HouseMart Ace Hardware reopened Sunday in the Pahoa MarketPlace following its closure in December as the June 27 lava flow threatened the area. The first announcement of the reopening was made on Jan. 16 through the store’s Twitter account.

Don Adkins said Monday that his staff had worked hard over the past couple weeks to get the store back in business after customers in the Pahoa area commented on wanting their “hardware store back.”

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While the store was closed, employees were relocated to other HouseMart stores in East Hawai’i. The reopening of the Pahoa location, however, has employees back at their home store.

“Although there is still a threat of lava being present in the area, we are confident with our communication with Hawai’i County Civil Defense that our decision to return to the Puna community is a safe one for our neighbors, employees and our operations,” said HouseMart Ace Hardware Pahoa’s chief operations officer, Cory Chagami.

The family-owned HouseMart company owns six Ben Frankin Craft stores and 24 Ace Hardware stores throughout Hawai’i, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. The company is headquartered in Honolulu.