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40-532: Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois , United States. It is the largest non-grocery retail cooperative in the United States. Founded on October 25, 1924, as "Ace Stores", the company changed its name to "Ace Hardware Corporation" in 1931. It grew dramatically following World War II, more than tripling its sales between the late 1940s and 1959. After

80-522: A contextually-appropriate version of the Ace jingle (such as, after a customer asks for a lubricant they think is called 10W40 , "Ace is the place for the stuff for squeaking hinges that's called WD-40 . Not 10-W40, which is motor oil , that we also sell.") In July 1963, Ace opened its first international store in Guam. In 1990, Ace created a separate division known as Ace International. An international board committee

120-495: A distribution facility in Kabul. By 2002, Ace had six locations in Guam. In June 2014, Ace Hardware International announced an agreement to be a wholesale supplier for New Zealand's Mitre 10 . PT Ace Hardware brought the brand to Indonesia in 1995 and became a publicly traded company in 2007. By 2010, there were 39 stores in 18 cities. As of January 2023, there were 229 stores located in 56 cities throughout Indonesia. After 29 years, it

160-447: A hardware business, in 1883. Brooke later sold his interest in the company to Charles King and the business was renamed Jensen King & Co. in 1895. The company merged with Wolverton and Byrd and moved to Spokane where it incorporated under the name Jensen-King-Byrd. Jensen's sons, Alvin L. and J. Scott Jensen bought out King's interest in the company in 1925 and changed the name of the business to Jensen-Byrd Co. Jensen-Byrd Co. acquired

200-444: A hardware store in the US to repair broken windows and screens, repair power equipment such as lawn mowers, re-key entry locks, make copies of house keys and car keys, re-wire lamps and vacuum cleaners, sharpen knives and cutting tools, make minor repairs to faucet and shower parts, repair kerosene heaters and cut and thread plumbing pipe. The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA )

240-733: A new Retail Support Center in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania and the expansion of one in Wilton, New York. The company also expanded its facility in Suffolk, Virginia. In July 2017, a 10,000 square foot customer care center was opened at Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida. In October, Ace acquired e-commerce marketplace The Grommet . However, the website was shut down in June 2022 and later sold to startup GiddyUp. In May 2019, Ace acquired full ownership of ACO Inc.,

280-702: A new line of premium paints, called Clark+Kensington. In 2012, the company opened a 336,000 square-foot redistribution center in Suffolk, Virginia. Ace was the first tenant at the CenterPoint Intermodal Center . It acquired its largest member, Westlake Ace Hardware, for $ 88 million in December 2012. In January 2013, Ace announced a long-term deal to have Valspar produce the company's paints. Valspar also acquired Ace's paint manufacturing assets, including two facilities near Chicago. The following year, Ace's president and CEO John Venhuizen launched 20/20 Vision,

320-975: A particular category. These stores are usually grouped together in a shopping district. Examples are groups of stores that specialize in: In the United Kingdom , hardware stores can be known as ironmongers , DIY stores and home improvement stores. British retail chains include B&Q , Homebase , and Wickes . Australian hardware chain Bunnings opened their first shop in St Albans in February 2017 and planned to convert several other Homebase shops into pilot Bunnings shops after acquiring them in February 2016. Larger hardware stores may also sell building supplies including lumber, flooring, roofing materials and fencing. Such stores are often referred to as home-improvement centers or home centers. There may be fewer hardware stores in

360-976: A partnership between the American company and Co-Load Maldives Pvt Ltd. The collaboration opened its third store in 2022. Alongside the Eugene Group , it attempted to expand into South Korea in 2018 but was blocked by the country's Ministry of SMEs and Startups . The company has since managed to add four locations in Seoul and Goyang. Ace expanded to Vietnam in November 2019, opening a store in Ho Chi Minh City. Hardware store In Australia hardware stores specialise in home décor and include large selections of paint. There are three major hardware companies in Australia: Bunnings , Mitre 10 and Home Hardware . Home Hardware

400-568: A significant economic downturn, the company cancelled its expansion plans and cut 15% of its workforce in 2009. Ace Israel was eventually sold to Electra Consumer Products in 2012, and then Kedma Capital in 2016. By 2021, Ace Israel operated 34 stores and Kedma took the company public again. In September 2013, Ace and Safi & Safi Enterprises announced plans to open a location in Afghanistan. The store would open in Mazar-e Sharif in 2014, with

