Ace Hardware reports an increase of 6.7 per cent

The US cooperative Ace Hardware has reported consolidated revenues of USD 9.1698 bn (EUR 8.5834 bn) for fiscal 2022, an increase of 6.7 per cent as compared to the prior year.  Total wholesale revenues were USD 8.3723 bn (EUR 7.8369 bn), an increase of 7.6 per cent.  Increases were seen across most departments, with outdoor power equipment, plumbing and paint showing the largest gains, according to the company.

Wholesale merchandise revenues from new domestic Ace stores were USD 230.3 mio. This increase was partially offset by a decrease in wholesale merchandise revenues of USD 52.8 mio due to domestic Ace store cancellations.  Wholesale merchandise revenues to comparable domestic Ace stores increased by USD 311.5 mio in fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021 as a result of estimated wholesale price inflation of 11.5 per cent.  Ace International wholesale revenues decreased by USD 48.6 mio, due entirely to a USD 48.7 mio decline in sales to AIH’s largest customer. Ace Wholesales Holdings’ wholesale revenues increased by USD 52.4 million compared with the prior year, primarily due to inflation, new customers and higher sales to AWH hardware and e-commerce customers.

Total retail revenues were USD 797.5 mio, a decrease of 1.8 per cent, as compared with the prior year.  The closure of The Grommet in the third quarter of 2022 drove a USD 24.8 million drop in retail sales. Retail revenues from Ace Retail Holdings were USD 787.0 mio, an increase of 1.3 per cent, from the prior year. This increase was the result of inflation and the new stores added by Westlake and Great Lakes Ace Hardware in 2021 and 2022, which was mostly offset by lower transaction counts.

Ace added 168 new domestic stores in fiscal 2022 and cancelled 52 stores.  This brought the company’s total domestic store count to 4 867 at the end of fiscal 2022, an increase of 116 stores from the end of fiscal 2021.  On a worldwide basis, Ace added 232 stores in fiscal 2022 and cancelled 69, bringing the worldwide store count to 5 746 at the end of fiscal 2022.