BillyGr wrote: ↑Today, 3:07 pm
Super S wrote: ↑Today, 6:15 am
Between Ace and True Value, I always found Ace affiliated stores generally to be higher priced across the board.
True Value tends to me more associated with "old school" hardware stores, but I have also noticed that Wilco Farm Stores in my area are affiliated with True Value.
Where this will have the biggest impact is in small towns where selection will become even more limited. Many of these are in areas where the closest Lowe's or Home Depot is over an hour away.
Not at all, as none of the stores will be changed, as they are all (save for ONE) independently owned.
If anything, they merge and have a different name (or not, they kept Servistar for quite some time when that merged into True Value) and get their items from another company, but the stores will operate as they always have.
By the way, does anyone else look at the title of this posting and wonder why a company would use the name DOLT Best?
Since on the main page, it is mixed (capital D and I, lower case o and t), and of course the capital I looks like a lower case l.
They tuned up the logo slightly a few years ago and seemingly expanded the space between Do and It.
Anyway this is really a non issue. Every TrueValue I can think of changed to ACE in the last decade or so. Or just went out of business.
ACE does have District Managers that oversee markets of franchise stores. Very curious how that works out. I don't think they can do much to hold them accountable. My local ACE is so neglected that it looks like they're already out of business and you walked into the fixture liquidation. Obviously that franchise operator doesn't want to pay for inventory to fill the shelves. I also saw there is a new ACE that is soft opening in Corona at the Dos Lagos Mall, which is one of those modern streetscape style centers. No idea where they found room for an ACE or how it will fit into that center where the largest boxes are a theater and a Trader Joe's.
The biggest TrueValue operator I know is DeNault hardware throughout Southern Orange County and they flipped all their stores to ACE over the last five years or so after closing a few.
The Do It Best locations I'm used to seeing are more rural and remote. ACE gets into suburbs and urban areas. My favorite ACE is in Long Beach and is probably only 3,000 Sq ft but is a claustrophobic maze that must have 50,000 weird SKUs in it. If you can't find it at Home Depot or Lowe's it is in that store. Specifically that one, oddball items I found there were absent from 20,000 sq ft modern large ACE stores.
