Rocky’s Ace Hardware chain buys former Smithland Pet & Garden Center site in Manchester
Luther Turmelle, CT Insider- September 29, 2025
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- Posted by clangan
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A Springfield, Mass.-based hardware store chain has acquired a former Manchester-based garden center that closed in May.
Rocky’s Ace Hardware, which bills itself as one of the country’s largest family-owned Ace Hardware dealers, acquired the former Smithland Pet & Garden Center location at 33 Adams St. for $2.1 million. The original asking price for the property had been $3 million.
When it closed, Smithland had a main building on the site of nearly 13,500 square feet as well as just over 5,000 square feet of greenhouse space. Brian Bowler, the director of marketing for Rocky’s, said the main building will be renovated and expanded before Rocky’s opens in the Manchester location in March.
The Manchester store was one of 13 Smithland locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts that closed in May.
The first of those shuttered Smithland locations, at 1198 Queen St. in Southington, sold for $3.2 million in August to North Branford-based Van Wilgen’s Garden Center.
Rocky’s President Rocco Falcone said the Manchester store will be the chain’s third in Connecticut, joining locations in Stamford and Vernon.
“We’re thrilled to expand our presence in Connecticut and bring the Rocky’s experience to Manchester,” Falcone said in a written statement. “This community-focused location will allow us to continue delivering the exceptional service, quality products and neighborhood feel our customers have trusted for generations.”
Bowler said the Manchester location was chosen, in part, because the town “is known as a shopping destination.”
“We’re always looking for new locations in Connecticut because New England is a core market,” he said. “But at this point, we don’t have any plans for additional Connecticut stores” beyond the one in Manchester.
Once the new store opens, Rocky’s will have 51 stores across Connecticut and eight other states.