440-750: A strategy to use network power to provide better customer service. In 2014, the company opened a 450,000 square-foot distribution center in Wilmer, Texas and a 534,000 square-foot Retail Support Center in West Jefferson, Ohio. Both facilities were expanded in 2019. Ace launched its wholesale distribution network through the acquisition of the Portland, Maine-based Emery-Waterhouse in 2014 and the Spokane, Washington–based Jensen Distribution Services in 2015. Later that year, Ace expanded its wholesale operations coast-to-coast with

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480-728: A wide variety of items. Indian hardware stores are similar to hardware stores around the world, offering products from several categories such as plumbing, machinery, household, gardening, manufacturing, cobbler, carpenter, and electrical. Jensen Distribution Services Jensen Distribution Services was a wholesale hardware distributor that serviced over 2,000 customers in 11 western states. Jensen Distribution Services carries over 52,000 items in departments including household hardware , hand and power tools , electrical, plumbing , paint and sundries, outdoor living, housewares , automotive, and lawn & garden products. O.C. Jensen and Henry Brooke founded Jensen, Brooke & Company,

520-471: A year later. In 1931, the name was changed to Ace Hardware Corporation. By 1933, Ace had 38 retailers in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. In 1946, Ace introduced its Super Ace Store concept. By the end of the 1940s, Ace had wholesale sales of more than $ 7 million from the 133 stores it supplied. In 1954, the stores agreed to change their names from Ace Stores to Ace Hardware. By its 35th anniversary in 1959,

560-440: Is a retailers' co-operative and has many banners which store owners trade under. Since the acquisition of Bunnings by Wesfarmers in 1994, the big-box store concept has changed how new hardware stores are built. In 2004, Mitre 10 built its first supercentre Mitre 10 MEGA with an average store size of 13,500 m . These were later either closed or turned into large-concept Mitre 10 stores. In 2011 Masters Home Improvement entered

600-402: Is a membership organization that provides training and resources for hardware store owners and publishes a trade magazine in print and online. European-based stores include: In India hardware stores are mostly small businesses, with no major store chains that carry a large selection of products. Stores lack ample floor space compared to their Western counterparts, but are usually stocked with

640-767: Is expected to be completed by mid-2025. In September 2023, the company opened its new headquarters, a 250,000-square-foot campus in Oak Brook that previously housed the McDonald's corporate offices. Ace Retail Holdings acquired Bishop Ace Hardware, a 13-store franchisee in central Illinois, in May 2024. The stores will remain open until they can be transitioned into new ownership. Ace opened its 5,000th domestic location in July 2024. In August, Ace unveiled ELEVATE Ace, an experimental store concept that elevates popular brands, with plans to begin rolling out

680-481: The American Society of Magazine Editors stripped This Old House magazine of an award nomination after it was deemed an Ace Hardware-branded insert was an inappropriate form of advertising. In 2002, home improvement expert Lou Manfredini was hired to serve as Ace's "Helpful Hardware Man" and media spokesman. In 2016, Ace introduced a new series of commercials featuring associates addressing customers' needs, and

720-646: The Ace Hardware Plumbing Services location in Oklahoma City. In June 2023, Ace acquired Unique Indoor Comfort's portfolio of 12 independent heating & air, plumbing, and electrical home services companies from Atlanta-based private equity firm Grove Mountain. In February 2024, Ace acquired Unique Indoor Comfort, an HVAC service company in the Boston area. By June 2024, Ace Home Services had expanded to 400 locations across 48 states and 5,000 zip codes. In

760-833: The Canadian unit of The Home Depot in 1994. Canadian Tire , Central , Kent Building Supplies , Lowe's and many smaller chains also sell hardware in Canada. Most hardware stores in China, whether in the city or rural areas, are small, family-owned, non-franchise companies. They provide similar products to Western hardware stores, including plumbing and electrical supplies, tools, and some housewares. They do not normally carry lumber, fishing supplies, gardening products, or boating supplies. Some rural hardware stores supply animal feed, such as chicken feed. Common to most non-Western countries, China has specialty hardware stores, dedicated to selling products in

800-583: The Midwest, Ace opened a 1.1 million square foot distribution center in Princeton, Illinois in February to serve more than 450 stores. In October 1994, Ace launched a strategic plan known as "The New Age of Ace" with the objective, by 2000, to improve retail performance, more efficient operations, international growth, and a faster pace for new store openings. The company reported a 15% jump in sales from 1993 to 1994. In 1996, Ace surpassed Cotter & Company to become

