There’s a good chance you’ve shopped at both True Value and Ace Hardware, but you may not know that the two stores are actually owned by the same company. Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers’ cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the world’s largest hardware retail cooperative, and the largest non-grocery American retail cooperative. In 2019, it had more than 4,200 locations across 60 countries. Ace was founded in 1924 as a cooperative of Chicago-area hardware store owners. The company began as Ace Stores, Inc.
In 1931, the name was changed to Ace Hardware Corporation. In Ace’s early years, its business model was based on the U.S. wholesale model in which retailers placed orders with the corporation for merchandise and then took delivery of those products at their store locations from Ace warehouses. By the 1940s, most hardware stores in the United States were members of Ace and were buying merchandise from Ace to resell to consumers. In 1976, Richard Hesse became CEO of Ace Hardware Corporation and led the company into a new strategic direction that involved franchising and international expansion. Under Hesse’s leadership, Ace Hardware Corporation began to grow rapidly through both organic growth and acquisitions. In 1999, Ace moved into new headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. The following year, it completed the purchase of its largest competitor, True Value Company.
Today, both True Value and Ace Hardware are owned by the same company and operate as separate brands within that company. While there are some similarities between the two stores, they also have many differences. For example, True Value focuses more on home improvement products while Ace focuses more on hardware and supplies for both home and commercial use.
Are True Value and Ace Hardware owned by the same company? Yes, True Value and Ace Hardware are both owned by the same company.
