GOTHENBURG, NE- A new Ace Hardware location has opened its doors in Gothenburg, the second family owned location of the company name belonging to the Franssen family of Broken Bow. Although both locations sport plenty of red paint and “Ace” logos throughout, the adventures of opening doors at the Broken Bow location and the new Gothenburg location had much different paths.
In Broken Bow just over two years ago, the 7,000 square foot location was already a running, functioning Ace Hardware store. As for the 20,000 square foot building in Gothenburg? It last served customers looking for fresh produce and groceries as Peterson Supermarket before sitting empty since late 2021.
Joe Franssen told KCNI/KBBN he was in Gothenburg for a completely different reason when he and Liz stopped into the chamber building after hearing the location was open. The response he got was that the Gothenburg Improvement Company (GIC) had just voted about a week prior to recruit a hardware store for the building.
“I have a lot of friends who have multiple stores, and that’s what really turned me onto it. We just felt like it fit our ideas and our thinking. With the building, everyone that had done something like this, they all said they spent too much money on the remodel so I’m like ‘Okay, that’s something I’m not going to do’” Franssen said.
Joe said he and his family knew they had some work ahead of them when paperwork was complete and the building was theirs to work with in December 2023.
The building is currently owned by GIC and leased to the Franssens, who have plans to eventually purchase the location.
“It took about six hard months of design and stuff to figure it out. (When) we took over the building, we had to remodel the whole thing. We did it all ourselves” said Franssen.
So the labor began, which Franssen says was an all out family and friends effort. His wife Liz and their two kids, Ryan (10) and Tiffany (7) put in long hours alongside help from others who call Broken Bow home. Family from as far away as Wisconsin came to offer their help as well.
The project the group tackled included revitalizing some flooring, removing and replacing flooring, taking out a walk-in cooler, plenty of gallons of paint, and that word that many remodelers dread: “drywall”. Franssen said there wasn’t a wall in the building that didn’t require some kind of drywall work.
Giving a nod to a question about community, Franssen noted an impressive list of individuals who helped either with the borrowing of equipment or advice.
“We know how tight knit Broken Bow is and how many leaders there are in the community, and those leaders when I went to them and asked for advice, they all jumped right in to help us,” Franssen said.
Now a couple of weeks into the new two-location journey following a soft opening, Franssen said that roots are what he is committed to bringing to Gothenburg.
“We love our small communities and serving others. I think one of the best things that we bring is customer service and listening. We follow up on what we say. You know, if we can get it we will get it. If we say we’re going to get it, we’ll get it. I think that customer service is just a huge thing that we can pride ourselves on.”
Even during a stretch of time where Joe pulled his camper to Gothenburg to “catch at least a little sleep” and inventory is still finding its home on shelves, the Franssens recently donated jump ropes to all of the Dudley Elementary kindergartners.
The chalkboard hour sign out front shows hours of Monday to Friday 7:30 am to 7:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Sundays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Those who visit will see the Ace team continuing to fill shelves and rearrange items. A grand opening is in the near future.
“We’re still probably about two months out from a grand opening. We’re working on dates, waiting on a couple other people, some special guests. So then we’ll do probably a big three day open house,” Franssen said.
The business-opening grind continues on 9th street and shelves continue to be stocked, fueled by excitement and community support. The journey is one that Joe wouldn’t have predicted years ago, but it’s one that any observer can see has become a passion for the Franssen family.
Franssen shook his head, “I think six years ago if you had told me that we were going to be in the hardware industry instead of working for the phone company I would have thought you were crazy. You know, I thought I was a career guy for Great Plains because, you know, that’s such a great company too but we just found maybe a little bit of a niche that fit our family well.”
