Metro by metro
The leading hardware store chains in every Illinois metro area
Tracked hardware store chains ranked by consumer spend in each metro area, Q4 2025–Q3 2026. Ace Hardware leads in 5 metro areas, Harbor Freight Tools in 1 metro area. Against their share in Illinois as a whole, Ace Hardware stands out in 5 metro areas, R.P. Lumber in 1 metro area.
By tracked consumer spend, Q4 2025–Q3 2026
-
Ace Hardware
Relative #1 in 5 metro areas
Chicago, IL (IL part) 1× · Peoria, IL 1.7× · Rockford, IL 0.4× · Champaign-Urbana, IL 1.5× · Springfield, IL 1.2×
-
R.P. Lumber
Relative #1 in St. Louis, MO-IL (IL part), 8.3× its share in Illinois
Not enough tracked stores: Bloomington, IL · Cape Girardeau, MO-IL (IL part) · Davenport, IA (IL part) · Decatur, IL · Kankakee, IL · Paducah, KY-IL (IL part)
-
Ace Hardware
#1 in 5 metro areas
Chicago, IL (IL part) · St. Louis, MO-IL (IL part) · Peoria, IL · Champaign-Urbana, IL · Springfield, IL
-
Harbor Freight Tools
#1 in Rockford, IL
Not enough tracked stores: Bloomington, IL · Cape Girardeau, MO-IL (IL part) · Davenport, IA (IL part) · Decatur, IL · Kankakee, IL · Paducah, KY-IL (IL part)
A metro area shows a ranking once it has at least 2 tracked hardware store chains and 10 tracked stores. Relative to Illinois compares a chain's share of the metro area's spend with its share in Illinois as a whole. It ranks the 7 biggest chains in Illinois and the chains that lead a metro area by spend, wherever a chain has at least 5% of the metro area's spend and 3 stores there. Metro areas are the Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical areas; the rest of Illinois is light gray. A metro area crossing the state line counts only its stores in Illinois. Colors match the store map; other tracked chains are gray.
Growth ranking
Fastest-growing tracked hardware store chains
Ranked by year-over-year growth of share of tracked local spend. Arrows show movement in the rankings since last year. Each dot in the chart is one tracked chain: bigger market position to the right, faster growth higher up, more tracked stores in a bigger dot. Colors match the store map below. Berland's House of Tools and Ace Hardware sit in the high-growth half.
| Rank | Chain | Rank movement | YoY growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berland's House of Tools | - | +14.0% |
| 2 | Ace Hardware | - | +7.0% |
| 3 | R.P. Lumber | - | +4.4% |
| 4 | Crawford Supply | - | +3.7% |
| 5 | Harbor Freight Tools | - | -1.2% |
| 6 | Midwest Equipment | - | -7.9% |
| 7 | Ziegler's Ace | - | -10.6% |
| 8 | True Value | - | -15.7% |
- Ace Hardware
- Harbor Freight Tools
- Wm F Meyer Co
- Ziegler's Ace
- Lens Ace Hardware LLC
- R.P. Lumber
- Morton Grove Supply Co Inc
- Other tracked chains
Store footprint
Store map
455 tracked store locations in Illinois. The 7 largest tracked chains are highlighted. The top 5 chains by store count run 253 of the 455 stores (56%); 171 of the 188 tracked chains have a single store here. 4% of the tracked retail stores here are hardware stores, the same share as across the United States.
- Ace Hardware (135)
- Harbor Freight Tools (47)
- Wm F Meyer Co (3)
- Ziegler's Ace (9)
- Lens Ace Hardware LLC (1)
- R.P. Lumber (40)
- Morton Grove Supply Co Inc (1)
- Other tracked chains
Top tracked chains by store count
- 1 Ace Hardware 135
- 2 Harbor Freight Tools 47
- 3 R.P. Lumber 40
- 4 True Value 22
- 5 Ziegler's Ace 9
- 6 AMES Tools 4
- 7 Crawford Supply 4
- 8 Midwest Equipment 3
- 9 Berland's House of Tools 3
- 10 Wm F Meyer Co 3
- 11 Rusty's Home Center 2
- 12 Crafty Beaver Home Center 2
- 13 Graber Building Supply 2
- 14 Rockler Woodworking and Hardware 2
- 15 Northern Tool + Equipment 2
- 16 Wieland's Lawn Mower Hospital 2
- 17 Shorewood Home and Auto 2
- 18 Wells Plumbing & Heating 1
- 19 Redrobn Home Center INC. 1
- 20 Scott's Building Center 1
- 21 Harrisburg Hardware 1
- 22 Holt Supply 1
- 23 Admiral Lawn Mower 1
- 24 Kuhl's Hardware 1
- 25 Kaskaskia Supply & Rental 1
- 26 Brimfield Hardware Inc 1
- 27 John's Hardware & Bicycle Shop 1
- 28 Tonnies Hardware & Rental 1
- 29 Ferretodo Hardware 1
- 30 Grummert's Hardware 1
- 31 Johnson True Value Hardware and Gardens 1
- 32 Pecatonica Hardware 1
- 33 A & I Supply 1
- 34 Kerr Home Center Inc 1
- 35 ReTool 1
- 36 E B Buildings & Lumber Co 1
- 37 Tri B Hardware & Supply 1
- 38 Evanston Lumber Co. 1
- 39 Holz Tool Supply 1
- 40 City Electric Supply Lake Zurich 1
- 41 Mitchell Hardware Supply 1
- 42 City Welding Sales 1
- 43 Tools Plus 1
- 44 Paxton Hardware And Rental 1
- 45 Bess Hardware & Sports 1
- 46 Kesel Hardware 1
- 47 Rochester Hardware & Rental 1
- 48 Albany Steel and Brass Corporation 1
- 49 Leroy's Lawn Equipment 1
- 50 North Coast Chicago 1
More trends