If you’ve lived around the western suburbs of Minneapolis for any length of time, you know the drill. You start a "quick" Saturday morning project, realize you’re missing a specific 5/8-inch galvanized coupling, and suddenly your afternoon is staring down the barrel of a forty-minute round trip to a massive warehouse store where the employees hide in the lumber aisle. This is exactly why Ace Hardware Long Lake exists. It’s not just a store. Honestly, it’s more like a survival kit for homeowners in the Orono, Wayzata, and Long Lake area who value their time more than a five-cent discount on a bulk pack of generic screws.
Locals call it the Long Lake Ace. It sits right there on Virginia Avenue, tucked just off Highway 12. While the world moves toward automated checkout kiosks and "pick up in locker" retail models, this place stays stubbornly human.
What Sets the Long Lake Location Apart?
Retail is brutal right now. You see storefronts closing everywhere. Yet, hardware stores—specifically well-managed Ace cooperatives—seem to have this weird immunity to the Amazon effect. Why? Because you can’t download a propane tank refill. You can’t FaceTime an app to figure out why your weed wacker is spitting blue smoke.
At Ace Hardware Long Lake, the business model is built on "tribal knowledge." That’s the kind of expertise held by people who have actually fixed a leaky faucet in a 1920s lakeside cottage. They know the local water table affects how your sump pump runs. They know which grass seed actually survives a Minnesota winter and which ones are a total waste of your Saturday.
The store layout is tight. It’s dense. You aren’t walking three miles to find the plumbing section. It’s all right there. If you walk in looking confused, someone usually asks if you’re okay within thirty seconds. It’s almost startling if you’re used to the "self-service" neglect of the big-box retailers.
Services You Actually Use
Most people think of hardware stores for hammers and nails, but the Long Lake spot survives on the stuff people hate doing themselves.
- Screen and Window Repair: This is huge in the spring. Everyone pulls their screens out of the garage, realizes the cat shredded three of them over the winter, and drops them off here. They do it right, and the tension is actually correct.
- Key Cutting: Ever tried to use one of those automated key kiosks at a grocery store? They work maybe 60% of the time. The guys here actually know how to calibrate the machine. They do chip keys for cars, too, which saves you a literal fortune compared to going to a dealership in Wayzata.
- Propane Exchange and Fills: Essential for the grilling season.
- Stihl Equipment Power Center: This is a big deal. They don’t just sell the cheap plastic trimmers. They carry Stihl, and more importantly, they can tell you how to maintain the engine so it doesn’t gum up with ethanol gas over the winter.
The "Lakeside" Factor
Geography matters. Being in Long Lake means this store caters to a specific demographic. You’ve got high-end homeowners in Orono who need premium Benjamin Moore paint colors, and you’ve got contractors who need reliable fasteners for a deck build.
The paint department is particularly legit. They use high-end tinting technology. If you bring in a flake of paint from a wall you painted in 2012, they can usually match it well enough that you won't have to repaint the entire room. That’s a massive win for anyone trying to maintain a home without losing their mind.
Why Small-Scale Hardware Still Wins
People talk about "buying local" like it’s a charity. It isn't. Buying at Ace Hardware Long Lake is a selfish act of efficiency.
Think about the math. If you go to a giant retailer, you spend fifteen minutes parking, ten minutes walking to the back of the store, and fifteen minutes waiting for a distracted teenager to find a key for the locked power tool cabinet. At the Long Lake Ace, you’re in and out in ten minutes. You might pay an extra dollar for the drill bit, but you saved an hour of your life. What is your hour worth? Probably more than a dollar.
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The Community Connection
There is a distinct lack of "corporate polish" here, and I mean that as a compliment. The signage is clear, the floors are clean, but it feels like a workshop. It smells like wood shavings and oil.
They support the local schools. They know the names of the landscapers who pull their rigs into the lot every morning at 7:30 AM. It’s an ecosystem. When you buy a bag of salt for your water softener here, that money stays in the local economy rather than evaporating into a corporate headquarters in another state.
Common Misconceptions About Ace
A lot of people think Ace is a franchise. It’s actually a retailers' cooperative. Each store is independently owned. This is vital because it means the owner of the Long Lake location can choose what to stock based on what we actually need, not what a computer in Illinois thinks will sell.
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If there’s a sudden ice storm, they prioritize salt and shovels. If there’s a drought, they load up on hoses. It’s reactive, local, and incredibly smart.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Visit
Don't just wander the aisles. If you have a project, bring a picture of the problem on your phone. Seriously. Show the person in the plumbing or electrical aisle exactly what you're looking at. They can usually spot the one specialized washer or nut you need in about four seconds.
Also, join the Ace Rewards program. I know, another loyalty card. But this one actually sends you five-dollar coupons in the mail that aren't tied to some ridiculous "spend $500" requirement. It makes that local "price gap" almost non-existent.
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Moving Forward with Your Project
If you’re sitting on a home repair project in the Long Lake area, stop over-analyzing it.
- Take a photo of the model number or the broken part.
- Drive to the Virginia Ave location before 6:00 PM (check their seasonal hours, as they sometimes shift).
- Ask for help immediately. Don't be the person who wanders for twenty minutes out of pride.
Supporting Ace Hardware Long Lake ensures that when your pipes burst at 8:00 AM on a Tuesday, there’s actually someone nearby who has the parts to fix it. Keep the local infrastructure alive by using it. It’s that simple.
Check your garage for empty propane tanks or dull mower blades today. Take them in, get them serviced, and keep your gear running before the next season hits. This kind of proactive maintenance is exactly what the "Ace lifestyle" is about—doing it yourself, but not doing it alone.