Ace Hardware reports record Q2 revenues

Ace Hardware Corp. delivered record-breaking revenues for the quarter ended July 3.

“Our second quarter vastly exceeded our expectations,” said John Venhuizen, president and CEO. “Not only did we positively comp 2020’s unprecedented surge in business, our two-year stacked growth for the quarter is up 46 percent in revenue and 116 percent in net income from 2019.”

Ace’s second quarter revenues of $2.5 billion are an of 8.2% from the second quarter of 2020. Net income was $116.0 million for the second quarter of 2021, a decrease of $22.9 million from the second quarter of 2020.

Ace said the decrease in net income was due to write-downs of excess personal protective equipment (“PPE”), higher warehouse labor costs and a non-recurring $6.9 million income tax benefit recorded in 2020 due to changes in tax laws.

U.S. retail same-store-sales reported by the approximately 3,400 Ace retailers who share daily retail sales data rose 1.2% during the second quarter of 2021 and was the result of a 7.1% increase in average ticket partially offset by a 5.5% decrease in same-store transactions.

Total wholesale revenues were $2.2 billion, up 9.0%.

Total retail revenues increased 2.4% to $255.3 million. New stores at corporate owned chains Westlake Ace Hardware and Great Lakes Ace Hardware. since the second quarter of 2020 boosted Ace’s retail sales. Westlake and GLA together operated 211 stores at the end of the second quarter of 2021 compared to 192 stores at the end of the second quarter of 2020.

The Ace co-op added 55 new domestic stores in the second quarter of 2021 and cancelled 6 stores. Worldwide, Ace’s total store count stats at 5,550.