Virginia Ace Hardware Store Hosts Sweet Community Event

Fairfax Ace Hardware in Fairfax, Virginia, hosts a tasty event each year to draw in customers. Beginning in 2015, Fairfax Ace Hardware wanted to join in on the fun of the annual Chocolate Lover’s Festival put on by the city of Fairfax and created an event entitled “Construct A Cupcake.”

“The City of Fairfax, Virginia’s annual Chocolate Lover’s Festival is a popular event with activities just blocks away from our store,” says Craig Smith, CEO of The Cool Hardware Company, a group of employee-owned Ace Hardware locations in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, areas. “We wanted to host our own event that could incorporate hardware and chocolate, and voila, Construct A Cupcake was born.”

At the event, community members are welcomed into the store and can donate $5 to decorate a cupcake in any way they choose. This year, an Ace employee created a groundhog cupcake, as the event took place on Groundhog Day.

Fairfax Ace partners with local Children’s Miracle Network hospitals for this event, with donations going towards helping children in need. Attendance reaches anywhere from 100 to 300 participants.

“Our community comes out year after year and lots of parents and caregivers bring their children to decorate a cupcake to benefit Children’s National Hospital,” Smith says. “Sometimes the older folks get in on the act too, which is always a blast. The younger ones tend to go overboard on the icing and sprinkles, to which we say, ‘The more, the merrier.’”

The event also draws in a crowd from nearby George Mason University.

“We often get several college students from nearby George Mason University, but one year seemed to attract dozens of them, most of whom appeared to be on a date,” Smith says. “We hadn’t thought of our store as a place to host dating couples, but it sure seemed to work.”

The store plans to continue “Construct A Cupcake” in the coming years.

“It’s been a blast and the Chocolate Lover’s Festival happens every year, so we plan to continue our part,” Smith says.