Your Help Wanted
When we say Your Help Wanted, it means so much more than We’re Hiring. It means we’re looking for the best people (like you) to help us be the most helpful hardware store on the planet. We’ve created an environment that’s centered around helping in every way possible. Just as we help our customers and our retailers, we’re dedicated to helping our people. Joining our team means gaining the support and resources you need to succeed.
What is Ace Helpful?
Learn what Ace Helpful means to us and our communities.
We’re dedicated to being the best provider of products, services and operating methods for convenience hardware retailers around the globe.
“Our Vision to be the best, most helpful hardware stores on the planet requires both a differentiated retail strategy and a world-class wholesale strategy.”
John Venhuizen, President & CEO
You don’t often see values like these in most corporate statements, but we’re different.
We keep our values at the center of everything we do. They guide our deep commitment to our company, employees, retailers and customers – and we live by them each and every day.
W.E.L.I.G.H.T. (Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility and Teamwork).
Our annual W.E.L.I.G.H.T. Awards celebrate and recognize employees who exemplify our values in action.
W
Winning
At Ace, we win with and through people, for helpful is our weapon in the world.
E
Excellence
We aspire to be the best, to continuously improve and to inspire others by giving the team our very best.
L
Love
Love the people, love the work and love the results.
I
Integrity
We need to be able to trust each other. And trust will require us to be honest, reliable, caring, of high character and of unquestioned ethics.
G
Gratitude
We recognize that we are blessed to be in the business of serving others.
H
Humility
We strive for greatness with a humble, modest and respectful attitude.
T
Teamwork
We will fight the natural tendency for control and credit in favor of collaboration and mutual success, recognizing that… Together, We are Ace.
1924
Richard Hesse and other Chicago-area hardware dealers form a buying group to purchase merchandise in bulk to save money, establishing the Ace concept of buying at the lowest possible cost.
1927
The partners adopt the Ace name and incorporate the following year, into “Ace Stores”.
The company was named after the ace fighter pilots of World War I, who were able to overcome all odds.
1931
Ace Stores, Inc. officially changes its name to Ace Hardware Corporation.
1941
Ace aids war effort by selling baby chicks in conjunction with America’s “Food for Freedom” program.
1951
Sales skyrocket to $9 million in the midst of postwar prosperity, suburban growth and the Baby Boom.
1969
Ace opens first distribution center outside Chicago in Benicia, Calif., followed by one in Atlanta, Ga.
1974
Corporate offices move to Oak Brook, Ill., a western suburb of Chicago. A fourth distribution center is opened in Toledo, Ohio, to serve the mid-eastern and New England states.
1976
Ace Hardware becomes fully dealer-owned; sales volume reaches $382 million. A new national advertising campaign is developed with Connie Stevens as spokeswoman, singing the now-famous jingle, “Ace is the Place with the Helpful Hardware Man.” A new retail support center in Dallas positions the co-op for growth in the Southwest.
1984
Ace begins manufacturing its own paint at a state-of-the-art plant in Matteson, Ill. The Yakima, Wash., distribution center opens to serve Alaska and the northwest states.
1990
Wholesale sales top $1.6 billion. Ace develops its first export department to grow its international business.
1991
Ace becomes a national corporate sponsor for the Children’s Miracle Network, a charitable organization benefiting more than 12 million sick and injured children.
1997
Ace membership surpasses 5,100 stores in 62 countries on six continents.
2012
In 2012, Ace Hardware acquired its largest member, Westlake Ace Hardware, for $88 million. The following year, Ace’s president and CEO John Venhuizen launched 20/20 Vision, a strategy to use network power to provide better customer service. As of 2016, J. D. Power has ranked Ace Hardware “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores” for ten consecutive years.
2024
Ace commemorates 100 years through ongoing celebrations and innovative product launches, including Loud Mouth™ Barbeque, its first line of barbeque sauces and seasonings, as well as Ace Vintage Threads, its first line of apparel that features the heritage of Ace logos dating back to 1924.
Philanthropy at Ace
The Ace Hardware Foundation exists to enhance our vision of being the “Helpful Place” in local communities through philanthropy. With the help of partnership efforts, the Foundation provides support and opportunities for us to give back where we live and work:
We support local Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals in a variety of ways, including our Miracle Bucket promotion, change round up at the register, in-store fundraising events and more. With help from our retailers, customers, partners and team members, we’ve raised over $200 million in the past 33 years.
We’re proud to partner with the American Red Cross during disaster relief efforts. From small house fires to multi-state natural disasters, the American Red Cross is dedicated to providing clean water, safe shelter and hot meals to people when they need it most.
We’re passionate about teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to support their mission of bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. We’re happy to donate products and supplies – plus give our employees the chance to volunteer.
The Ace Helpful Fund provides short-term, emergency support to qualified employees who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of unforeseen circumstance, including natural disasters, serious illness or injury.
Heartware Stories
At Ace, we’re powered to help in countless ways each and every day. We created this series to share our stories and celebrate our employees who go the extra mile to make an impact – whether big or small.
