SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · ARKANSAS
Ace Hardware franchise in Arkansas: what the public record shows
Franchisees of Ace Hardware in Arkansas have taken 5 SBA loans since 1991 (average $2,825,120)— too few resolved loans in-state to publish a local failure rate (we require a resolved cohort, never extrapolate), so the brand's national rate of 12.2% is the better guide.
Loans in AR
5
Resolved
1
Local charge-off
thin
National charge-off
12.2%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = AR. Charge-off rate = charged-off ÷ (charged-off + paid-in-full); open loans excluded. A local rate is published only when the resolved cohort clears our floor of 30 loans.
Businesses in this industry
594
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
19.2
national 39.6
Versus the country
-52%
thinner
Every business in Ace Hardware's industry operating in Arkansas — franchised and independent — from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (2023), against 2024 population estimates. Counter-intuitively, density is not a warning: across 198 brand-state cells in our loan data, the densest quartile charges off at 5.6% versus 18.1% in the thinnest. A crowded market is usually proven demand; an empty one is often empty for a reason.
Avg weekly wage, this industry
$1,037
Arkansas, BLS QCEW 2025
National average
$1,252
same industry, all states
Versus the country
-17%
cheaper to staff
What Ace Hardware's industry actually pays workers in Arkansas, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2025), employment-weighted across counties. This is a real cost signal independent of the FDD — a market can look demand-rich above and still carry a margin headwind here if local wages run hot for the sector.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Ace Hardware's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.