Village Ace Hardware — Attraction in Whitefish Bay

Service here is either fantastic (75%) or awful (25%) and there isn’t anything in between. We recently bought an older house in this neighborhood and, as you can imagine, we have a lot of DIY projects ahead. I generally go in and am asked if I need help right away. Drill bits? Yep. Lots of electrical faceplates? You betcha. A Varnethene water-based maple stained wood? No, never heard of it, but tried to sell me something totally different (Rustoleum).

We had our air ducts cleaned and I needed to patch the holes in the ducts. I went to get some fiberglass cloth and some duct sealant. The first guy tells me he’s never heard of duct sealant, but that what I need is drywall patch. I explained that it was metal, not drywall, and that there is actually a product called “air duct sealant”. Disbelieving, he marched me to a man in plumbing and told him (because I can hear) that I needed dry wall patch. I explained again that wasn’t what I needed. The second man asked what I was doing and I explained that I was patching the air ducts after they had been cleaned. He looked at me positively shocked and told me I needed to replace the entire duct or it would explode. I said thanks but that’s not so, and if they don’t have any air duct sealant, that’s fine…I’ll go get it elsewhere. To my face, the second man said, “What we need is attitude sealant.” I turned around to leave and the first man says to me, “Air duct sealant? I’ll have to Google that because I’ve never even heard of that.”

I got both at Home Depot for under $15, in under 5 minutes, without rude comments.

No matter what I need in the future, I’ll probably drive the extra 10 minutes to Home Depot. They may not be always the easiest, but no one has ever been aggressively rude and snarky with me...

Ace Hardware is not like any other store that I have ever been to. The Meinecke's, who own 5 different locations around the Milwaukee area, have a fantastic crew; each Ace member works together to satisfy one's needs. When you walk into the store, you are greeted with a warm welcome by the cashiers as they direct you to an aisle where they believe best fits what you are looking for. Depending on how busy it is (it can get very busy), another employee awaits to assist you. Asking as many questions as one might, these employees give outstanding advice. If you have a project you are working on and have no clue what you are doing, don't worry. They are there to guide you with every step of the way. If an employee is not familiar with a certain topic, they are willing to ask another employee or employees to step in. Which truly shows that Ace wants to help you compared to big box brands which might not answer your questions or personally point out your options. Even though the employee's are working individually, they work together as a team. Which over the years, I have not seen a lot. If what you are looking is not there, they are happy to call another "sister" store to see if they carry it, otherwise order it online to get it as soon as possible. This is a big store for not being a big box brand and for someone who had never been here before it might be overwhelming, but the employees working on the floor know the store so well and want to make sure that you aren't anxious while looking around. Don't be afraid or hesitate to ask a question. Every store has it's flaws and I bet some individuals have experienced these, but Ace truly wants to help you. The employees are not only kind and helpful but also extremely patient...

Hello, hope everybody holidays is going well, now to my issue, I went to college ace hardware store to purchase a heated Milwaukee tool jacket, did so went home charge it up then try it on, I liked it, after two bars went away I put it back on the charger, red and green light started to show, on the battery pack itself it says if red and green is flashing your battery is damage, I didn't have this product no more then 24hrs, so in return the next day for a replacement battery, a associate check out the battery it self and confirmed also the battery is damage, they called up management to do a exchange, management showed up and said no we will not replace (even tho he went to the backroom and got a working battery for my product) I'll have to call Milwaukee tool to get a replace dispite on your receipt (which I do have) it says " 30 day return policy, we will fix it, replace, or refund it with your RECEIPT", and that there was nothing he can do.... Nothing....I thought that was odd, so called Milwaukee tool and they told me NO, that store should have replace or refund your money immediately at that time and they only take disinfect items and replace them after the 30 day mark, in which at that moment I only had the item not even a week, so I'm not in a limbo with a disinfected product, and -$200, so I thought I been my issue here and how maybe the owner can fix this but also ask why was I turned away immediately by management...