SBA loan outcome check · franchise brand · SBA data as of 30 September 2026

How have SBA loans to Ace Hardware franchisees turned out?

Of 139 loans approved in fiscal 2009 to 2018 (at least five years old), 5 (3.6%) were charged off by the lender, against 7.8% across all 7(a) loans approved in those same years. Ace Hardware appears on 139 SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans approved from fiscal 2009 to 2018, $92.2 million in gross approvals. These are loans, not a rating.
Not financial, legal or franchise advice. This page reports what the SBA's loan file records for SBA-guaranteed loans. A charge-off rate is not a rating of a brand or an industry, it does not predict a new loan, and a franchisee's loan is not a measure of the franchisor. Read the franchise's disclosure document and talk to a lender or an adviser before you borrow.
Ace HardwareFranchise brand · 139 loans
4%of seasoned loans charged off
  1. Ace Hardware appears on 139 SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans approved from fiscal 2009 to 2018, $92.2 million in gross approvals.
  2. Of 139 loans approved in fiscal 2009 to 2018 (at least five years old), 5 (3.6%) were charged off by the lender, against 7.8% across all 7(a) loans approved in those same years.
  3. A charge-off is a loan the lender wrote off. It is not a statement about the borrower, the brand or the franchisor, and it does not predict how a new loan will turn out.
0%15%Fiscal 2014: 0 of 31 loans charged off (0.0%)Fiscal 2015: 3 of 43 loans charged off (7.0%)Fiscal 2016: 1 of 29 loans charged off (3.4%)Fiscal 2017: 0 of 21 loans charged off (0.0%)Fiscal 2018: 0 of 11 loans charged off (0.0%)20142015201620172018
share of this group's loans charged off, by approval year (years with 10+ loans)all 7(a) loans, same year

Every approval year

Approval yearLoansApprovedPaid in fullCharged offNot yet resolvedCharged-off share
FY20091$679,000100few loans
FY20111$302,000010few loans
FY20132$1.4 million200few loans
FY201431$10.8 million30010.0%
FY201543$33.3 million37337.0%
FY201629$18.4 million23153.4%
FY201721$20.4 million17040.0%
FY201811$6.7 million7040.0%

US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA loan data as of 30 September 2026. SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans only, aggregated; no borrower or lender is shown. SBA open data.

Where can you go from this record?

Open it in the check to search another brand or industry. Before you borrow for a franchise, read the FTC consumer guide to buying a franchise, the SBA guide to buying a franchise and SBA Lender Match.

Compiled and checked by Vincent Wesley Couey (ORCID 0009-0005-6869-308X) from the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan data, as of 30 September 2026. Not an official source.

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