Aikenhead's Hardware

Aikenhead's Hardware was a chain of Canadian hardware stores located in Greater Toronto, Southern Ontario and northern Ontario. The original store was founded in Toronto in 1830 as "Ridout's Hardware Store" by Joseph Ridout and was located on the corner of King Street and Yonge Street.^[1]

Aikenhead's Hardware

Industry	Service
Predecessor	Ridout's Hardware Store
Founded	1830
Founder	Joseph Ridout James T.E. Aikenhead Alexander Crombie
Defunct	1994
Fate	acquired by The Home Depot and became its Canadian unit
Successor	Home Depot Canada
Headquarters	Ontario, Toronto , Canada
Number of locations	5
Area served	Canada
Key people	Joseph Ridout James T.E. Aikenhead J. Wilfred Aikenhead Thomas E. Aikenhead Alexander Crombie
Products	Hardware
Owner	Aikenheads family 1901-1971 Molsons 1971-1994
Parent	Aikenhead Hardware Company 1893-1901 Aikenhead Hardware Limited 1901-1971 Molsons 1971-1994

In 1868, two employees, James Aikenhead and Alexander Crombie, became partners in the company and renamed it "Ridout, Aikenhead, & Crombie". It became Aikenhead's in 1893, when Aikenhead bought out Ridout and Crombie.^[2]

In 1971 the Aikenhead family sold their chain to Molson, which later started a warehouse in 1991 to head off American chain The Home Depot. Molson sold their 75% stake to Home Depot in 1994, and it became the Canadian unit.^[3] (Molson exited the hardware business with the sale of Beaver Lumber in 1999 to Home Hardware. Molson had acquired a year after the purchase of Aikenhead's.)