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Ace Hardware ranked sixth on the Franchise Times Top 400, which orders large U.S.-based franchise systems by global systemwide sales. The retailer reported $24 billion in 2025 retail sales and said it opened more than 1,100 stores worldwide over five years; its cooperative structure differs from a conventional franchise.
Ace Hardware ranked sixth on the 2026 Franchise Times Top 400, an annual list of large U.S.-based franchise systems ordered by global systemwide sales. The company said it generated $24 billion in retail sales in 2025 and remains the highest-ranked hardware brand in the ranking.
The Franchise Times list places Ace behind McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, KFC, Burger King and Chick-fil-A. The source report does not provide sales figures for those companies or the detailed calculation behind each position. It describes the ranking as an evaluation of the largest U.S.-based franchise systems by global systemwide sales.
Ace said it opened more than 1,100 stores worldwide over the past five years. That figure covers the five-year period and is a count of new locations, not an annual opening rate. The report does not break down openings by country, year, or whether locations were company-operated or independently owned.
Ace is a retailer-owned cooperative, rather than a conventional franchise system. According to the report, store owners are shareholders and receive a share of annual profits through patronage dividends. Ace distributed $392 million in patronage dividends in 2025, and its owners do not pay royalties or ongoing franchise fees, the report said.
What the Ranking Says About Ace
The sixth-place result puts a hardware retailer among the top 10 businesses on a list dominated by large consumer-facing chains. For Ace, the ranking offers an external measure of the scale of its retail network and sales, while distinguishing it from the larger restaurant and convenience-store names above it.
The figures also point to the role of independent store owners in Ace’s business model. The company’s reported sales and store growth sit alongside a system in which owners hold shares and receive patronage dividends. That arrangement differs from the franchise-fee model, although the Top 400 ranking compares Ace with franchise systems using sales rather than ownership structure alone.
For prospective owners and the hardware trade, the placement may draw attention to Ace’s reach and cooperative economics. It does not, by itself, establish the profitability of an individual store or indicate how sales are distributed across locations. The report supplies network-level figures, not store-level financial results.
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Ace’s Cooperative Business Model
The Top 400 is an annual Franchise Times ranking that evaluates large U.S.-based franchise systems by global systemwide sales. The source report identifies Ace’s sixth-place result as an announcement made on October 7, 2026, and gives 2025 as the year for its retail sales and dividend figures.
Ace has similarities to a franchise network because stores operate under a shared retail brand, but the report emphasizes that it is organized as a retailer-owned cooperative. Store owners are shareholders, and the company says annual profits are returned in part through patronage dividends. Ace’s stated lack of royalties and ongoing franchise fees is a distinction from conventional franchise arrangements; the source does not provide a detailed comparison of all costs or obligations for members.
““Ace is proud to once again be recognized by Franchise Times as one of the largest franchise systems in the world and the only hardware brand in the top 10 on this respected list.””
— Andy Schmitt, Ace Hardware vice president of retail operations and new business
Ranking Details Not Provided
The source report does not publish the sales figures for other ranked companies, the margin separating Ace from the companies around it, or a full account of how the list’s systemwide-sales figures were verified. It also does not specify whether Ace’s reported $24 billion in retail sales is identical to the systemwide-sales measure used for the ranking.
The report gives no geographic or year-by-year breakdown for the more than 1,100 store openings, and it does not state how many Ace locations closed during the same period. It also does not provide an explanation of how the $392 million dividend was distributed among owners. Those details would be needed to assess changes in the network or the financial impact on individual stores.
Further Ranking and Sales Detail
The next useful point of comparison will be the full Franchise Times Top 400 list and any accompanying methodology or company-level data. The source announcement gives Ace’s position and selected operating figures but does not include those underlying details.
Ace’s next reported annual sales, store-opening totals and patronage-dividend figures would show how the business has changed beyond the 2025 results cited here. No future ranking date or new company forecast is included in the report, so the timing of additional updates is not specified.
Key Questions
What position did Ace Hardware earn?
Ace Hardware ranked sixth on the Franchise Times Top 400. The report says it was the highest-ranked hardware brand and the only hardware brand in the top 10.
What does the Franchise Times Top 400 measure?
The annual list evaluates large U.S.-based franchise systems by global systemwide sales. The source report does not provide the full methodology or the individual sales figures for the companies listed.
How much retail sales did Ace report?
Ace reported $24 billion in retail sales in 2025. The announcement does not clarify whether that figure matches the precise systemwide-sales measure used to rank the list.
Is Ace Hardware a traditional franchise?
Ace describes itself as a retailer-owned cooperative. Store owners are shareholders and may receive patronage dividends; according to the report, they do not pay royalties or ongoing franchise fees.
How much did Ace distribute to owners in 2025?
The report says Ace distributed $392 million in patronage dividends in 2025. It does not explain how that amount was allocated among individual store owners.
Source: rss
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