ACO Hardware

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ACO, Inc.
Type	Private
Founded	1946 as The Hardware Depot (Dearborn, Michigan, USA)
Headquarters	Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA
Key people	Theodore N. Traskos, Founder Terry Shoenberger, President Mark VandenBerg, Senior VP & CFO (vacant), VP Mechandising and Advertising Bob Dunlap, VP Operations Dave Gronbach, VP Real Estate
Industry	Retail
Revenue	$125.5 million USD (2003) [1]
Employees	1,225
Website	www.acohardware.com

ACO Hardware is a Michigan hardware store with 69 stores. The headquarters and distribution warehouse is located in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Contents 1 History 1.1 1946 1.2 1956 1.3 1959 1.4 1962 1.5 1963 1.6 1965 1.7 1967 1.8 1969 1.9 1976 1.10 1981 1.11 1987 1.12 1991 1.13 1995 1.14 1998 1.15 2000 1.16 2003 1.17 2004 1.18 2006 2 Stores 2.1 Employees 2.2 Store size 2.3 Departments 2.4 Products 2.4.1 Paint 3 Major competitors 4 Subsidiaries 5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1946

The company starts when the Traskos brothers open The Hardware Depot in Dearborn, Michigan, on Monroe Avenue near Outer Drive.

[edit] 1956

The second store, located in Farmington, Michigan, opens as ACE Hardware Depot in an old airplane hanger.

[edit] 1959

The third store opens on Michigan Avenue near Military in Dearborn, Michigan in the former location of a supermarket.

A forth store opens in Taylor, Michigan.

[edit] 1962

Company name changes to ACE Budget Center.

According to company literature, the name change was to better reflect marketing concepts in place with the company at the time.

[edit] 1963

The company name changes to ACE Super Center.

A new store opens in Inkster, Michigan.

[edit] 1965

A new store opens in Jackson, Michigan, along with two stores in Illinois.

[edit] 1967

The company name changes to A.C.E.

13 stores.

[edit] 1969

60,000 square foot warehouse and corporate office constructed in Redford, Michigan.

[edit] 1976

The two Illinois stores are sold.

[edit] 1981

Name is ACO at this time.

34 stores.

146,000 square feet warehouse and corporate offices open in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

[edit] 1987

63 stores.

Warehouse expanded to 189,000 square feet.

[edit] 1991

CheckPoint electronic article surveillance systems are installed in all stores, in hopes of reducing shoplifting. [2]

[edit] 1995

‎ ACO Hardware buys struggling Massachusetts-based NHD Hardware for $2.14 million with intentions of turning the chain around. NHD's 30 stores and Aco's 62 stores makes ACO/NHD the nation's largest independent hardware chain.

[edit] 1998

Unable to bring the already struggling NHD to turn a profit, ACO sells the chain to the Ozer Group for an unknown amount.

[edit] 2000

64 stores.

[edit] 2003

New point of sale registers "go live" in stores. The new modular Microsoft Windows-based registers running software by SDI Retail replace the old NCR Corporation 2126/2127 registers. Along with new registers, stores also receive their first RF terminals ever -- the Symbol Technologies 8146. [3]

[edit] 2004

Dearborn Heights, Michigan store opens, brings chain to 69 stores.

Competitor Frank's Nursery & Crafts goes out of business.

[edit] 2006

Long time Metro Detroit rival Damman Hardware goes out of business after 85 years.

[edit] Stores

[edit] Employees

Each store has anywhere from 10 to 40 employees. The average for most stores is around 13 employees. The number of employees that each store has varies depending on the store's sales volume.

[edit] Store size

The average ACO store size is 15,000 square feet. [4]

[edit] Departments

ACO Hardware has many different departments.

• Paint
• Tools
• Electrical
• Plumbing
• Hardware
• Housewares
• Garden
• Sports
• Pet Supplies
• Seasonal
• Treasure Hunt
• Automotive
• Gifts (in select stores)
• Sundries
• Food
• Rentals

[edit] Products

ACO Hardware carries a variety of products. Larger brand names include GE lightbulbs, 3M Filtrete furnace filters, tape, window energy saver kits, and Command hanging products, Ortho garden chemicals, Scotts fertilizer, Wooster paint brushes, Red Devil caulk, Hillman fasteners, Sterilite organizers, Cooper electrical accessories, and Oxo kitchen tools.

Some items popular with customers are paper lawn and leaf bags, Uncle Ray's Potato Chips, Sander's fudge topping and 50-cent Gallant greeting cards.

[edit] Paint

ACO Hardware carries Benjamin Moore, Laura Ashley, Glidden and Valspar paint.

Only select stores carry Benjamin Moore, Laura Ashley or Glidden paint.

All stores carry Valspar paint.

ACO started carrying Benjamin Moore paint in 2006.

ACO stores are open nights and weekends, unlike most independant paint stores which carry Benjamin Moore. This offers a convenient advantage to do-it-your selfers.

[edit] Major competitors

• Home Depot Home Improvement Stores
• Lowes Home Improvement Stores
• Sherwin-Williams Paint Stores
• Harbor Freight Tool Stores
• Independent Benjamin Moore Paint Dealers

[edit] Subsidiaries

ACE Building Company, which owns four Metro Detroit shopping centers:

• Clawson Center, Clawson, Michigan
• Dearborn Center, Dearborn, Michigan
• Warren Center, Warren, Michigan
• Westland Center, Westland, Michigan

DSA, a wholesaler to indepedent hardware retailers.

[edit] External links

• ACO Hardware (official website)
• Yahoo! Finance ACO Hardware, Inc. Company Profile
• Article: 'ACO Hardware sells NHD stores to Ozer Group'
• Article: 'ACO makes offer for NHD Stores'
• Article: 'ACO Hardware chain announces intent to acquire NHD, New England-based hardware chain'
• Article: 'A letter-perfect match; new president of ACO and NHD looks to spell S-U-C-C-E-S-S.'
• Article: 'ACO Hardware looks to supply retailers from wholesale division'
• Article: 'Hardware chain will increase food offerings, home decor items'