2018 Top 100 Retailers Power Players : Hardware / Home Improvement

2018 Top 100 Retailers Power Players : Hardware / Home Improvement

https://stores.org/2018/06/28/2018-top-100-retailers-power-players-hardware-home-improvement/

 

〈Store No. 1 ACE Hardware〉

 

 

The two damaging hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida last year weren’t bad news for all retailers, and in fact were beneficial to home improvement stores, a segment some experts feel may be understored.

 

“Store count in the home improvement sector has declined nearly 12 percent since the pre-recession peak level of the fourth quarter 2007,” UBS analyst Michael Lasser wrote in a note to clients. “Store rationalization and the increase in sales have driven the sector’s rapid sales-per-store increase. The sector’s capacity has stabilized at around the 70,000-store level since the first quarter of 2014.”

 

Ace Hardware enjoyed a 7 percent overall sales increase in the final quarter of 2017, boosted by new store growth, a 3 percent gain in same-store sales and acquisition of The Grommet, an online seller of innovative products. In addition, says the co-operative’s chief executive John Venhuizen, “I’m also encouraged to report that 2017 marked the fifth straight year of increased customer transactions at retail, the sixth straight year of net new store count growth, the eighth straight year of increased same-store sales and the eleventh straight year receiving the J.D. Power award for highest customer satisfaction.”

 

In buying The Grommet, Ace is not getting just another ecommerce business with eclectic merchandise offerings but rather a site that functions as an interactive forum where do-it-yourselfers, contractors and other individuals looking for specific — if not unique — products can connect with inventors who will design and fabricate those products. In describing the business, The Grommet CEO Jules Pieri says, “The Grommet has often been called a ‘general store for innovation,’ and Ace is a trusted destination for the goods and services homeowners need to take care of their homes. That is a powerful combination. Both companies have a deep heritage of helping local businesses thrive, so our values are uncannily compatible.”

 

Among the brands that launched and were discovered on The Grommet are FitBit, Food Should Taste Good, GoldieBlox, IdeaPaint, OtterBox, SimpliSafe, SodaStream and S’well.