100th Anniversary Block Party events being held at all Sunshine Ace stores in SWFL
Sunshine Ace Hardware is hosting free, family-friendly 100th Anniversary Block Party events on June 29 to commemorate Ace Hardware’s founding a century ago.
A signature community event, the Ace Celebrates 100 Party, will be held in Bonita Springs and feature an Old Florida Roaring ‘20s theme and includes antique cars, free food, drinks, games, activities, and live music.
At the Bonita Springs event, a private collection of antique automobiles from the 1920s will be displayed with Prohibition-era barrels and Roaring ‘20s props for family photos. Participating vendors will offer product demos, including Big Green Egg, Traeger, Weber, Benjamin Moore, DeWalt, STIHL, Diablo, Scott’s, Milwaukee and Craftsman. Gator Nate, known for his “Florida swamp music,” will perform a free concert onstage. Big Green Egg will have Chef Shannon Morgan, aka the Big Green Egg Foodie, serving up 1920s-style grilled oysters Rockefeller and pineapple upside-down cake on the Big Green Egg; Traeger will be cooking up pulled pork tacos. For children and families, the Wonder Gardens will host a pop-up Exotic Animal Encounter that offers meet-and-greets with animal ambassadors. Jenga, Connect 4, cornhole and other games will highlight an activity station with giveaways for children.
Inside, guests will enjoy grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, birthday cupcakes and a YETI Drink Bar featuring lemonade, sodas and water. The Bonita Springs store event will also offer exclusive “Deals of the Century” with steep discounts that day in-store only.
“We host a lot of large community events, like Big Green EGGfest and Reel in the Sunshine, but this will be – by far – our biggest celebration in years,” said Michael Wynn, president of Sunshine Ace Hardware. “We’ll have balloons throughout the store, lots of food and entertainment, and our associates will all be wearing Ace Hardware 100-year retro Ace logo T-shirts with fedoras or flappers’ headgear.”
Sunshine Ace Hardware, which got its start in 1958, is one of just four franchises worldwide that is receiving added attention for its 100th Anniversary Block Party. Ace Hardware is sending a film crew to Southwest Florida to document the celebration.
Ace Hardware was founded in 1924 by a group of five Chicago hardware store owners that changed the retail landscape by allowing individual stores to pool their buying power and purchase merchandise in bulk, ultimately passing those savings on to consumers. Today, Ace Hardware is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world with over 5,900 locally owned and operated hardware stores in 60 countries. Earlier this year, Ace Hardware launched Vintage Threads, a collection of clothing and hats featuring historic logos from the company’s past.
The signature Ace Celebrates 100 Party will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 29 at Sunshine Ace Hardware, 9100 Bonita Beach Road in Bonita Springs.
All other Sunshine Ace Hardware stores in Southwest Florida will be celebrating the milestone with a 100th Anniversary Block Party that includes complimentary grilled food from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For a complete list of store locations, please visit SunshineAce.com/sunshine-locations.
