Over the past year, Ace Hardware has been struggling to combat the widening gap between it and its larger competitors.
In March, at Ace Hardware’s Spring 2025 Convention, CEO John Venhuizen explained that the hardware store is focusing on rapid expansion.
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He said that narrowing the gap between Ace and its larger peers is paramount to a successful business strategy.
“We face the biggest, best-funded competitors in retail, yet year after year, we continue to grow because of the strength of our independent store owners,” Venhuizen said. “At Ace, we combine global scale with local ownership, and that’s what keeps us strong.”
For the year 2024, Ace saw an all-time record revenue of $9.5 billion and over $23 billion in retail sales.
Venhuizen has been quick to mention the steady decline of some brick-and-mortar stores, like CVS and Walgreens.
He said that the drugstores failed to anticipate or adapt to new customer needs, like betting less on photo services thanks to smartphones or betting more on online prescription delivery.
So now, Ace is betting that focusing on what drives customers to its stores — either in-person or online, will be a winning formula.
Ace Hardware has built a massive new distribution center.
Image source: Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images
Ace Hardware makes a big bet on distribution
One of the ways Ace Hardware will attract business is by opening a brand new distribution center to help get inventory to customers faster.
The new hub, which functions like a logistics and retail support center, is located in Kansas City, Missouri.
At approximately 1.5 million square feet, the center spans one half-mile from end to end.
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That’s over double the size of Ace’s typical distribution centers. But Ace is betting that this hub will get deliveries to stores faster than ever before.
It’s located right next to Interstate 29 and Kansas City International Airport, which means getting goods on trucks and planes can happen quickly.
Logistics are paramount to Ace’s business.
Thousands of stores across the U.S. are locally owned.
Unlike Home Depot and Lowe’s, which are public corporations, Ace is focused on smaller, local operations.
It sells DIY materials, basic tools, and other convenience items for neighborhood projects.
Ace Hardware is focused on local operations
With 5,800 locations across the U.S., fulfilling orders quickly and managing its logistics effectively must run like a well-oiled machine to keep customers happy.
“Today, convenience has been redefined to largely be about inventory availability and speed,” Venhuizen explained to Hardware Connection. “75% of the United States is within 15 minutes of an Ace store. This means that we have nearly $4 billion of inventory within moments of most of America. So the combination of our physical assets — stores, inventory, trucks and 100,000 red-vested heroes — and our ever-improving litany of digital assets affords Ace a strategic advantage we do not intend to squander. “
That means Ace isn’t necessarily competing with Lowe’s or Home Depot on a size scale. It doesn’t offer the kind of contractor services its big-box competitors do.
Rather, it intends to keep its trust and access strong among neighborhoods and DIYers.
Relatedly, Ace announced in 2024 that it would invest $1 billion toward store improvements and opening new stores over the next five years.
“We tried to create a unique shopping experience that can’t easily be replicated online or in-store anywhere,” Ace VP of merchandising Dale Fennel said. “We have a small number of our best, most-exclusive brands that really have been fueling most of our growth, and so we set out to elevate those brands.”
