Rural Roots, Modern Retail
Hartville Hardware & Lumber reinvests in Middlefield with 175,000-square-foot store By Properties Staff | Photos by Titus Kurtz (TJK Media)
A
fter more than a year of construction, Hartville Hardware & Lumber has reopened its Middlefield Village location in a dramatically expanded new facility designed to better serve both professional tradespeople and the surrounding rural community. The new 175,000-square-foot store, located at 15260 Kinsman Rd., opened in September and replaces the company’s former, smaller Middlefield operation with a purpose-built retail and lumberyard complex tailored to local needs. The new store was envisioned as a long-term investment in a community it has served for years, according to Kelli Hill, marketing director with Hartville Hardware & Lumber. “The new Middlefield store represents a significant upgrade from our previous location in size and functionality,” Hill says. “It allows us to offer a broader product assortment, wider aisles, improved merchandising and a much more comfortable shopping experience overall.”
Flow, function + familiarity
The project team, which included architect John Elsey, of GBC Design, Inc., and Ivan Weaver Construction Inc. as general contractor, focused on building a store that would be easy to navigate and flexible for future growth. “From the beginning, our goal was to create a store that felt both purposeful and welcoming,” Hill says. “Functionality 14
was key with a focus on clear sightlines, department flow and spaces that support our guests.” Inside, the store features color-coded department walls to simplify wayfinding, charcoal-colored fixtures and
features are unique to the new facility, Hill says. “The Middlefield location includes several design elements tailored specifically to the community,” she notes. “These include expanded outdoor and agricultural-related spaces, an enhanced lumber and building materials areas, and design details that reflect the rural character of the surrounding area.” For instance, one defining interior feature is an expansive back-wall installation that celebrates the surrounding community’s agricultural heritage and landscape. Along the Kelli Hill sales floor, three-dimensional elements reference familiar rural structures, Hartville Hardware & Lumber including a red barn with white crossbuck doors and a sloped metal roof, a custom end caps and composite deck- silo clad in light-toned vertical panels ing-clad cash register stations. While with metal banding, as well as a corn the store shares brand consistency with crib and farmhouse constructed of wood its flagship location in Hartville, a few slats and corrugated metal.
“Our goal was to create a store that felt both purposeful and welcoming. Functionality was key with a focus on clear sightlines, department flow and spaces that support our guests.”
Properties | January 2026