Ace Hardware is expanding its presence in the Kansas City area and its newest target location is in Olathe.
The hardware store has filed a permit application to open at 15066 W. 151st St. – in a former Walgreens.
Although most Ace locations in the Kansas City area are Westlake stores, Westlake would not comment publicly on whether it was behind the 151st Street location.
Lenexa-based Westlake is a subsidiary of Ace Retail Holdings, a division of Ace Hardware Corporation. The brand has approximately 30 locations in the area. It operates 170 stores in 13 states.
Walgreens had occupied the space since about 2000, but the location closed less than a year ago.
Closing pharmacies is becoming increasingly common. Nearly 100 pharmacies have closed in the Kansas City area over the past decade, according to reports from The Beacon.
The closures involve several factors, The Beacon reported, including declining prescription profits for pharmacists and the rise of consumers buying products online in-store.
Last month, Walgreens announced it would close about 500 stores. The announcement followed several other mass closures for the brand.
According to a report from CNN, 1 in 7 Walgreens currently open will be closed by 2027.
However, Ace Hardware is looking to add a few new stores in the area: one in Shawnee, near Shawnee Mission Parkway and Hilltop Drive.
In September, developer David Christie said he planned to bring Westlake to the 135th Street and Mur-Len Road shopping center in Olathe. The location at 120 N. Clairborne Road could be relocated thanks to the expansion of Interstate 35 and the Santa Fe corridor.
Westlake also recently opened a location at 6327 W. 119th St. in Overland Park, in the former Sears Home & Life store.
