PK’s local hardware store under new ownership, and new name
Story by Michelle Ince | Photo by Erika Carter
PK Ace Hardware & Building Supplies store owners Leslie and Mitch Bradshaw
Possum Kingdom Lake now has its very own Ace Hardware store, and this local link in the nationally franchised chain is owned by Leslie and Mitch Bradshaw.
Leslie Bradshaw and her family have been coming to the lake for many years, she said, and the couple has big plans for their business, which they bought last year in early October.
“We just love this area,” she said. “We love the people here.”
Although the couple resides in Mineral Wells, Texas, they have a condo at the Villas and said they enjoy their time at the lake.
The Bradshaws, who also own Ace Hardware in Mineral Wells, said they had watched during the years that Smart Hardware was in operation.
“The Smarts did a great job with this store,” Leslie Bradshaw said. “I remember it before they bought it, and they made great improvements.”
She added: “After the Smarts bought it, I would always give Mitch a hard time, because he would say, ‘Man, I would really like to own that store,’ and I would always tell him, ‘You should have told them you were interested before they sold it.’
“Mitch ended up leaving a card at the store about six or seven years ago and asked them to call if they were ever interested in selling. John Smart came by our store in Mineral Wells and left his card on Mitch’s desk, and here we are. It’s all God’s timing. We always felt like we could build on what they did by converting it to an Ace Hardware.”
Converting hardware stores is nothing new for the Bradshaws. Leslie Bradshaw said her in-laws had converted an old hardware store in Mineral Wells into an Ace Hardware in September 1993, and in January 2011 she and her husband bought the store from them.
When asked what an Ace Hardware can bring to the Possum Kingdom area, she replied, “We hope to increase product selection through our partnership with Ace, (which) will allow us to better serve our customers in this area.”
“We’re going to do a reset of the entire store starting April 1,” she added. “We’re carefully going through and hand-picking items we feel will better serve the residents of PK Lake. Overall, each department is getting a major overhaul. We’re adding online ordering through acehardware.com. We’re bringing in popular brands like Stihl, Ego, Yeti, Traeger, Blackstone and Gozney Pizza Ovens. All of this being said, we want to bring the ‘helpful hardware
place’ to your local Ace Hardware. If we don’t have something you need, please let us know and we will get it for you.”
PK’s local hardware store under new ownership, and new name
