Ace is the Place: Oak Street Ace
April 13, 2008
Oak Ace Hardware is definitely not the biggest hardware store in town but what it lacks in square footage it more than makes up for in know-how, convenience, and character. Wheel barrows and trash cans are marketed out front, screen and lamp repair are advertised on a hanging sign. Oak Ace carries just about anything you might need at a moment’s notice—everything from brooms and screwdrivers to iron skillets.
With its breakfast counter, coffee shops, barber—it even has a shoe repair shop—Oak still very much feels like the 19th Century main street it was originally built as when Carrollton was still a separate city from New Orleans proper. And the hardware store is very much a part of that, and has been since 1929.
Chick Foret bought the Oak Street hardware store in 1964 and 7 years later expanded it and moved it down the street to its present location at the corner of Oak and Cambronne, where owner Bruce Foret has continued to run the business since his father’s death.
Bruce has seen the neighborhood, and their business model, change over the years. When his father opened the business, Oak Ace used to be the place to get an entire set of pipes for your house or other large-scale projects. “Everything started changing in about 1984 when the first Lowe’s opened in Jefferson Parish,” Bruce remembers. “After that the larger projects became fewer and fewer.”
“We still have the capacity and the know-how to do these large projects,” says Bruce. “We just need to fight the perception that the big boxes are cheaper or are the only place to stock what you need.” Despite its definitively “small-box” footprint, Oak Ace, like most local stores, has the capacity to order just about anything online that it doesn’t carry and have it within a couple days.
Today, most Oak Ace customers are people who need to pick up something quick or need that certain bit of know-how they can’t get at the Lowe’s or Home Depot. That is precisely where Bruce sees his market today, in a neighborhood niche but also as a place to get questions answered. “A lot of the folks that come in here anymore are carrying their Lowe’s or Home Depot bag and have a question that they couldn’t get answered—they come to us.” Customer service is what today distinguishes Oak Ace from those big boxes.
Oak Ace is the ideal place to go for first-time homeowners in the process of learning about the care and feeding of a 100-year-old house. Customers are greeted by experienced staff at the door and guided to what they need, or rather, what they think they need. When necessary, Oak Ace staff help customers make a more appropriate or cost-effective choice.
Often, customers come to Oak Ace for more than just hardware or paint; they come for a bit of camaraderie, something that is in short supply along the aisles of Lowe’s and Home Depot.
Oak Street Ace
8338 Oak St.
NOLA 70118
Tel. (504) 861-4501
Open Mon – Fri 8:30 am – 5:30 pm and Sat 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
