Ace Hardware
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ace Hardware is a hardware store that was formed in 1924 by Richard Hesse, E. Gunnard Lindquist, Frank Burke and Oscar Fisher in Chicago, Illinois. The company became a cooperative in 1973. By 1976 Ace became a retailers' cooperative. Independent owners became dealer-owners and shareholders in the company. Because it's a co-op and not a franchise, each Ace store looks different. Ace has placed a focus on Ace stores exhibiting some similar characteristics, such as signaled and core product lines. The Vision 21 program, as this is called, is aimed to make all stores look identical. This is causing much resistance from the smaller stores because of the cost of the program.
As of 2005, the $13 billion retail hardware cooperative contains over 4,600 independent stores throughout the United States and in 70 different countries. Ace Hardware was named after the Ace fighter pilots of World War I, who were able to overcome all odds.
Their long-time slogan — The helpful hardware place — has been replaced by The helpful place. Much of their advertising since 1987 features John Madden, a former NFL coach and announcer. Prior to John Madden, Suzanne Somers was a spokesperson for Ace Hardware but was dropped because of a previously issued topless poster for an unknown sporting goods brand.
[edit] Activities per country
Please expand this section.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at Requests for expansion.
Please remove this message once the section has been expanded.
Israel, established 1993 [1]
Philippines, affiliated with SM holdings
United States, established 1924- United Arab Emirates - Part of the Al Futtaim Group
[edit] External links
- Ace Hardware
- AG Lock and Hardware Authorized Ace Hardware Dealer selling online
- YourAceHardware.com
- YourAceHardware.net
 |
This article about a United States corporation or company is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it |
