New grocery store expected next year in shuttered Ace Hardware location in Elgin

A new grocery store is expected to open next year in the former Ace Hardware location in Elgin.

The Elgin City Council approved a zoning request Wednesday for the proposed store at 1158 Lillian St. to sell accessory package liquor at the location as well as to construct an outdoor refuse enclosure.

The name of the grocery store wasn’t part of the application, but city documents list the owner as J. Alfredo Sanchez Lopez of Lillian Street Property LLC.

“Just happy to see something going here,” council member Tish Powell said. “I’m excited for this neighborhood to have another amenity there.”

Building permits to transform the 17,000-square-foot space into a grocery store were approved in May, and no changes were proposed to the exterior of the building.

The property will get new landscaping, and the parking lot will be seal-coated and restriped. The existing pole sign will be removed in favor of signage on the building’s exterior.

Ace Hardware didn’t have dumpsters on the site, and the new enclosure will be built on the north side of the property.

The new grocery store, expected to open its doors in early 2027, would be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

rwest@dailyherald.com