Harbor Freight Tools is “moving forward” with plans for a new Moline store at the former Gordmans department store at 4401 27th St. near SouthPark Mall.
That new store is expected to open in mid-fall and hire around 30 people, Craig Hoffman, director of corporate communications and content for Harbor Freight, told the QCBJ.
Mr. Hoffman confirmed on Thursday, June 23, that Harbor Freight will soon start renovating the former Gordmans store. He added: “This particular location, which will take up a portion of the former Gordmans department store, will be 15,300 square feet, which is smaller than the so-called ‘Big Box’ stores in our category, and which we feel is a competitive advantage.”
“We also chose to open in Moline because we feel there is a wide pool of qualified applicants to join our team. We hire locally, and in addition to the construction workers we’ll be hiring, we’ll be bringing an additional new 25-30 jobs to the Moline community,” Mr. Hoffman added.
People interested in working at the new Moline store can apply online at www.harborfreightjobs.com/retail and search “Moline IL”.
The new Moline store will be Harbor Freight’s 40th store in Illinois.
Bob Vitas, Moline city administrator, told the QCBJ on Thursday that the discount tool company is “moving forward with its new location at the former Gordmans building at SouthPark Mall. The plan to split off the Harbor Freight site from the rest of the … mall property has been completed. … Remodeling plans are in review in the (city’s) Building Division.”
“We are quite excited to see the commercial reuse of the former Gordmans building at the SouthPark Mall,” Mr. Vitas added. “Harbor Freight is a great addition to the City of Moline and will serve to draw more customers to this critical commercial area of the city. We are looking forward to the start of the project buildout and grand opening of the new Harbor Freight location.”
The former Gordmans department store near SouthPark closed in the fall of 2020, according to the company’s website.
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 recently opened a new store at 4311 E. Lincolnway in Sterling, Illinois, in a former Staples office supply store, according to its website. That store had a soft opening on June 22, and will have a grand opening on July 9, Mr. Hoffman said.
On Harbor Freight’s website, a “coming soon” feature lists 35 new Harbor Freight stores it plans to open this summer and early fall. A 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.
