Harbor Freight Tools has opened its first Elgin store.
The new location at 202 S. Randall Road fills the space formerly occupied by OfficeMax.
“We’ve been looking to open a location in Elgin for a number of years so that we can provide the tools and equipment at tremendous value to the community,” Trey Feiler, Harbor Freight’s senior vice president for real estate and construction, said in a store announcement.
The family-owned company was started in 1977 and now has more than 1,400 locations around the country, including one in Hanover Park.
Its high-profile spot at Randall and Route 20 should be good for traffic, store Supervisor Carl Diciolla said. “We hope to be one of the leaders in this market,” he said.
Following a soft opening last month, last weekend’s official grand opening went well despite the snow and frigid temperatures, Diciolla said.
Harbor Freight sells a wide variety of hardware-related merchandise, ranging from hand tools like screwdrivers and wrenches to larger items like generators, compressors and saws, Diciolla said.
What makes the company different is “we own the brands we sell,” he said. By not selling a range of goods made by other manufacturers, they are able to sell products at lower prices, he said.
“We have comparison charts throughout the store comparing our products to the main brands and how much you are saving” with Harbor Freight goods, he said.
Although the company is national, the goal is to create a mom-and-pop feel at each store, Diciolla said. “We try to be as welcoming as possible, greet everyone and ask what they are looking for,” he said.
Diciolla comes from the food service industry, and said he was looking for a career change so he could spend more time with his family.
“This is a company that values work-life balance. I’ve never had a company use that term. It was an attractive place to apply,” he said.
The new store has created between 25 and 30 new jobs, he said, and employs more than 28,000 people across the country.
Harbor Freight has received accolades from publications like Fortune, Forbes and DiversityJobs.com as being a best place to work in retail, a best place for women to work in retail and one of the country’s top employers for diversity and inclusion.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
