Merhar's ACE Hardware

According to the Ely Times (December 26, 1890), the ACE Hardware building is the oldest brick building in Ely. It was built by John Anderson, initially the Postmaster in Tower, who walked to Ely before the railroad was brought in. He opened the building as a general merchandise store, calling it The Big Store. Shortly after, he took on a partner, Otto G. Korb and the business became Anderson and Korb. The building has continued as a retail establishment to this day. Read further to discover the owners and businesses and their stories. 

Mr. Anderson built the building in 1890 (about). In December 1890, he took on a partner, Otto G. Korb and together they ran their store under the name of Anderson and Korb. Mr. Korb was a member of the first Board of Trustees when Ely was established as a Village in 1888. By 1910 he had returned to Wisconsin with his family and appears in the 1910 census there. 

In 1905, Mr. Anderson sold the building to the Berglund Brothers – Olaf, Andrew, John, and Oscar Berglund. The brothers were immigrants from Sweden. They operated the general merchandise business on the site for over twenty-five years until they closed during the difficult business environment of the 1930s. 

Olaf was the first of the brothers to arrive in the US in 1888 when he was just 21. Twelve years later, in 1900 he was single, owned his own home and was operating a business in Ely. Olaf married his wife Augusta in 1903 and they had four children. 

Oscar, the much younger brother, arrived soon after Olaf in 1898. He initially joined in the business but left sometime before 1930. He eventually worked for the school district as a ground’s keeper.  Oscar married his wife Ida in 1911 and they had two children.

John W., Oscar’s twin brother, came later, about the time the store on Chapman Street was purchased in 1905. He was 28 at the time. Seventeen years later, in 1922 he married his wife, Katherine. They had one son, Raymond. After the business closed John took jobs as a fireman, barber, and janitor.  

The fourth and oldest of the brothers, Andrew also came later in 1905 with his wife, May, and three children and joined Olaf in the business. Andrew and May had two more children in Ely.  Andrew, who was 63 in 1930, appears to have retired when the store closed.

The 1930s were difficult for many businesses. The Berglund Brothers’ dream ended after twenty-five years of hard but honest work by the brothers. They all lived long lives into their 70s and beyond.

In the 1930s, after the Berglund’s store closed Charles Merhar, Louis Champa and Peter Kayute moved their hardware business from Sheridan Street (at the current Dee’s Bar location) to this site. Charles and Louis were both born in Yugoslavia in the 1880’s. Pete Kayute was a Minnesota native of Finnish descent. These three men ran the business until they retired during the 1960s.  At that time Charles’ son, Charles L (Charlie) Merhar, assumed the ownership of the business.   Charlie and his wife Katherine ran the store until their son, Charles John (Cherla) became president of the corporation in 1981. During their tenure, they bought the neighboring lots to expand the building and provide additional parking. 

Today, Cherla’s sons, Mark and Chris (great grandsons of one of the founders), operate the store and an associated plumbing business. 

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1890 – John Anderson builds the building and opens the Big Store

1890 – Anderson takes on a partner, Otto G. Korb

1905-1930s – Berglund Brothers operate a grocery and later dry goods store

1930s – Merhar, Champa and Kayute move their hardware business to this location

1960s – Charlie and Katherine take over operations

1981 – Charles John (Cherla) becomes president of the corporation

Today, great grandson’s Mark and Christopher operate the store and an associated plumbing business

The Sanborn Insurance Maps 1900-1924.

1900 AND 1907 Ely City Directories

Ancestry.com. Accessed April 8th, 2022.

Ely Since 1888 (The Blue Book. Ely, Mn. The Ely Echo. 1988.

Ely Phone Directories from 1949 to 2020 (available at the Ely-Winton Historical Society).

Lee Brownell Columns, The Ely Miner.

Information from Chris Merhar (great-grandson of Charles Merhar)