840-513: The Spokane branch of Marshall Wells in 1958 and Pacific Marine Schwabacher in 1981. In 1995, Jensen-Byrd Co. changed its name to Jensen Distribution Services. In January 2015, the company was purchased by Ace Hardware , and it was promptly merged with Emery-Waterhouse to form Emery-Jensen Distribution, LLC, a division of Ace Wholesale Holdings, LLC, with operations relocated from Spokane, Washington to Ace's headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois . This United States retail business article

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880-464: The True Value Company. Elwood Adams Hardware of Worcester, Massachusetts claims to be the oldest operating hardware store in the US, having begun business in 1782. Part of the popularity of American hardware stores is the range of services they provide. Most retail outlets only sell goods, while some hardware stores custom-make or repair a large variety of household items. It is common for

920-792: The US now than in the past, but according to the US Census Bureau, there were still 14,300 hardware stores in the US in 2005, employing on average 10 employees each. Despite competition from large chain stores (commonly referred to as big-box or destination hardware stores, e.g., The Home Depot , Lowe's and Menards ) new hardware stores in the US continue to open. There are four major nationwide wholesale suppliers to hardware stores. All four report more than US$ 1 billion in annual sales. Two of them operate as retailers' cooperatives : Do It Best Corp, from Fort Wayne Indiana, and Ace Hardware from Oakbrook Illinois. Hardware store owners purchase stock in these suppliers and may choose to include

960-466: The United Arab Emirates. In 1924, to increase buying power and profits, entrepreneurs Richard Hesse, E. Gunnard Lindquist, Frank Burke, and Oscar Fisher united their Chicago, Illinois, hardware stores into "Ace Stores". The company was named after the ace fighter pilots of World War I, who overcame all odds. Ace Stores was incorporated on March 2, 1928, and the company opened its first warehouse

1000-587: The company had more than tripled this figure, with wholesale sales of $ 24.5 million from 325 stores. In 1961, Ace relocated its warehouse and corporate offices to Bedford Park, Illinois. By the end of the decade, the company built warehouses in Northern California and Georgia to support its expansion into the Western and Southeastern states. Founder and longtime president Richard Hesse retired in 1973. Ace relocated its corporate offices to Oak Brook, Illinois

1040-673: The company that operates 50 Great Lakes Ace Hardware stores in Ohio and Michigan. In August 2022, grocery chain Food City opened its own Ace Hardware location in Piney Flats, Tennessee. In March 2023, Ace opened a 1.1 million square foot logistics center in Visalia, California. In June, the company announced it would build a 1.5 million square feet Retail Support Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The facility

1080-578: The country. ACE Hardware is an affiliate of the SM Group of Companies. Ace signed licensing agreements in Taiwan in 1998, and Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong in 2000. Ace spent more than $ 300 million on products from China in 2006. The following year, the company opened its first outsourcing and storage facility in Shanghai and moved purchasing operations from Hong Kong. Ace Hardware came to Maldives in 2011 through

1120-655: The following year and opened a distribution center in Addison. The company was thereafter sold to its retailers and restructured as a cooperative . Independent retailers became the exclusive shareholders in the company and the corporate entity remained as a wholesaler and distributor. The strategy proved successful, and Ace surpassed $ 1 billion in wholesale sales for the first time in 1985; it went on to pass $ 5 billion in 2015. Under CEO Roger Peterson (1986–1995), Ace sales more than doubled from $ 801M in 1983 to more than $ 2B in 1993. Needing more space to support its operations in

1160-684: The formation of Emery Jensen Distribution, LLC. This new distribution arm operates under Ace Wholesale Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Ace Hardware Corporation, and is dedicated to serving non–Ace Hardware independent retailers. In 2016, J. D. Power ranked Ace Hardware "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores" for the tenth consecutive year. In 2017, Ace announced a restructuring of its East Coast retail support network that closed facilities in Baltimore, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Distribution operations were absorbed by

1200-426: The largest hardware co-op. Ace overhauled its computer systems in 1999 to accommodate the introduction of the 13-digit barcode. In 2001, it passed TruServe to become the largest American hardware wholesaler. The cooperative gained 220 new stores By 2002, the company had 5,100 stores. Ace surpassed $ 3 billion in annual hardline sales and $ 100 million in net profits in 2003. In September 2011, Ace Hardware began selling

