KING CITY — The downtown building at 600 Broadway St. changed owners July 31 when Alcantar Hardware Inc. completed the purchase of the King City Glass and Hardware Partnership building at the northwest corner of Broadway and San Lorenzo Avenue.
Partners John and Karen Jernigan and Suzanne and Chuck Krause have owned the property for 30 years. They helped design the building back in 1986 when Robert Meyer and Jay DeSerpa of Broadway Properties envisioned and built the Broadway Plaza shopping center.
King City Glass and True Value Hardware were the anchor tenants in the project, which sat on the site of the former King City Hospital/Pioneer Hacienda nursing home.
When the Krauses retired three years ago, they sold their hardware business to Johnny Alcantar and his partners, Rigo Alcantar and Pedro Alcantar. The Alcantars recently changed their hardware affiliation from True Value to Ace Hardware.
The Jernigans sold most of their business two years ago to their key employees. Mario Lomeli, Hector Vasquez and Aaron Perez formed their own corporation — King City Glass Services Inc. — which has relocated to 304 S. First St. at the southwest corner of Pearl and S. First streets. Interestingly, that location is the site where King City Glass got its start when Jim and Jean Jernigan — parents of John Jernigan and Suzanne Krause — started King City Glass and Body Inc. in 1959.
The Jernigans have leased a small warehouse space in the Old Scalehouse at 301 N. First St., next to Pups N Such Dog Grooming. In their retirement, they plan to pursue hobbies, including their interest in King City history, providing walking tours of downtown and the King City Cemetery.
Since the Krauses sold their hardware store three years ago, they have continued to be active in the community.
The sale was officially effective July 31. Alcantar Hardware is working on plans to enlarge their Ace Hardware store to include more building supplies, including lumber in the coming months.
