Ace Hardware franchise: what it costs

Ace Hardware franchise cost, item by item

Full cost of opening

$603,850 to $2,001,550

Item 7, 2025 FDD

Franchise fee you pay one time at the start

$5,000

Item 5, 2025 FDD

Royalty, your ongoing payments to the brand

None, because the store owners own Ace together as a co-op

Item 6, 2025 FDD

Yearly brand assessment, Ace's charge in place of a royalty

You pay $6,000 in year one, then 2% of your purchases from the prior year

Item 6, 2025 FDD

Figures on sales or earnings

$2,997,732 a year on average across 343 locations it counts, before costs

Item 19, 2025 FDD

Count of locations when 2024 ended

Franchise owners ran 4,885, and the company ran 259

Item 20, 2025 FDD

Every figure above comes from the 2025 Ace Hardware Franchise Disclosure Document. Ace Hardware Corporation filed it with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and it is dated March 27, 2025. Each small label points to the numbered part of the FDD where that figure sits.

Ace Hardware FDD: sales and earnings

Item 19 is the FDD section where a brand may state what its stores sell or earn, and Ace Hardware shares figures there. Average yearly sales of $2,997,732 form the headline figure, drawn from 343 member stores in the core format that reported their 2023 numbers. It is money the store takes in, not profit, because rent, wages and every other cost get paid from it.

Before you rely on any figure, see the guide on reading an Item 19.

The number of Ace Hardware locations

At the end of 2024, the United States had 5,144 Ace Hardware locations, with franchise owners running 95% of them (Item 20). In that same part of the FDD, you get phone numbers for owners still running stores and ones who left. Your best way to learn how these costs play out in real life is to call a few of them.