January 15, 2025 | Warren Shoulberg
In its annual awards for innovation in the retail field, John Venhuizen was one of handful of executive honorees.
“What is more radical than leading a 100-year-old brand into the future by reinventing the legacy hardware store model?” asks The Robin Report, the newsletter for executives in the retail field. It just awarded its Retail Radical honor to John Venhuizen, president and CEO of the retail chain Ace Hardware, as “a radical thinker (who) has given his trusted brand a remarkable reinvention.”
The website said, “Under his leadership, Ace Hardware has mastered the delicate balance between rapid expansion and maintaining the dependable neighborhood hardware store experience that has defined its brand for generations. The company continues to innovate and stay relevant to its core customers, recently incorporating a new store design aimed at improving the shopper journey.”
It is Venhuizen’s connection to the individual Ace store owners that makes him stand out. “John Venhuizen’s transformational leadership style and ability to personally connect with Ace Hardware store owners have created a strong community that builds brand loyalty. Store owners are proud to be part of the Ace ecosystem and feel they have a say in business decisions; it is their company and Venhuizen makes it clear that the store owners are the most important factor differentiating the company from competitors.”
Venhuizen, in acknowledging the honor, said, “I think it begins by encouraging – heavily encouraging people to fall in love with problems, and then obsess over solving them. Most great ideas, products, companies and initiatives have their origin in a smart, curious individual who fell in love with an injustice or a problem and then sought to solve it with passionate pursuit. We try to permeate that kind of pursuit throughout all of Ace while giving people permission to fail fast, adjust, dust themselves off and try again.”
He is the only executive in the sector to be honored by The Robin Report this year. Other winners include executives with Walmart, Abercrombie & Fitch and Chewy.
“John Venhuizen’s leadership and radical innovation over the past decade have fueled Ace Hardware’s growth and is a masterclass in scaling up while maintaining brand integrity and strong community ties,” The Robin Report wrote. “The success in attracting experienced retailers to its cooperative model demonstrates the enduring value of combining local expertise with global resources.”
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