Ace Hardware’s new store format focused on elevating popular brands

A new experiential store concept from Ace Hardware is placing popular brands such as Weber, Big Green Egg, Craftsman, and DeWalt front and center of its merchandising strategy.

Last week at its fall convention in Chicago, the hardware chain unveiled a 13,000-square-foot prototype for the store format it calls “Elevate3 Ace,” which promises enhanced customer service and immersive showrooms for select brands.

The rollout of the new format comes as a number of retailers such as Walmart and fellow home improvement chain Tractor Supply Company invest in freshening up their brick-and-mortar stores, with many launching major renovation projects and investing in in-store technology upgrades.

Dale Fennel, VP of merchandising at Ace Hardware, told Retail Brew that Ace’s focus on elevating brands specifically stems from a decision made two years ago to embrace “experiential retailing,” with the goal of driving sales around its most successful products.

“For us, it’s about brands. We have a small number [of] some of our best, most exclusive brands that are fueling our growth,” he said. “We wanted to try to create this brand immersive shopping experience.”

Ace is trying to “become famous” in key categories such as paint, power, home preservation, and backyards and barbeque, president and CEO John Venhuizen said in a statement—and that means putting some brands on the merchandising pedestal.

Immersive experiences

In the past, Fennel said Ace’s merchandising was more focused on product category rather than brand.

For example, a bunch of grills from different brands would be presented in a “backyard-type environment,” while accessories and fuels were in a separate area, he said.

With the new format, he said, products from the same brand will get their own “brand shop.” Ace has already done this with Weber, and Fennel said “sales and profits are way up,” contributing to a 30% uptick in its grill department overall.

Part of what’s driving the increased sales is what Fennel calls the “attachment rate.” This is the percentage of customers who buy a large item such as a grill and then tack on an accessory or fuel so they can use that product right away.

Mutually beneficial

Ace is also collaborating directly with brands to develop these brand shops, and one partner, EGO, which makes cordless outdoor power equipment, said it is reaping the benefits.

“Elevate3 Ace captures the essence of our brand with an expanded assortment of our latest technology showcased in a prominently featured brand shop that offers an unparalleled shopping experience to Ace Hardware customers.” Matthew Bennett, director of sales at EGO, told Retail Brew via email.

Fennel said Ace wants vendors to “love the space” and feel that “their brand is represented better in these stores than perhaps any other retail model that exists.”

“If I’m in the Weber aisle, from everything from the assortment to the environment, I want the customer to feel like they are in a Weber store,” he said.

• This openness to in-store branded experiences might come as a relief to some direct-to-consumer brands looking to create such spaces within their retail partners stores. As Retail Brew reported previously, companies such as Solo Brands have expanded their wholesale presence on the basis that they can enhance product displays.

Keeping it fresh

In addition to the branded showrooms, the new format will feature an outdoor display space for demos and events and expanded customer service resources for employees, including an in-store mobile app designed to help them pull up information about products and see where they are in the chain’s distribution system.

The company’s plan is to start renovating select stores in Q4 and begin a full rollout next January that will take place over the next five years and cost more than $1 billion.