Executive Summary
Overv i ew of Resul ts
Note: In this summary the figures for Typical Non-Ace Hardware present results reported by NRHA in their Cost of Doing Business Study for single store operations. NRHA is solely responsible for these results. Financial performance varies widely within Ace. The typical Ace Hardware store had sales of $3,004,134 and a pre-tax profit of 9.6%. In contrast, the high-profit Ace store had sales of $3,482,541 and profit of 15.3%. Of greatest consequence, the high profit Ace Hardware store produced pre-tax return on assets (profit before taxes expressed as a percentage of total assets) of 44.4% while the typical Ace store generated only 22.1%. A number of factors led to these differences in performance. The differences can be summarized by examining with what are commonly called the Critical Profit Variables (CPVs). The following table compares CPVs for the typical and high profit Ace Hardware store and for the typical industry hardware store.
Compar i son of Cr i t i ca l Prof i t Var i abl es
Typical Ace Hardware
High
Typical
Profit Ace Hardware
Non-Ace Hardware
Store
Sales Per FTE Employee Measures employee productivity.
$237,560
$248,392
$213,772
Gross Margin Percentage Ability to sell at prices that cover expenses and earn profit. Operating Expense Percentage Expense control is crucial in achieving adequate profit. Inventory Turnover The most common measure of inventory utilization.
40.9%
42.2%
39.4%
32.5%
28.4%
34.1%
3.2
3.6
2.4
The high profit store seldom performs better in all of the CPVs but their combined CPV performance produces better overall results. The nature of the differences and their underlying causes need to be understood by every Ace retailer. The typical and the high profit Ace Hardware stores have different sales volumes and CPVs. These differences produce a dramatic improvement in overall performance. The following table shows the impact of the CPVs on the typical Ace store, the high profit Ace store, and the typical industry hardware store.
Over v i ew of F i nanc i a l Resul t s
Typical Ace Hardware
High
Profit Ace Hardware $3,482,541 2,054,699 1,427,842
Store
Net Sales
$3,004,134 1,814,497 1,189,637
Cost Of Goods Sold
Gross Margin Before Patronage Dividend
Patronage Dividend
39,054
41,790
Gross Margin
1,228,691 976,344 252,347 36,050 $288,397
1,469,632 989,042 480,591 52,238 $532,829
Operating Expenses Operating Profit
Other Income/Expenses
Profit Before Taxes
Profit Before Taxes (%)
9.6%
15.3%
Total Assets
$1,306,145
$1,200,876
Return On Assets (%)
22.1%
44.4%
3
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