Bests’ Ace Hardware expands near Five Points

About two years after moving just down Route 9 from the Five Points intersection, the Bests’ Ace Hardware near Lewes is nearing the completion of a remodeling project at its new location.

The Best family has been operating a business in and around the Nassau and Five Points areas for nearly 100 years. In 1932, Thomas Best Sr. built a grain milling operation alongside the railroad that went through Nassau.

The family moved the business to its previous location off Route 1 near Five Points in 1968. They moved the business again to its new location off Route 9 near Five Points in July 2022 to make way for the traffic improvements recently completed at the intersection of Route 9, Beaver Dam Road and Plantation Road.

Andrew Best, great-grandson of company founder Thomas Best Sr., said there’s still a bit of site work to finish and product to move, but it’s about 95% done.

“We are very pleased with how the new space turned out and are excited to share it with our customers,” said Best. “So far, the response from our customers has been extremely positive. We are very grateful and appreciative of all the loyal support and extra patience from our customers while we have been making the improvements and transitioning into the new space.”

The new layout allows the store to feel more open and spacious when customers enter, said Best.

The new space is about three times the size of what they had been operating in since the move, said Best. The parking lot is tripled, and there’s a full garden center again, he said.

Best said the store’s retail space is still a little smaller than the old location. However, he said, with the latest merchandising and using a slightly taller fixture, there’s about the same amount of product as the old store.

The front room that had been retail will transition into a space for grill assembly and storage, said Best. The plan is to get back into additional services later this year, such as screen repair, and that will be the space where that will happen as well, he said.

Best said there will be a grand reopening from Thursday, June 20 through Saturday, June 22.

The hours of operation for Bests’ Ace Hardware, 32437 Lewes-Georgetown Hwy., are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday. For more information, call 302-645-6658 or go to bestace.com.