Hardware chain opens new call center

FORT MYERS — Ace Hardware officially opens its new customer contact center Fort Myers today.

The center plans to field its first call at 8 a.m., according to a statement. Ace Vice President of Human Resources Kane Calamari will be there as well, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the release adds.

In July Ace Hardware announced it would open a customer care center/call center in property inside Page Field owned by the Lee County Port Authority. When fully staffed, the 10,000-square-foot, fully renovated office space will house about 110 Ace employees.

The new space, say Ace Hardware officials, stems from the company running out of call center room in its suburban Chicago headquarters. There, in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace, the world's largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative, has 100 employees in two buildings and three floors.

Ace Hardware executives selected Fort Myers after a site search of more than 900 metro areas. While the Lee County Port Authority and area economic development officials helped Ace secure the site and offered job-training assistance, no economic development funds were used to woo the company.