Wimberley Ace is more than a hardware store

Today’s quiz: How many hardware stores organize a pep rally when the high school band leaves for a competition, host community street dances and open the store to everyone for a pre-Christmas feast?

The answer: Who really knows? But the hardware store here in Wimberley does all that and more.

And there’s no purchase required.

Tad and Christy Degenhart have owned the local ACE Hardware store for five years. They have been associated with the store long before that in various capacities.

Over the years there have been ups and downs. When the store burned to the ground in 2013 it took a year to rebuild. A modern, new store rose from the ashes and it’s busier than ever. The business connects with Wimberley like few others.

“We’re from here,” explains Tad. “We both went to high school here. Obviously, we care about this town and want to give back.”

The list of charitable donations Tad and Christy make is staggering. In Christy’s office there are 12 whiteboards — one for each month — mounted on the wall. There are hundreds of charities listed — some big and some small —that have benefitted. The Degenhart’s contributions push $50,000 annually and that doesn’t count the cash that customers chip in. They need the boards to keep track of it all.

During the Memorial Day flood of 2015, the Degenharts woke up to dozens of text messages. Their home and the store were spared. They figured they had better get down and open the store early in case anyone needed supplies. When they got to the store at 6 a.m. the gravity of the disaster hit. Tad immediately headed to Austin to buy every hot dog he could get his hands on. That first day they served 1,100 meals, mostly for volunteers and first responders. A couple days later they were up to 3,000 meals a day and the hardware store served food donated by restaurants and became a coordination center for donations. That went on for three weeks.

The flood, hopefully, was a one-time event. But the charity that comes from ACE is on-going. Here are a few of the ways the store connects with the community:

Stocking Stuffer Night

People start lining up early in the afternoon for the Goodie Bag Giveaway that happens at 7 p.m. The 25 bags are valued at a couple hundred dollars each.

The Degenharts have a holiday buffet brought in and by the time the doors close, some 600 people will have attended. There’s an open wine and beer bar and a professional Santa. “He went to Santa School and everything,” says Christy. “He’s the real deal.”

Representatives of toy companies are scattered around giving demonstrations. There’s a raffle and a dessert bar. Everything in the store is discounted.

Planning for Stocking Stuffer Night begins in February. “My favorite (event) is Stocking Stuffer Night,” says Christy, “because I am a Christmas freak.”

The Degenharts pay for everything.

Texas Sendoffs

When any high school team requests a sendoff, the Degenharts arrange it.

They provide drinks, popcorn and noise-making devices, people line up along FM 2325 and cheer the departing competitors.

They have had sendoffs for the tennis teams, softball and baseball teams and the band. Christy even recalls a debate team that got a sendoff. When the football team advanced far into the playoffs a couple years ago, hundreds lined the road and ACE provided drinks, food and Texas gear.

“We’ll do it for whoever asks us,” says Christy.

The Degenharts pay for everything.

Margarita Monday

Tad went to an ACE national convention a few years ago while Christy stayed home and tended to their three kids. “He came back and told me he had bought a margarita machine,” recalls Christy. “I said, ‘what are we going to do with that?’ ”

And Margarita Monday was born.

So on designated Mondays, the machines dispense ice-cold margaritas. There are chips and salsa. Usually some sweets. There are some good deals at the store.

Typically, more than 100 people will show up and they go through about 15 gallons of margaritas.

“This last one, they drank everything,” Christy says while Tad tries to hide either a grin or a grimace. “There was not a drop left.”

The Degenharts pay for everything.

Register Round-up

The ACE corporate headquarters is closely associated with the Children’s Miracle Network, a charity that is affiliated with 170 children’s hospitals around the country. ACE has a program whereby simply pressing a “yes” button on the credit-card machine, you can round up your bill to the nearest even amount. Say your bill is $8.80. You hit yes and the bill becomes $9 with 20 cents going to charity.

The Degenharts have localized the program. During one quarter, Wimberley ACE donates proceeds to the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, part of the Miracle Network.

“We came up with three local organizations who represent our values and benefit the community,” says Christy. So donations from the other three quarters go to the local Habitat for Humanity, the Wimberley Youth Sports Association and the Emily Ann Theater and Gardens.

Each group is part of the program for three years. The quarterly donation is usually in the $10,000 range. That means after three years, each group will receive in the neighborhood of $30,000.

About 70 percent of ACE customers in Wimberley hit the “yes” button. “I want to give people the opportunity to help their community,” says Christy. “Of course, we have customers who come in here five or six times a day. They are not going to want to do it every time!”

The customers pay for this one.

Texan gear

ACE is the official headquarters for high school shirts and caps. ACE started selling Texan gear from a small display 12 years ago. It has grown into a display that almost reaches the ceiling.

“We felt it was their logo,” says Christy,” so they should get some of the benefit from it. It has really taken off.”

The high school Booster Club gets 25 percent of the sales. ACE pretty much breaks even. Last year, the Degenharts handed over a check to the Booster Club for more than $14,000.

Christy and some of the store’s employees design the merchandise. For example, there are 10 different cap styles and 30 different shirts. The navy blue and golf shirt with a white “W” is called the Tad model.

Football season, just before school starts is the hottest selling time.

Customers and the Degenharts both chip in.

Street dances

The street dances are held twice a year — one in April (before it gets too hot) and one before school starts in August. The parking lot is cleared out. Porta potties are set up. Drinks are provided. There’s a band. And there’s a raffle with the proceeds going to the local Special Olympics.

“It’s really a neat, small town event,” says Christy. “Wimberley used to have a street dance and they used to close the street down. Some say — and I have no evidence of this — that George Strait performed here at one of the street dances.”

Between 500 and 600 people show up for the dance and this spring almost $3,000 was raised for the Special Olympics.”

The Degenharts pick up the tab.

The beat goes on

The store provides free soft drinks and popcorn for first responders and employees of the school district. That amounts to about $750 a month. Every Friday, special-needs students come into the store as part of their Life Skills class and dust and return items to the shelves. The back fence — which is prime space facing HEB — has become a local community announcement center. Local groups, such as the Girl Scouts, set up tables at the entrance of the store for fundraisers. Of course, there are gift baskets and merchandise donated to various local clubs for raffles and door prizes.

The bottomline: This is a textbook example of how a local business can connect with its customers and give back.

“When our store burned down, this community showed us a whole lot of love,” says Tad. “This community supports us so it is only right they we help take care of our neighbors.”