Ace Hardware Center

I popped into Ace while killing time until my to-​go order from across the street was ready. I hadn’t been in the store since college, and it doesn’t appear that much has changed.
This location has everything. Like, seriously — do you need a toaster? How about some house paint? You also needed numbers for outside your house, and 3M hooks, and honeysuckle hand soap? Pile it in that wheel barrow, but don’t try to drive it through the store because the aisles are tiny and crammed with items floor ceiling and you’ll never get through.
The claustrophobic nature of the store is a problem for me (I was in constant fear of knocking something off the shelf/​being crushed), but the staff is super nice and checked on us to see if we were looking for anything in particular and I don’t doubt that if I didn’t want to navigate through the store I could just ask them to grab whatever I was stopping in to get.
Overall, the feeling of the place is if that of a massive toolshed owned by a grandfatherly hoarder, but in a good way.

I came in looking for a wooden dowel to use for some shoulder exercises I was prescribed by my PT. This store is jam packed, kind of like a hardware wonderland, so instead of asking I just decided to go on a treasure hunt and find it myself. I’d never been all through the store before, and I had fun delving into its labyrinthine recesses. I finally found the dowels in the farthest back corner of the place, near a secret workshop where they do window repairs and such. I brought my dowel to the front and asked to have it cut to size, which they did without any problem or any charge. They even have their own custom Just Coffee blends available by the bag at the front register. Nice staff, quick service, it’s all a win. Except for the tiny parking lot, but it is what it is. Except when a guy in a huge Suburban backs out without even looking, almost right into you. Or me, in this case. But besides that, it’s all good!

Great hardware store and very helpful people. The owners are good, fair people.
Only complaint is the limited hours.

This is a terrible hardware store. If you start going here, it will become an addiction. You’ll start off hanging some pictures… and then that will turn into refinishing a coffee table, and eventually you’ll build a back deck and start a garden… while you’re at it, you might as well redo your bathroom.
All the while, every time you have to go back to Ace because you NEED more tools, you’ll stop into the bakery next door and buy fresh pastries and coffee… which adds up. It’s awful.
That said, it’s a great addiction. If you can possibly avoid going out to the big box hardware stores, go to Ace. It’s not really more expensive, the staff is much more helpful, and like I said — there are fresh cinnamon rolls next door. And great Pad Thai across the street.

People working here are just so helpful and friendly. They helped me find things to hang on the wall, nails and others, light bulbs, answer my questions on why certain things don’t work, etc etc.
It may seem no big deal for others, but for me who don’t grow up in the US it means a lot (imagine yourself standing in front of a whole array of noodles in Asian market trying to pick the right one, all labeled in Chinese). I can come here and know people are willing to help.
Thank you for the help.

There’s a little bit of everything & an awful lot in a small store. I could browse around for hours! The staff is always friendly and helpful without being pushy, too.

I just like the way the place smells. Maybe the olfactory response is linked to the wood floors, the lighting, the displays and the old world charm. But this girl isn’t just beautiful she has brains. The staff is incredibly smart and helpful. They initiate contact, ask how they can help and then they deliver in a way I can understand. This is a neighborhood gem that must never disappear.

I can’t believe I never got around to writing a review on ACE.
I’m so suspicious that I wrote one and maybe it was «filtered.»
Normally, I don’t like to review places that have been done to death or has a really high rating as not to skew their rating but man this is the place.
What is that you ask? Does the family still own and operate = CHECK.
What you bought that somewhere else and need our help without complaint = CHECK & CHECK.
What you don’t know how we have our tools out for everyday use by customers = check check CHECK. (Maybe they’re not for customer use but hey… we were being assisted and appreciated every moment)
Would you like me to do it for you says the son or grandson and then talk about how my kid’s school needs help from us from time to time so we get it when teachers say, «I need help. I’m trying to improve the school.» And yep! We will help you for free.
CHECK CheCk UBER CHECK check ChEcK.
These guys are friendly, service-​oriented and are so good that I feel guilty when going elsewhere. We only tried this place after the one on campus was so ergh disgusting and tried to rob us but this place is sooooooo the bee’s knees that I happily patronize Ace Hardware throughout Wisconsin based on my 1^st experience with this location.
Yep, the shelves are stocked jam packed. Not because they are not making sales but because they keep things in stock. You can’t fund it — no worries. Real men work here and they know (1) what you’re trying to describe, (b) what you meant to say, © what you really want and MOREOVER (4) Where it’s located!
You’d almost feel bad that they’re running out to get a product that you could have easily stopped overlooking but they don’t make you feel bad about it. They offer tootsie rolls at check out (or some little candy). Why does this matter especially since I don’t want the candy? Because this is how it was always done or at least throughout my childhood. If you went somewhere with your parents and just had to be forced to run errands — there was a sweet treat at all, if not every, stop.
Can you tell I like this place? Lengthy review or babbling at its best. I heart this one and like the one on Park Street as well. I miss the one from Raymond Rd but will skip by the one off Midvale only to always miss their opened hours.
I can get every little thing or buy in bulk. I can get great service without a bunch of teenagers — haphazardly making me look like an expert and even when the kids are at work… they know what they’re doing.
Support the Little guys. Be impressed then become LOYAL.
5 stars for service
5.5 for their attitudes
3.5 for the parking on Willy St (which has nothing to do with them but I promise it feels like the lane expansion did nothing to help this place).

