Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Buying two wholesale companies and growing same-store sales boosted revenue for Ace Hardware Corp. in 2014.
The home improvement co-op reported 2014 fiscal-year revenue of $4.7 billion, for growth of 13.2 percent year over year. Fourth-quarter revenue also increased, up 13.6 percent from the same period in 2013. The 2014 revenues were a record for the company.
Same-store sales also grew, with increased customer counts and transaction sizes contributing to an increase of 4.2 percent for the full year, and 4.7 percent for the fourth quarter.
“Strong same-store sales growth at retail coupled with 201 new domestic stores and our strategic wholesale acquisitions fueled the double-digit growth,” president and CEO John Venhuizen says.
In 2014, Ace bought wholesale companies on both the east and west coasts. Those companies are Emery-Waterhouse, a Portland, Maine-based hard lines distributor, and Jensen Distribution Services of Spokane, Washington. The acquisitions make Ace Hardware a $300 million wholesale company.
The co-op is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, and has more than 4,800 locally owned and operated stores in the U.S. and 60 other countries.
