More stores, more sales for Ace
Driven by an expanded footprint of stores, Oak Brook, Illinois-based Ace Hardware Corp. reported first quarter revenues of $2.1 billion, up 2.5 percent from the first quarter of 2023.
Net income in Q1 was $46.9 million down from $66.6 million in the year-ago quarter. The co-op said the decrease was expected in the face of higher operating expenses and increased interest expense.
“Despite strong headwinds in California and Florida, our $51.6 million of sales growth was fueled primarily by our 78 new domestic Ace stores, acquisitions by our Ace Home Services business, a 0.4 percent increase in same-store sales, and a 9 percent increase in our digital business,” said John Venhuizen, President and CEO.
The CEO also pointed to a 47 percent increase in digital business through the Ace App.
Total retail revenues from Ace Retail Holdings for the quarter were $160.9 million, an increase of 8.6 percent compared to the prior-year first quarter.
The Westlake Ace Hardware chain experienced a 6.5 percent increase in same-store-sales while the Great Lakes Ace Hardware chain experienced a 3.5 percent increase in same-store-sales in the quarter.
The new stores opened by Westlake and Great Lakes since the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 contributed $4.1 million of incremental revenues during the first quarter of 2024. Westlake and GLA together operated 236 stores at the end of the first quarter of 2024 compared to 230 stores at the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Retail operating expenses as a percent of retail revenue improved to 44.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024 from 47.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023.
Ace added 78 new domestic stores in the first quarter of 2024 and cancelled 7 stores. The Company’s total domestic store count was 5,065 at the end of the first quarter of 2024, which was an increase of 164 stores from the first quarter of 2023. On a worldwide basis, Ace added 82 stores in the first quarter of 2024 and cancelled 7, bringing the worldwide store count to 5,945 at the end of the first quarter of 2024.
