Page 6 - BusinessWest February 21, 2022
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They the
Know Drill
Rocky’s Ace Hardware Approaches a Century of Innovation
and Change
The Falcone family have been innovators since 1926, when Rocco Falcone II’s grandfather opened his first hardware store in Springfield — and later doubled his profits with a foray into tool rentals. Now part of the Ace Hardware co-op, the family business has made plenty more pivots since then, adopting the home- center model in the ’70s and then shifting to a more targeted, customer- service-focused model in the ’90s to combat the rise of Home Depot. And today, at a time when the pandemic is crushing small, independent stores, Rocky’s is still growing, to 38 stores and counting.
6 FEBRUARY 21, 2022 FEATURE BusinessWest
Rocky’s Ace Hardware President and CEO Rocco Falcone II
