Ace Hardware is expanding its footprint 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.
While 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 about 30 locations in the area. It operates 170 stores in 13 states.
Walgreens had occupied the space since around 2000, but the location closed less than a year ago.
Pharmacy closures are becoming increasingly more common. In the Kansas City area, nearly 100 pharmacies have closed in the past 10 years, according to reporting from The Beacon.
The closings involve several factors, The Beacon reported, including plummeting prescription profits for pharmacists and the rise of consumers buying in-store products online.
Last month, Walgreens announced that it would close about 500 stores. The announcement followed several other mass closures for the brand.
By 2027, 1 in 7 Walgreens that are currently open will be closed, according to a report by CNN.
Ace Hardware, however, 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 intended to bring Westlake to the 135th Street and Mur-Len Road shopping center in Olathe. Its location at 120 N. Clairborne Road may be displaced thanks to the Interstate 35 and Santa Fe corridor expansion.
Westlake also recently opened a location at 6327 W. 119th St. in Overland Park, in the former Sears Home & Life store.
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