Inventory Internship – Summer 2026, Full Time/Paid/12 Weeks

Compensation Details:

$22.00 per hour

Why should you join our team?

We live our values - W.E.L.I.G.H.T (Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility, and Teamwork). Gratitude. Humility. Love. You don’t often see values like these in most corporate statements, but Ace is different. These things are important to us. They represent our commitment to the company, our employees, to Ace retailers and to the Ace brand.

Job Description:

Your Responsibilities   

As a Replenishment Planning Intern, your primary responsibility is to ensure optimal product availability for Ace retailers by achieving targeted order fill rates across a portfolio of vendors. This involves managing inventory levels to ensure the right products are in the right place at the right time, using advanced forecasting and replenishment tools. You will be responsible for executing and monitoring purchase orders, overseeing vendor partnerships, and balancing inventory turnover goals with profitability targets. A key challenge in this role is optimizing the trade-off between high fill rates and high inventory turns. In this role, you will provide exceptional support to retail store owners and collaborate daily with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including Retail Support Centers (RSCs), Merchandising teams, Vendor partners, Traffic teams, Supply Chain Compliance. This internship offers hands-on experience in supply chain operations, data-driven decision-making, and cross-functional collaboration, making it an excellent opportunity for individuals pursuing a career in supply chain management or any analytical field of study. 

The ideal intern will possess the following: 

• Working towards a Bachelor’s degree in the following areas: Supply Chain, Economics, Business Administration, Analytics, Finance or related discipline 

• Completing Senior year of college (Graduating December ’26 or May ‘27) 

• An analytical mindset and strong oral and written communication skills 

• Excellent time management, organizational, and problem-solving skills 

• Adaptability and ability to learn quickly in high-pressure environments 

• Ambitious self-starter who has demonstrated the ability to contribute as an effective team member 

• Demonstrated motivation and initiative to succeed 

• Knowledge and interest in Ace Hardware Corporation 

• Ability to work 40 hours per week, Monday - Friday for 12 weeks in the summer (Mid-May through Mid-August 2026) 

• Willingness and ability to give presentations to colleagues, managers and directors 

Why Ace?  

Ace Hardware (headquartered in Oak Brook, IL) is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world with over 5,800 locally owned and operated stores in approximately 60 countries.  Since 1924, Ace has become a part of local communities around the world and known as the place with the Helpful Hardware Folks.  

Ace has retained its #5 position in the annual Franchise Times Top 400 List in 2023.  Unmatched customer service is a cornerstone of the Ace Hardware brand. We are a 100-year-old retailer that supports its owners with programs that leverage their local expertise, giving them a distinct advantage over their big box competitors and has resulted in Ace retailers being named by JD Powers #1 in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retailers, 16