ACE Hardware, on the outside looks like your typical franchise. Locally owned, but a national brand. Similar stock on the shelves, clearly some national entity that handles the branding, supply chain, etc. But this one weird trick^(tm) turns the franchise model on its head.
ACE is a cooperative franchise. This is distinct from the typical franchising model, where local franchisees pay fees to the franchisor for the rights to use the brand and access to its supply chain. Instead, the national brand is cooperatively owned by each of the stores collectively. When the ACE Hardware brand turns a profit, those profits funnel back to those local stores in the form of a dividend.
There’s more to be explored here, to be sure, but it’s an interesting model. Future additions to this note will include links to other research, drawbacks, and why this model is not as prolific as the typical franchise relationship.