The Hardest-Working Paper in America | 
Thursday, April 18, 2024
News Business

The Grommet seems to fit Ace Hardware

By  Bill Ruminski
   
SHARE The Grommet seems to fit Ace Hardware
500_the_grommet_at_ace_hardware_5.jpg

Ace Hardware has taking a controlling stake in The Grommet. | Photo by Ace Hardware

Grommets and hardware stores would seem to be natural partners.

Ace Hardware Corp. on Tuesday said it has bought a controlling stake in The Grommet, an ecommerce website that sells new and innovative products from independent entrepreneurs.

Ace Hardware, the Oak Brook-based cooperative, and The Grommet began working together in 2016, with some products from The Grommet being offered in Ace stores.

“We both stand as strong advocates for the underdog. From the very beginning, we have appreciated our alignment in support for and advancement of the independent maker,” Ace President and CEO John Venhuizen said in a news release.

Financial terms weren’t released. The Grommet’s founders, Joanne Domeniconi and Jules Pieri, and employees will continue to have some ownership in the company.

Next Up In News
Netflix looks to curb password sharing, considers ads
Aiming to predict COVID, future pandemics better, CDC opens infectious diseases forecasting center
Joliet farmers wrangle cows thrown from semitrailer after crash on Interstate 80
1 killed, 3 wounded in shootings Tuesday in Chicago
Obama relatives sue Milwaukee school alleging racial bias
Unmasked transit: Pritzker ends mask mandates in public transportation, airports
The Latest
Connor Bedard
Blackhawks
Connor Bedard assesses rookie season with Blackhawks: 'I was OK'
Bedard entered the season finale Thursday with 61 points in 67 games, making him the most productive Hawks teenager since Patrick Kane in 2007-08, but he’s not entirely pleased with his performance.
By Ben Pope
 
Chicago Cubs v Seattle Mariners
Cubs
Cubs reliever Mark Leiter Jr.'s family makes history as he starts season strong in pivotal role
Leiter’s cousin Jack debuted for the Rangers on Thursday.
By Maddie Lee
 
Howard Brown Health workers and their supporters march during an unfair labor practice strike outside Howard Brown Health Sheridan in the Uptown neighborhood in January. Sixty-one workers were illegally laid off on December 30, 2022, according to Margo Gislain of the Illinois Nurses Association.
Health
Howard Brown, union reach tentative agreement after 17 months of negotiations
The contract would include raises across the union body — including annual wage increases — a new minimum wage of $19.23, insurance for part-time employees, two weeks of paid leave for gender-affirming care, a union rights clause and protections against layoffs, among other things.
By Violet Miller
 
Transportation
Uber launches rider verification program in Chicago, 11 other cities
Chicago riders may now find a blue check mark under their name, as part of Uber’s rider verification process.
By Jessica Ma
 
Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III sits with Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Rainbow PUSH Convention on July 18, 2023.
Politics
Quick exit by Rev. Jesse Jackson's replacement raises questions about future of Rainbow PUSH
It’s still not clear why the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, a Texas megachurch pastor, suddenly resigned Tuesday as president of the legendary South Side social justice organization. But longtime observers say an out-of-towner was doomed from the start.
By Mitchell Armentrout