Store celebrates 140 years

Dating back almost to the Great Fire of Chicago, Stauber’s Ace Hardware turned 140 years old in 2012.

Founded in 1872 by Louis Stauber, a Swiss immigrant, in Chicago one year after the Chicago fire ravaged the city. The store was relocated more than 100 years ago to the Northcenter area of Chicago, where it currently does business today.

In the early 1900s, the store become one of the first in Chicago to sell Harley Davidson motorcycles.

William Stauber, the son of the founder Louis, went on to found Ace Hardware Corp. with three other hardware store owners in 1924. Stauber's Ace Hardware is still family owned and operated by Steve Stauber the great grandson of the founder.