1240-482: The licensing rights to bring the Ace name to Dubai. It opened a flagship store in 2006. Ace came to Israel in 1993, starting with four stores. By 2005, the country had 25 Ace locations. In January 2006, Benny Gaon and Shlomo Zbeda bought Ace Israel, outbidding former owner Gad Zeevi . By 2007, the company announced plans to expand into Turkey and debuted its IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange . However, after

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1280-626: The market and opened more than 49 stores, with an average footprint of 13,500 m . Masters Home Improvement, which was the second-largest hardware chain in Australia, closed in December 2016. Bunnings also operates in New Zealand, competing against Mitre 10 New Zealand and Hammer Hardware . The Australian Bunnings and Mitre 10 Mega format have also been introduced to New Zealand. Home Hardware , Rona , Canac, BMR Group and Réno-Dépôt are Canadian hardware retailers. Aikenhead's Hardware became

1320-649: The master license and began to service the 107 Canadian locations. In June 2024, Peavey Industries announced it would end its relationship with Ace International and the Ace Canada dealers with the license ending at the end of the year. Ace International subsequently announced in October that it will no longer support or supply Ace Canada dealers in 2025. In December 2021, Ace opened its first location in Mexico using its new turnkey franchise model. In 1991, Al-Futtaim Group obtained

1360-521: The master license to the Ace brand in Canada. Lowe's completed its acquisition of Rona in May 2016. Rona assigned the Winnipeg office as Ace Canada, formally TruServ Canada, to manage the Ace Brand. As of June 2016, there are 62 Ace-branded stores in Canada. Beginning in 2017, Lowe's Distribution Center began to service Ace Canada retailers. In March 2020, Peavey Mart acquired Rona and Ace Canada, as well as

1400-515: The name of the cooperative in the advertised name of the store. Hardware stores also purchase from a variety of regional wholesalers and specialty manufacturers. Some hardware stores operate rental businesses which can offer equipment from construction tools to inflatable playhouses. The major hardware cooperatives provide brand name rental advertising and support for hardware store owners including Just Ask Rental, Party Central, Grand Rental Station and Taylor Rental, all four of which are brands owned by

1440-951: The new stores in January 2025. In recent years, Ace Hardware has invested heavily in residential repair services once it saw younger customers shift away from DIY. Ace announced the acquisition of the Handyman Matters franchise in September 2019. The group's 57 franchisees would rebrand under the Ace Handyman Services name starting in March 2020. By 2022, Ace had over 200 franchisees with services available in all 50 states. The program's handymen are known as "Craftsmen" and are full-time employees rather than contractors. In December 2022, Ace acquired Texas-based Legacy Plumbing, its first licensed service offering. Legacy partnered with Westlake Ace to launch

1480-407: The retirement of longtime president and founder Richard Hesse in 1973, Ace was sold to its retailers, becoming a retailer-owned cooperative. It first reached $ 1 billion in wholesale sales in 1985 and $ 5 billion in 2015. As of 2019, it has over 5,200 locations in 60 countries. Ace operates 17 distribution centers in the United States, and additional distribution facilities in China, Panama, and

1520-604: The same month, Ace acquired the North Carolina-based Minyard Plumbing. In 1989, Ace's longtime jingle "Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man" was modified, replacing man with the more inclusive and accurate folks . Celebrities Connie Stevens (from 1974 to 1978) and Suzanne Somers (from 1979 to 1982) starred in TV commercials for Ace Hardware. From 1987 to 2009, former NFL coach and NFL commentator John Madden also starred in Ace commercials. In 1999,

1560-632: Was announced the Ace name would be leaving the country at the end of 2024. Giant Ace SDN BHD brought Ace to Malaysia in 1996. By 2010, it had 10 stores in the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area. Ace Hardware Malaysia currently has 22 branches nationwide as of January 1, 2022. Ace Hardware Philippines Inc was founded in 1997, opening its first branch in the Philippines at SM Southmall in Metro Manila . Currently, Ace Hardware has more than 100 branches all over

1600-608: Was established in 1994. Over the years, Ace expanded throughout Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East regions. By 2002, the company had stores in 70 countries and more than a hundred foreign suppliers. In 2010, Tim-Br Mart Group acquired licensing rights to the Ace brand name in Canada. By February 2012, Ace had 400 locations outside of the United States. Four years later, Rona, Inc. , signed an agreement with Ace Hardware for

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