Ace Hardware reports 4.6% sales gain

As Ace Hardware prepares for the Chicago kickoff of its annual convention on Thursday, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based co-op on Tuesday reported a 4.6% gain in revenue for the second quarter.

The co-op’s sales for the three-month period hit $1.5 billion. Net income of $51.1 declined $12.3 million from the second quarter of 2016. The company cited a $7.8 million one-time pre-tax charges primarily related to the future closure of certain warehouse and distribution facilities as part of a network reconfiguration to support future growth.

Same-store sales for the 3,000 or so Ace retailers who share daily retail sales data increased 3.2%.

“We are pleased with the 3.2% same-store-sales increase that fueled our record revenue and second quarter increase of 4.6 percent,” said CEO John Venhuizen. “I couldn’t be more proud of our local Ace owners for being named ‘America’s favorite home improvement store,’ by Market Force Information and for ranking ‘highest in customer satisfaction,’ by J.D. Power for the eleventh consecutive year.”

Total wholesale revenues were $1.4 billion, an increase of $63.1 million, or 4.7 percent, as compared to the prior year second quarter. 

Increases were noted across most departments with outdoor living, housewares, impulse and tools showing the largest gains.  Retail revenues from Ace Retail Holdings – Westlake Ace Hardware -- were $90.3 million in the second quarter of 2017, up 3.3% from the second quarter of 2016.  The increase was the result of new retail stores added since the second quarter of 2016.

Overall, Ace added 27 new domestic stores in the second quarter of 2017 and cancelled 28 stores.  This brought the Company’s total domestic store count to 4,357 at the end of the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 42 stores from the second quarter of 2016. 

On a worldwide basis, Ace added 52 stores in the second quarter of 2017 and cancelled 31, bringing the worldwide store count to 5,024 at the end of the second quarter of 2017.

[See the company’s second-quarter earnings release here.]