Retailer Ace Hardware is on track to open more than 200 stores this year, already debuting about 100 new sites so far, including its 5,000th domestic location.
Oakbrook, Illinois-based Ace, the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world, on Tuesday said in the first six months it rolled out a record-breaking 111 new stores. The company has been in an expansion mode. Globally, the hardware store chain has opened more than 900 new stores in the past five years with 203 last year, while disbursing dividends of $357 million and providing a 35% return for Ace shareholders in 2023.
Last month, the retailer bowed its 100th new store for the year in Henderson, Nevada. One of the new stores in that batch, Fixit Ace Hardware in Roswell, Georgia, was also recognized as Ace’s 5,000th U.S. location. Ace operates more than 5,800 locally owned hardware stores in all 50 states and 60 countries, with global sales topping $22 billion.
The debut of the 100th store coincides with Ace celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, according to John Venhuizen, the company's president and CEO.
"This serendipitous symmetry is a beautiful testament to the enduring relevance in our faith that human connection and a servant heart is not the enemy of a successful business, it's the enabler," he said in a statement.
Overall, Ace plans to open more than 200 new stores by the end of the year, new store growth that the company said is being driven by existing retailers opening additional locations, competitor stores converting to Ace and new investors opening their first Ace store.
Under Ace’s cooperative business model, local entrepreneurs not only become owners of their local store operation but they also become one of a limited number of shareholders of the company.
In addition to its hardware stores, Ace and its subsidiaries operate a network of distribution centers in the United States and have distribution capabilities in Ningbo, China, and Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico.