Ace Hardware Accused of Using Store Sales Data to Jack Up Prices

Ace Hardware Corp. conspired to raise retail prices across its member stores, causing consumers to pay millions of dollars more for products, according to a customer’s proposed class action.

The case, filed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Northern Illinois, accuses the hardware retail cooperative and its software provider, Epicor Software Corp., of a roughly decade-long scheme that forced stores to charge identical prices across their range of products.

The consumer plaintiff also accuses Ace of exploiting its image as a trusted brand of locally-owned neighborhood hardware stores. Ace traces its roots to the 1920s when a group of retailers incorporated their business in Illinois as Ace stores, in honor of the World War I fliers dubbed “aces.”

“The Ace Cooperative’s cultivated image as a cooperative of independent small businesses that compete in local markets leads customers to believe that if one Ace Member Store tries to overcharge them, they will be able to find a lower price at another,” the suit alleges. “This is at odds with the reality of cooperation between these stores behind the scenes.”

Ace didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the suit, Epicor collects sensitive data about the prices that each Ace member store charges for products, the quantities they sell, and their inventory. Stores then allegedly receive monthly reports, along with weekly “hot sheets,” showing how much their nearby competitor stores charge for the same products, whether the products are stock, as well as guidance to profitably raise prices on particular items.

“This practice alone constitutes a classic illegal information sharing conspiracy,” the suit said.

Ace also organizes member stores into locally defined geographic “price zones” and then directs the stores in each zone to uniformly increase prices for specified items, “ensuring that prices at Ace Member stores move in unison with prices at their nearby competitors,” the complaint says.

If stores don’t follow Ace’s pricing guidance, Epicor issues “critical price change” alerts that direct stores to raise prices on particular items, according to the plaintiff.

Ace also allegedly restricts new stores from opening in locations where they would compete on price with existing Ace member stores, therefore discouraging owners from selling their stores to entrepreneurs not affiliated with Ace.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a class of people in the US who between May 7, 2022 and the present purchased directly from a store that was a member of the Ace Hardware Corp. retail cooperative or an affiliated store.

The proposed class, whose members are likely in excess of 5 million, seeks treble damages and relief under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits agreements that restrain trade.

The consumer plaintiff is represented by Korein Tillery LLC and MoloLamken LLP.

The case is Twomey v. Ace Hardware Corp., N.D. Ill., No. 1:26-cv-05320, complaint 5/7/26.