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NATCHEZ — Harbor Freight’s company officials are excited to be opening a new store in Natchez this spring, said corporate communications director, Craig Hoffman.

The new store will be at the former Aaron’s store at 436 Hwy 61 North.

“So happy to hear that our customers are excited — we’re excited too!” Hoffman said in an email Wednesday. “This will be our first location in Adams County and our 17th in Mississippi. Our closest stores currently are in Brookhaven or McComb, both of which are about an hour away, so this will be much more convenient for our customers in the community.”

Hoffman said the store is expected to open in mid to late spring and a firm opening date will be announced closer to opening.

Harbor Freight Tools has been seeking a location for a store in Adams County for at least two years — one with high visibility, easy access and ample parking for customers, Hoffman said.

“With this location at 436 Hwy 61 North, we feel we’ve found just that,” he said.

“Another important factor is finding the right sized space — this location will be approximately 15,665 square feet — because we feel one advantage that separates from the so-called big-box stores in our segment is that with this size footprint, our customers can more easily browse, or since many of our customers are tradespeople and contractors, they can come in, find exactly what they need and check out quickly to get to their jobs.”

Hoffman said Harbor Freight is able to offer customers low prices on tools by purchasing them directly from the factories and bypassing “the middleman” vendors.

In addition to the convenience of a closer store for their customers to shop at in the Miss-Lou, Hoffman said Harbor Freight plans to bring 25 to 30 new jobs to the community.

“We hire locally, and our goal is to be the best place to work in retail,” he said. “We offer highly competitive salaries, benefits and the opportunity to advance within the company — and with 1,100 plus stores and growing every month, there is a lot of opportunity.  One of the reasons we were eager to open in Natchez is that there is such a great pool of talent, and we hope they will consider applying.”

While the company has more than 1,100 stores across the country, they are “very much a local business,” Hoffman said, adding giving back to their communities is one of the company’s core values.

An example of this was when the COVID-19 pandemic hit hospital and healthcare workers’ supply of personal protective equipment hard in March 2020.

Harbor Freight responded by pulling all of their N95 masks, face shields and nitrile gloves — products ordinarily carried for construction workers — off of the shelves and donated them to more than 1,000 hospitals in the communities with a Harbor Freight store presence, Hoffman said.

The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Foundation also awards $1 million in prizes to trades teachers in public high schools who have demonstrated excellence in teaching to help them build the next generation of skilled tradespeople.

More information about Harbor Freight and job opportunities in Natchez can be found on the companies website, harborfreight.com.