Ace Hardware appoints former executive from The Home Depot, John Sommers, Jr., to Vice President of Merchandising
Ace Hardware Corporation, the world’s largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative, is pleased to announce the appointment of John Sommers, Jr. to the position of Vice President of Merchandising, effective July 10, 2017.
Mr. Sommers, 52, is a 23-year veteran of The Home Depot and has held various roles in merchandising, store environment and new store development. In his most recent role, Mr. Sommers held the position of Vice President of Merchandising for The Home Depot. He was directly responsible for the Flooring division, where he and his team grew market share through the creation of new merchandising programs, innovative product introductions and the development of strategic vendor alliances.
Prior to assuming responsibility for Flooring, Mr. Sommers held roles throughout his career that gave him direct responsibility for Plumbing, Electrical and Hardware. He has extensive experience in new store concepts and development as well as visual merchandising, signing/fixtures and reset implementation.
“We are excited to welcome John Sommers to the Ace team,” said John Surane, Executive Vice President, Merchandising, Retail Operations, Business to Business, and Wholesale Holdings. “John is a recognized expert in the industry with a proven track record. We look forward to working together with John to further advance our merchandising efforts, ensuring we offer our store owners the best brands and lowest cost of goods, with merchandise that is differentiated and locally-relevant for our customers.”
Mr. Sommers received an MBA from Emory University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Marquette University.
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For more than 90 years, Ace Hardware has been known as the place with the helpful hardware folks in thousands of neighborhoods across America, providing customers with a more personal kind of helpful. In 2017, Ace ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores, Eleven Years in a Row," according to J.D. Power. With more than 5,000 hardware stores locally owned and operated across the globe, Ace is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace and its subsidiaries operate an expansive network of distribution centers in the U.S. and also have distribution capabilities in Ningbo, China; Colon, Panama; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its retailers' stores are located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and approximately 55 countries. For more information on Ace, visit acehardware.com or the company newsroom at newsroom.acehardware.com.