I can’t get enough of this store. The service is over-​the-​top helpful, the selection is vast, and the prices are on-​par with most big box stores. Sure, a few of their items are slightly more pricey, but when you factor in the quality service, I’m happy to spend an extra ten or twenty cents for a particular item.
Every time I’ve stopped-​in, the staff has helped me as if I was a life-​long customer/​family member/​guy-​who-​dontated-​an-​organ-​to-​one-​of-​them person. I’ve never had them tell me, «Sorry, we don’t have that.» I’ve never had them give me a blank stare when requesting a part, tool, or accessory.
The store is dog friendly; if I bring Flea or Chad, the employees always offer a treat.
All-​in-​all, this is a truly fantastic store.

I came in the store looking for a shelf support peg that I wasn’t sure if they would have. Little did I know, it was a very common part. The friendly employee helping me pointed me in the right direction and I found what I needed. They have everything from lightbulbs to screws to gardening stuff. And they also have parking in the back. Win.

Love this place — like taking a walk back in time, and it’s one of those «you name it, they got it» kinda places. Very friendly staff and good prices. Go there all the time. Miss the dog though.

I love this hardware store. This is the kind of place that makes Madison feel like a small town – in a good way. They have a great staff and will help you find whatever you need. They have ordered things for me in the past, but their in store selection is very good as well. They even have some parking in the back.

Remember when you went to the corner store because you needed a nail and they sold 1 size and they were so happy to sell you their one size and offered up incredible neighborhood-​y customer service like the 1 nail you wanted to buy and the one size it came in had just made their day? Well flash forward 19 decades and swap nail for 15 watt B light bulb and you have me on Sunday trying to make sense of the cornucopia of lighting options at Ace. Customer service is still the same though, friendly, fast and history to boot. These guys talked to me about wattage, volts, bulb size and everything in between and even though the place itself is a little frozen in time, I like that and will continue to go back time and time again.

Extremely friendly and helpful employees — what’s not to love! I can find just about anything I need here, and if they don’t have it, most likely they can order it for you.
Oh — and they sell their own blend of Just coffee here. It’s my favorite!

Totally fits in with the willy street culture.
Love that a chain name is UNIQUE and actually has familiar faces that you recognize whenever you visit.
You can get almost everything you want from Ace Hardware Center! Snacks, drinks, tools, kitchen gadgets, cleaning agents, furniture. Wow, I’m grateful for Willy street Ace hardware!

Here’s what a trip to the Ace on Willy St. is like: I drive up, park in back, come in, tell them what I need, they magically pull it out of their floor-​to-​ceiling stock, I pay them a reasonable amount of money, and I leave. Start to finish, maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Service is friendly, spot-​on helpful, and typically I don’t leave without laughing a time or two. Why people in the Willy St. neighborhood would waste their time going to Walmart or Home Depot is lost on me.

Located conveniently on Willy St., its the type of hardware store you expect to see Dennis the Menace running around in. Small, friendly, and knowledgeable, its a shocking change to the big box places.
My hardware store of choice.

Local. Hardware. Store.
Power tools, cold weather gear, bird feed, lumber, plumbing supply… I have never come in and not found exactly what I needed. This place has such a feeling of community that I can’t help but love it. The old wooden floors, the stacked-​to-​the-​ceiling shelves with anything and everything you could EVER possibly need for your house or apartment, the friendly service — this place is a gem. It is a reminder of the way things used to be, and the way I’d like stores to still be. Think «opposite of Wal-​Mart» and you’ve basically got Willy Street Ace Hardware Center.