Q&A: Thought Leadership with John Venhuizen — Staying Close,Moving Fast

Ace CEO John Venhuizen on digital tools, local ownership and why service still wins—even in the currently challenging marketplace.

As consumer expectations evolve and digital convenience redefines retail, John Venhuizen sees opportunity in integration—not balance. The president and CEO of Ace Hardware leads a network of more than 5,000 independently owned stores backed by a globally trusted brand. With three-quarters of the U.S. population living within 15 minutes of an Ace, Venhuizen views proximity as a core advantage—especially when paired with a digital strategy that gives local owners full credit for online sales. 

Rather than treating e-commerce and brick-and-mortar as competing channels, Ace blends the two to meet customers wherever they choose to shop. That philosophy extends to technology, too: Venhuizen notes that the company has deployed more than 20 AI tools to fine-tune inventory, staffing, marketing and customer service. 

The CEO is quick to ground Ace’s success in its people. Independent retailers, he says, are Ace’s differentiator—and the co-op’s support structure, from early-order discounts to SKU rationalization tools, helps them stay nimble and profitable. Whether through Ace-branded stores or its Emery Jensen Distribution arm, the company’s pitch remains clear: Local hardware retailers can win on service, speed and smart assortments—if they stay close to their customers and move quickly to meet their needs. 

This interview with Venhuizen was conducted prior to the May 2025 announcement of Ace’s exclusive distribution agreement with Weber Grills. Hardware Connection has requested follow-up comments from Ace leadership regarding the implications of that agreement but has not received a response as of late June. What follows is an exclusive interview covering Venhuizen’s broader strategy, outlook and insights into the evolving hardware retail landscape. 

Hardware Connection: How do you perceive the current shifts in the hardware retail industry, and what strategies is Ace Hardware implementing to stay ahead in this evolving landscape? 

John Venhuizen: Setting aside the current tariff tyranny, most of retail is facing the significant shift in consumers’ definition of convenience. Today, convenience has been redefined to largely be about inventory availability and speed. Seventy-five percent of the United States is within 15 minutes of an Ace store. This means that we have nearly $4 billion of inventory within moments of most of America. So the combination of our physical assets—stores, inventory, trucks and 100,000 red-vested heroes—and our ever-improving litany of digital assets affords Ace a strategic advantage we do not intend to squander. 

For retailers considering a change in affiliation, what unique advantages does Ace Hardware offer to support their transition and long-term success? 

We continue to believe that we have two very attractive homes: namely, Ace-branded stores or Emery Jensen Distribution for independents that are not unified by a common brand. For Ace, the proposition has long been: best brand—globally trusted, locally embraced; assortment—largest assortment, most differentiation and exclusivity; cost—lowest cost of goods; supply chain—most distribution centers, best service to local owners; and best store-level economics—most lucrative store model in the hardware industry. 

For Emery Jensen Distribution, our proposition to independents in many retail verticals remains lowest cost, widest assortment, largest and best supply chain, best service. 

With online sales now deeply embedded in consumer behavior, how is Ace balancing digital growth with its core strength, community-based retail? 

We don’t view our digital or store business as something that needs balance as if they are enemies of one another. On the contrary, there is deeply embedded integration to best meet the needs of our neighbors based on when and where they desire to shop. We are essentially agnostic on how consumers shop. As such, all our local Ace owners get 100 percent of the gross profit of every online sale as we present their neighbors with their local inventory and their local pricing. Of course, all 100,000 SKUs in our distribution centers are also available online, and local Ace stores get full credit for these sales as well. We believe that if you actually want to buy hyperlocal, a fully integrated digital strategy is imperative to success. 

At the San Antonio Spring Convention, you framed differentiation as a survival imperative. For longtime Ace stores with a strong legacy, how do you encourage change without losing the culture and community they’ve built? 

Embedded deeply into the Ace culture is a strong embrace of change, particularly when it comes to serving the needs of our neighbors. Our local Ace owners have successfully navigated change for over 100 years now. The core proposition to win on service, convenience and quality remains principally the same, but the operational manifestation of that changes over time. Our retailers work mighty hard to identify where the consumer is headed, then race to beat them there. 

How is Ace exploring or implementing AI, automation or smart analytics to improve inventory management, merchandising decisions or customer service at the local level? 

All three of these use cases you reference are both excellent and practical. We have over 20 AI applications already deployed at Ace. The existing and potential improvements in productivity are real and achievable. Inventory management, merchandising, marketing, labor force optimization and customer service are prime examples of business areas that are already benefiting from AI at Ace. 

What’s your bold prediction about a major shift you believe will reshape the hardware retail world within the next five years—and how is Ace preparing for it? 

We’re already seeing the bifurcation of “winners and losers” within home improvement in general and hardware retailing in particular. My hope is that the Ace enterprise will continue to rapidly advance with a strong spirit of productive paranoia. We have incredibly large and impressive competitors and, significantly, evolving consumers who demand our passionate pursuit of continued improvement.