Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Ace Hardware Corp. has hired Grainger executive Mark Spanswick to be president and general manager of Ace Wholesale Holdings LLC.
Spanswick, 48, spent 27 years working for industrial supplier W.W. Grainger, where he served in a variety of leadership roles. Grainger is a publicly traded company that had sales of $10.14 billion in 2016.
Most recently, Spanswick was regional sales vice president, responsible for sales and channel strategy development and deployment for Grainger. Prior to that, he was vice president of mergers, acquisitions and sales integration for the company.
At Ace, Spanswick will lead the wholesale division, which is a compilation of two businesses the co-op bought and a new distribution arm Ace created in 2015.
The companies Ace acquired were Emery-Waterhouse Co., which the co-op purchased in February 2014, and Jensen Distribution Services, bought in January 2015. Ace started Emery Jensen Distribution in 2015 so the co-op could offer wholesale distribution on the East and West coasts through the purchased companies and mid-America with the new business.
“Mark has consistently demonstrated the ability to lead teams through complex business situations and build cohesive sales organizations,” says John Surane, executive vice president of merchandising, retail operations, business to business and wholesale holdings at Ace Hardware.
“Mark’s leadership and talents will serve us well in our quest to further grow Ace Wholesale Holdings.”
Ace Hardware is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, and has more than 5,000 locally owned stores throughout the world that are part of the co-op.
