A new Harbor Freight Tools store could be coming to Moline later this year.
A Harbor Freight company official confirmed to the QCBJ that the company is “actively looking” to set up a new store in Moline, but could offer no additional information.
“I can confirm that we are interested and actively looking to open a new store in Moline, but we are still early in the process of finding a location, so I don’t have any other details to provide,” Craig Hoffman, director of corporate communications and content for Harbor Freight, said in an email.
Mr. Hoffman said more details on a potential move to Moline could be available in a month or two.
Several City of Moline officials were contacted by the QCBJ on the Harbor Freight issue, but could not comment on or confirm the potential business transaction.
Harbor Freight is a top retailer of tools at low prices, and is headquartered in Calabasas, California, according to the company’s website.
The company currently has three stores in the Iowa Quad Cities region including Davenport, Muscatine and Clinton.
Harbor Freight Tools also is opening a new store in June at 4311 E. Lincolnway in Sterling, Illinois, according to the company’s website. That new store is going into a former Staples office supply store and will employ 35 to 30 people.
On Harbor Freight’s website, a “coming soon” feature lists 41 new Harbor Freight stores it plans to open from May to August. A potential Moline store is not included in that list.
Harbor Freight Tools opened its first store in 1977. Today, it has more than 1,200 stores nationwide and employs more than 20,000 people, according to the company website.
