I made my way the «hardware» aisles only to be disappointed again and again with a selection that didn’t meet my needs. TrueValue’s even carry the size I needed and most of their nuts were much taller (I know it sounds weird). Home Depot’s lock nut selection all came in pre-​plastic wrapped baggies which made it next to impossible to put side by side with the nuts I brought in. I got so frustrated I was on the verge of opening bags to see if they were just right. Even with the sizing charts it was confusing for me.
Finally, I tried Ace Hardware knowing they had a good selection of nuts & blots. Ace Hardware had a similar setup like TrueValue but carried the «Hillman» brand of nuts and bolts. I already knew the sizes I was looking and one after the other began finding nuts that met my needs perfectly! The only downside is that I cleared out most of their current stock believe it or not. Most of the nuts and washers I needed had to be in amounts of 8 or 16. After taking all of what was available I asked a clerk if there were any more in the back and he said that all that out was what they had. Honestly, a little hard to believe but I can always go back later in the week and try again.