Content about Oak Brook

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. is hosting a Buying Days event June 7 in Oak Brook at the Doubletree Hotel on Spring Road.

The co-op says it is offering vendors an opportunity to introduce their products to Ace buyers during the event. “This event allows prospective vendors to efficiently and effectively introduce their business and products to Ace Hardware,” according to an announcement for the event.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. posted fiscal 2012 revenues of $3.8 billion, up 3.6% from the previous year. 

The co-op’s net income of $81.8 million increased 5.3% for the year.

“We are very pleased with our fiscal 2012 results as revenues and net income were both higher than last year and our plan,” said Ray Griffith, Ace CEO, who will be replaced by John Venhuizen as CEO, effective March 31.

According to an article in The Virginian-Pilot, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp.’s redistribution center at the CenterPoint Intermodal Center is nearing completion.

The facility, which broke ground last June, is described as a 336,000 square-foot import redistribution center. 

Ray Griffith, the CEO of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware, explained during an interview on Fox Business that consumers will continue to spend on their homes.

“We had a real good first quarter, and so far it’s carrying into April,” said Griffith during a segment described by the network as “Banking on do-it-yourself.”  

Even before Ace Hardware Corp. reported high single-digit sales increases for the quarter and the year — and even during a lingering housing downturn — CEO Ray Griffith told dealers that he liked the position in which Ace finds itself.

“Ongoing uncertainly keeps consumers cautious about spending, but many of you are doing well,” he told the members gathered in Denver for the co-op’s market last year.

Four South Dakota hardware stores have joined Ace Hardware, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based co-op announced recently.

The stores, owned by John Niederauer, are located in the South Dakota cities of Dell Rapids, Miller, Redfield and Tea. All four stores underwent the transformation in mid-August.

In a second-quarter earnings season characterized by weather-depressed sales figures, Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. managed to show a gain in revenues.

For the three months ended July 2, Ace saw revenues increase 0.5% to $1.021 billion. For the six-month period, sales increased 1.6% over the same two quarters in 2010.

For the fourth year in a row, the Ace Foundation's "Motorcycle Miracle Mission" is hitting the road to raise money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

The event generated $100,000 for the cause in the last three years. Riders will travel the 600-mile route from Oak Brook, Ill. -- headquarters of Ace Hardware -- to Marshfield, Wis., and back July 22-24.

Whether it’s their geographic market, operating strategy or support from lenders and co-ops, there are plenty of variables that distinguish between a retail company that thrives and a retail company that merely survives.


Meet Costello’s Ace Hardware, where a thriving mind-set and aggressive growth are a function of all three variables, and even a few more.