Ace looks forward to spring boost

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Ace Hardware CEO John Venhuizen expects to see a lift in the company’s performance as consumers find themselves in a stronger position during the spring shopping season. “We are more about home preservation than home renovation thus the housing cycle does not impact us as much, but I think it is steadily improving and that is good for all of us,” he told The Street. “The big box players are doing very well at the ‘stack it high, watch it fly’ low price style of selling, but then the specialty, convenience, high-touch retailers are also doing very well, and we are fortunate to be in that latter space.”