Ace Hardware ends year on upbeat note
Ace Hardware Corp. reported record revenue for its fourth quarter and full year.
The hardware cooperative’s consolidated revenues rose 9.9% to $2.5 billion for the three months ended Jan. 3. Total wholesale revenues were $2.3 billion, an increase of 10.0% compared to the prior year fourth quarter.
Increases were seen across most departments with lawn and garden, power tools, bulbs and batteries and hardware showing the largest gains. (Fiscal 2025 consisted of 53 weeks compared to 52 weeks in fiscal 2024.)
Total retail revenues from Ace Retail Holdings for the quarter increased 9.5% to $221.5 million. Ace Retail operated 268 stores at the end of the quarter.
Net income totaled $44.2 million, down $9.6 million from the year-ago quarter. (In the fourth quarter of 2024, the company recorded a $17.8 million gain on the sale of the its former retail support center in Little Rock, Ark., which that was partially offset by higher operating income in the fourth quarter of 2025.)
Fiscal 2025
Full-year consolidated revenues were $10.0 billion, up 5.8%, from 2024 revenue. Ace Retail Holdings’ revenue rose 7.2% to $884.6 million.
Net income was $293.4 million for fiscal 2025, a decrease of $20.7 million, from fiscal 2024. (Ace attributed the decrease as resulting from $20.6 million in non-recurring asset impairment and shut-down charges recognized in fiscal 2025 related to the company’s international operations.)
Ace added 180 new domestic locations in fiscal 2025 and cancelled 74 stores. This brought the company’s total domestic store count to 5,250, an increase of 106 stores year over year.
“Comparable store growth of 0.7% from our hardware format stores, accelerated new store growth, and a 27% increase within our digital business fueled a very encouraging 5.8% increase in revenue for the year (including the 53rd week),” stated John Venhuizen, president and CEO. “With record revenue, record shareholder dividends, and a 40 percent pre-tax return on shareholder equity, the Ace team is to be commended for the discipline, productivity and stewardship with which they managed our resources and opportunities.”
Ace Hardware is the largest hardware cooperative in the world, serving more than 8,800 locally owned and operated stores around the globe, while providing products, services and operating methods to 5,250 Ace retail stores in the United States.
