Ace Hardware on track to open more than 170 stores in 2021

Ace Hardware is riding the home spending wave.

Ace, the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world, has opened 110 new stores so far in 2021. It is planning to open at least an additional 60 locations by the end of the year.  

Ace captured the top spot in the "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Home Improvement Retail Stores" category in the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study. The retailer, which has taken the top spot for 14 out of the last 15 years, ranked No. 1 in four of the five categories: staff and service; in-store experience; online experience; and merchandise.

Ace operates more than 5,500 locally owned hardware stores in all 50 states and 70 countries, with global sales topping $20 billion. The company’s cooperative business model offers local entrepreneurs not only the ability to become owners of their local store operation, but they also become one of a limited number of shareholders of Ace Hardware Corp. 

"Our proposition for consumers is that Ace is the most helpful store on the planet; for prospective new store owners, our proposition is that Ace is the most financially and emotionally rewarding opportunity available," said John Venhuizen, president and CEO of Ace Hardware Corporation.

Globally, Ace has opened more than 900 stores in the past five years, while disbursing dividends of $293 million in 2020—a 46 percent return for Ace shareholders. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace and its subsidiaries operate an expansive network of distribution centers in the U.S. and have distribution capabilities in Ningbo, China; Colon, Panama; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.