Ace Hardware opens new headquarters on former McDonald’s campus

Ace Hardware Corp. is relocating its center of operations to a site with a strong retail history.

The world's largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024, informed Chain Store Age in an email that it has relocated its headquarters to the former McDonald’s corporate campus in Oak Brook, lll. Ace Hardware occupied its previous space, also in Oak Brook, for 49 years.

Ace, with construction partner Skender, began work the 250,000-sq.-ft. space, which is the largest suburban Chicago area build-out since 2018, in February 2023. Construction was completed on time and on budget by mid-September for an on time move in date of Sep. 25, 2023.

The completed space consists of open workstations, 150 conference rooms, 12 cafes/pantries, a fitness center, conference center, multi-purpose room, large cafeteria, dining center, and a variety of collaboration spaces and amenities. More than 1,100 employees work there.

Originally built in the 1970s and designed by Dirk Lohan, grandson of architect Mies van der Rohe, the former McDonald’s campus consists of three Brutalist-style buildings occupying more than 80 acres in Oak Brook.

Ace expands supply chain network in response to growth. 

In other real estate-related activity, Ace Hardware plans to open a new retail support center (RSC) in Kansas City, Mo. The new facility, spanning approximately 1.5 million square feet, is projected to be fully operational in 2025, and is expected to provide employment opportunities to over 350 people. 

Ace Hardware says it is building the new facility to balance its current distribution network and meet the needs of its growing business. In the last 10 years, Ace Hardware has increased its retail sales by $12 billion, and also experienced 11 consecutive years of new domestic store growth, resulting in the opening of 850 new stores in the past five years.

[Read more: Ace Hardware to open more than 170 stores in 2022]

Ace Hardware is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world with over 5,700 locally owned and operated hardware stores in approximately 60 countries. Ace and its subsidiaries operate a network of distribution centers in the U.S. and have distribution capabilities in Ningbo, China and Santa Catarina, Mexico.