John Venhuizen takes over

Ace Hardware, the American dealer-owned group, has carried out the change at the top that was announced in September. The new president and CEO is John Venhuizen, 42, who has been with the company since 1992 and who took on the role of president in addition to his position as COO at the time of the announcement. His predecessor Ray Griffith, who is retiring after eight years, held on to the job of CEO for the interim period. Venhuizen has recently been pushing his “2020 Vision”, a long-term and customer-focused strategy designed to boost the Ace brand.