Ace showroom inaugurated in Maldives

Ace, the world’s sixth largest franchise, held the inauguration ceremony for a hardware showroom in Maldives last night.

The showroom opened by Kolod Maldives, a Maldivian company, is located behind Bondibaiy Park at M. Sosun Maage.

While speaking as Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony of Ace Hardware and Home Centre held at Trader’s Hotel, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed said that the opening of a showroom by a large franchise chain such as Ace indicates the level of economic development the Maldives has achieved, and that this is something Maldivians should be happy about. Also, to have a showroom such as this located in the country at a time when several housing projects are being planned for Male’ and other Atolls, is rather important.

“A large company such as Ace would not invest in Maldives unless they expect high returns. This indicates how much the country has developed economically,” the Vice President said.

Abbas Mohamed, Managing Director of Kolod Maldives who also spoke at the inaugural ceremony, said that this is the first Ace showroom in the Maldives and a wide range of good quality, branded housing products will be made available at reasonable prices. He also said that Kolod’s aim is to make available housing products to Maldivians at affordable prices, and this is only the beginning.

“Our aim is to make good quality, branded products accessible to Maldivians at reasonable prices. We offer products at about the same prices as they are offered in The US,” Abbas said.

Housing Minister Mr Mohamed Aslam was also present at the ceremony.

Kolod said that in addition to house-building products, Ace also carries paint, interior decorations, electrical products, kitchen products, garden products, and as well as kids’ toys. Also, this showroom which is the first to be opened in Asia, will make available 16,000 types of paint on demand. Kolod also said that although the official inauguration ceremony was held last night, the showroom will be opened to public on 20 December.

Ace Hardware was started in Chicago in 1924, by the merging of four hardware stores. They have expanded greatly, and today Ace outlets exist all over the world. They have more than 4,000 outlets in The US alone.