A new Harbor Freight Tools store is scheduled to open in Moline in October filling a vacant storefront next to SouthPark Mall.
The discount tool store plans to move into the former Gordmans department store at 4401 27th St. The store is expected to hire about 30 people, according to Craig Hoffman, director of corporate communications and content for Harbor Freight.
As of Monday, July 18, the Harbor Freight website stated that the new Moline store currently is set to open in October.
Mr. Hoffman told the QCBJ that the Moline store is on schedule for a mid to late October opening, but no specific opening date has been scheduled yet.
In late June, he said that Harbor Freight would soon begin renovating the former Gordmans store. “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,” he added.
The former Gordmans department store closed in the fall of 2020, according to the company’s website.
“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 said.
Job-seekers interested in working at the new Moline store can apply online here and search “Moline IL”.
The new store will be Harbor Freight’s 40th store in Illinois.
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 Wednesday, June 22, and its grand opening on Saturday, July 9, Mr. Hoffman said.
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 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.
