Crown Ace Hardware and upstairs art studio nearing closure in Costa Mesa
For about 50 years, a group of artists has gathered in an unlikely studio — a loft above a bustling hardware store in Costa Mesa.
But the Artist Loft Studio will have to find a new home as Crown Ace Hardware, from which the studio rents space, prepares to fold its location at 2666 Harbor Blvd., ending a long history of a hardware store in that spot.
Crown Ace President Mark Schulein said the building will be closing because the owners of the ground where the store sits are selling. The art studio and hardware store are expected to be gone by the end of April, and with them, a mix of loyal customers from Costa Mesa and the surrounding area.
“We’re a long-term Orange County company, family-run,” Schulein said. “We so appreciate the support that we’ve had at this store and all these stores for many years.”
There have been more than 20 offers for the property, which also includes used-car dealer EU Motorsports, said Bill Pedersen, a Realtor from Matthews Real Estate Investment Services. The future of the dealership is unknown.
Once a deal closes in the next couple of months, the new owner will decide on the extent of the lease, so Crown Ace could stick around past April.
“When we acquired [the building] almost 20 years ago, we knew that this could potentially happen at the end of the lease,” Schulein said. “We’re not getting kicked out. The [land] owner has every right to do whatever they want with it.”
Neither he nor Pedersen identified who owns the land.
Joyce Casey, who ran the art studio until recently, said, “It’s just been a huge, supportive environment for all these years.”
According to signatures and dates etched into its easels, the art studio has been there since the 1960s, Casey said.
“Everything was just always on a handshake,” she said. “They just let us use the space, and it was just amazing. You don’t find that anywhere, especially something that would be handed down from person to person for over 50 years.”
For decades, small groups of artists have gathered in the loft space for weekly lessons in painting, mosaics, drawing and other media. Class payments would cover the costs of rent and supplies, Casey said — just enough to break even. When artists needed an odd tool — a yardstick perhaps, or a paintbrush — they could just skip downstairs to buy one.
“We’re spoiled,” said Alice Leggett, an Artist Loft Studio painting teacher.
When asked where the art studio will go after April, current owner Bob Bucci laughed.
“I haven’t got a clue,” said the 75-year-old acrylic painting teacher.
On a recent afternoon, several empty easels lined a wall of the darkened studio space, just above the hardware store floor where shoppers brushed past yellow discount signs promoting “30% off electrical” and “40% off hardware.”
The closure of Crown Ace will end about 60 years of hardware stores at the site. Before the Schulein family took over in 2002, the spot was occupied by a True Value hardware store, which replaced Kerm Rima’s hardware and nursery.
Though a Home Depot sits just a mile down Harbor Boulevard, many locals said they prefer the Crown Ace location.
Sam Orellana, 24, said he visits about once a week for items such as screws, a trash can or glass cleaner.
“If I need a cutting board, I can get that while I get my screws,” Orellana said. “That helped a lot.”
Real estate broker James Harvey, 52, said he holds a business account with Home Depot but prefers to buy personal items at Crown Ace. Though he couldn’t find a special fitting for his car that he was hunting for recently, Harvey said Crown Ace is typically his “go-to store.”
“I’d rather support the local, small store vs. the conglomerate,” Harvey said. “I’ve always supported my local store.”
Employees are busy stocking the shelves with the last few shipments.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” said assistant manager Dan Hawley, who has worked for the Crown Ace store for 15 years.
After the closure of the Costa Mesa store — and another in Carlsbad — Crown Ace will have 18 stores in the western United States. The chain will keep all employees from the Harbor Boulevard location and spread them around neighboring businesses, Schulein said.
Hawley said moving to a nearby store wouldn’t inconvenience him too much.
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