Longtime Saline resident prepares to open ACE Hardware in The Oaks in Saline

Now he’s just days away from launching the results of that search: His family owned ACE Hardware store in The Oaks.

“This is a complete switch,” Junga said of the new store.

But it also fits his family and his goals, he said.

Junga has lived in Saline since 1987, raising 5 children in the community with Diane, his wife, who teaches in Woodland Meadows Elementary School.

During his career at companies that included Johnson Controls, Junga oversaw manufacturing for as many as 30 different plants, with responsibility for 1,500 employees.

But he also watched the automotive downsizing in recent years and recognized that it gave him the opportunity to choose a new direction for his career. After considering multiple businesses, he chose to invest in an ACE Hardware store. There are 4,800 ACE stores, a number growing due to a recent expansion effort.

He also wanted to run the business in Saline, where he hopes one of his children may eventually want to take it over.

“This is a 15-20 year business venture for me,” Junga said. “… (And) it’s a potential legacy business.”

The store is operated like a coop instead of a franchise. Individual retailers own the business, buying inventory from ACE and using its support systems, such as marketing.

Junga spent most of the year setting up the store, from looking for the site and signing the lease in June to ramping up during the 8-week build out.

During the past month, he’s been stocking the store in anticipation of the “soft opening” on Oct. 6.

The store’s location fills 10,500 square feet in The Oaks, located on Michigan Avenue just east of downtown Saline. It will be an anchor in the shopping center, which was completed just as the economic downturn took hold in Washtenaw County.

Junga said he believes the store will benefit the center and complement other hardware offerings in the vicinity. There’s an ACO Hardware nearby and Walmart offers hardware products.

Both of those stores have specific product lines that appeal to mass consumers, and some of it will be different from the ACE inventory. Junga said he'll stock about 20,000 items that will mostly be traditional hardware store inventory.

Hiring has been completed after about 150 people applied for the eight initial openings. Junga hopes to add 4 people to the mix soon.

Junga invested just under $1 million in the venture. While hoping for personal success for the store, he also hopes that his experience will inspire others to take the risk on investing in new business.

“There’s not enough of this going on in Saline and in Michigan,” he said. “When you tell someone you’re opening a store, their first reaction is, ‘Are you crazy?’

“After that … they’re genuinely happy to see the investment.”

Paula Gardner is Business News Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at 734-623-2586 or by email. Sign up for the weekly Business Review newsletter, distributed every Thursday, here.