Ace Hardware rallies its retailers
San Antonio, Texas—In a crowded theater located a short walk from the historic Alamo, leaders of Ace Hardware Corporation took a stand for their co-op and its independent retailers.
The wide-ranging general session here at the 2025 Ace Convention ranged from supply chain to tariffs to merchandise to marketing.
The general session celebrated the co-op’s strong 2024. And it also embraced a rallying cry that sounds like this: Retailers that fail to differentiate, innovate, and adapt to digital disruption risk obsolescence. Evolve or be left behind.
Here are 10 highlights from the Ace General Session.
• Rallying cry for retail
Challenges for retail are many, including the hardware-store channel’s list of giant competitors—not just Home Depot and Lowe’s, but also Amazon and Walmart, said Ace CEO John Venhuizen. Ace Hardware’s 2024 growth came partly from the combination of Ace retailers and Ace co-op—a combination that represents “free market capitalism at its finest,” he said.
“To keep that special flame burning brilliantly, we're gonna have to continue to drive a stake in the ground repeatedly, including today, to admit we're going to go do things together to keep climbing.”
• Supply chain investment
Using the phrase “symphony of complexity”—a term that describes the interaction of 15 regional support centers, two import centers, and roughly 112,000 SKUs from some 4,000 vendors—Rick DiMaio, Ace Hardware’s EVP and chief supply chain officer presented the latest investment in capacity. A 1.5 million square foot (the equivalent of 26 football fields under one roof) facility that is near completion in Kansas City “puts us in better position to serve all of our stores, and also stores that will open in the future,” he said.
• Shoutout to truck drivers
Ace Hardware has 678 truck drivers, who received a round of applause in absentia. “These guys are out there facing bad drivers and and hazards of all sorts just to get freight to our stores,” said DiMaio. Dash cams are another piece of technology to promote their safety.
• A record year.
Ace had record sales and profit in 2024. One other broken record was in the safety category. Ace had the fewest accidents in its distribution system since it began keeping track, DiMaio said. And employee turnover among supply chain employees is the lowest since 2017.
• Santa Claus is coming
The Ace convention floor was lit up in holiday trimmings, which haven’t been on display to this extent in years. To emphasize the point, a Christmas trio serenaded the audience with holiday standards, and speakers were flanked by a forest of Christmas trees. “We’re excited about this category,” said Brian Wiborg, Ace’s senior vice president of merchandising. “It’s critical to our fourth quarter strategy.”
• Birth of a category
Here’s a new idea: “Sun & Shade.” It’s a pilot that introduces the category that includes sunglasses (Oakley and Maui Jim) and hydration products (Stanley and Yeti). CEO John Venhuizen shared an image of a 400 sq. foot store within a store and 11 brands that are now stocked in the RSC. For “those of you who want to lean in more and become more exclusive and more differentiated,” he said.
• The True Value bankruptcy
Ace Hardware’s Kim Lefko, chief marketing officer, responded to a question from an Ace Dealer about the impact on the co-op from the Do it Best acquisition of True Value out of bankruptcy. From Ace’s perspective, she said, the inevitable disruption resulting from the bankruptcy and acquisition presents opportunities for Ace retailers to acquire customers, and for the Ace co-op to acquire new members.
• Tariff talk
What can Ace do in the face of increasing tariffs? According to Brian Wiborg, vigilance is the key. “My promise to you is we'll keep you updated.” Ace, he said, sources product from more than 75 countries. “And that's a strength.” Currently, he said 51% of volume comes from the U.S., 26% from China, 8% from Mexico, 4% from Vietnam, followed by a long list of others.
• Elevating the store
The Elevate3 Ace store merchandising concept was described last August as “fundamental shift in the Ace store model” turning aisles into immersive mini showcases for major brands. The program leans on the three retail virtues of brands, experience and service. The co-op pointed to stats showing early adopters of the program have averaged comparable sales gains of 12 percent.
• Digital marketing
Kim Lefko pointed to digital momentum at Acehardware.com, which was up 15 percent in 2024. She also pointed to an increasingly important metric: “digitally influenced footsteps into your store,” which was up 30 percent last year.
“Shopping today is not hopping your car and drive to the store,” she said. “Shopping today is: get online and see who has it closest to me in stock in the right size at the right price. And then I get in my car and go, or I place an order and go in and pick it up. We need to be there.”
The Ace Hardware Convention runs through March 6.
