True Value

True Value is a U.S.-based hardware wholesaler and retail brand that serves a large network of independently owned neighborhood hardware stores. These stores carry a broad mix of everyday and project-driven categories, including paint, tools, lawn and garden, building materials, electrical, and plumbing. The company’s role is to keep local hardware operators supplied with national brands and private-label products, along with merchandising and retail support that fit small and mid-sized community markets.

The brand traces its roots to Cotter & Company, a Chicago hardware cooperative founded in 1948 that later consolidated several banners under the True Value name. Over the following decades, True Value expanded by bringing regional distributors and independent dealers into a shared wholesale and branding platform, which helped roll out the True Value banner across thousands of locally owned stores in the United States and select international markets. A major turning point came in 2018, when ACON Investments acquired a majority stake and the business shifted from a traditional member-owned cooperative to a more flexible wholesale model backed by private equity ownership.

That ownership change allowed True Value to spend more on distribution, systems, and merchandising capabilities while still focusing on independently owned stores rather than a tightly controlled corporate chain. As of December 2025, the company remains one of the better-known names in neighborhood hardware, even though individual store formats and real estate footprints vary more than those of prototype-driven, big-box competitors. The result is a banner that can support both long-standing legacy locations and newer stores that adapt to existing buildings instead of requiring ground-up development.

In practice, most True Value locations operate as small- to mid-box hardware stores oriented to repair, maintenance, and small project customers. They tend to show up in older in-line neighborhood centers, small freestanding buildings, community main streets, and legacy downtown locations, as well as in rural towns where a True Value store may function as the primary hardware destination. Because stores are independently owned, real estate decisions are usually made locally, which can give landlords and brokers room for direct conversations with operators about space configuration, lease structure, and how to work within second-generation or unconventional footprints.

Over roughly the last five years, True Value’s growth has tilted toward cautious, opportunistic moves rather than a large, centrally driven pipeline of new builds. Most store activity is coming from existing dealers relocating or remodeling, independent operators converting from other buying groups, and new entrepreneurs opening neighborhood hardware stores in markets where they see a gap. For owners and developers, this creates a potential user for modest-sized inline boxes, endcaps, and small freestanding buildings in established trade areas, especially where a local operator wants to complement rather than go head-to-head with a big-box home improvement format.