Is Ace Hardware's New Store Model a Good Concept?

Ace Hardware is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024 with an expansion, having opened 100 new stores this year, including its 5,000th domestic location. The company is on track to open more than 200 new stores by the end of the year, a notable achievement in a year marked by rapid growth. This milestone includes the recent opening of Fixit Ace Hardware in Roswell, Georgia, which stands as the 5,000th store in the U.S.

The retailer’s growth has been driven by a combination of factors, including existing retailers opening additional locations, competitors converting their stores to Ace, and new investors joining the brand. Over the past five years, Ace has opened more than 900 new stores globally, demonstrating strong interest in its cooperative business model. In the first half of 2024 alone, Ace activated 111 new stores, which was "a record-breaking feat," according to the hardware retailer.

With over 5,800 locally owned stores across 50 states and 60 countries, and global sales exceeding $22 billion, Ace Hardware’s cooperative model continues to attract new entrepreneurs. This model allows local store owners to become shareholders of Ace Hardware Corporation, further enhancing the appeal of owning an Ace store.

Coinciding with its anniversary, the home improvement retailer, headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, introduced a new store concept called ELEVATE³ Ace at its fall 2024 convention in Chicago, according to Store Brands. This experiential concept is planned to be integrated into current stores as well as built from scratch in new locations, starting with limited stores this year and a full rollout over the next five years.

Per John Venhuizen, Ace Hardware's CEO and president, the company plans to invest at least $1 billion dollars in "opening new stores and remodeling existing stores to better serve our neighbors. The ELEVATE³ Ace store model will be at the heart of this investment."

“Elevate Ace is not just a new store format; it's our vision to become famous for four things in the neighborhoods we serve; namely Paint, Power, Backyards & Barbeque, and Home Preservation. We believe in the power of local, and this initiative strengthens our community ties by creating experiential spaces that are not only places to shop but also places to connect. Our neighbors will benefit from locally relevant, premium products, expert advice, and immersive retail innovation. With Elevate Ace, we are setting a new industry standard as we aspire to truly be the best, most helpful store on the planet."

John Venhuizen, Ace Hardware president and CEO, via Store Brands

The ELEVATE³ Ace store model introduces several key features to enhance the retail experience. It will showcase premium brands such as Weber, Traeger, and DeWalt in a "brand-immersive shopping environment that is unique to Ace," as reported by Store Brands. This approach aims to elevate the shopping experience by highlighting exclusive products.

Customer service is also a focus of the ELEVATE³Ace model, which addresses evolving consumer trends and aims to improve overall service standards. The store design includes an outdoor space for live goods displays and grilling demos, offering an "aspirational backyard experience."

Additionally, the ELEVATE³ Ace model will feature new product assortments and store enhancements designed to boost sales and enrich the consumer shopping journey.

Ace Hardware's VP of merchandising, Dale Fennel, told Chain Store Age that this new store concept provides customers with a more "experiential, in-depth shopping experience."

“That’s what we aimed to build here with Elevate³ Ace,” he explained. “We tried to create a unique shopping experience that can’t easily be replicated online or in-store anywhere. We have a small number of our best, most-exclusive brands that really have been fueling most of our growth, and so we set out to elevate those brands.”

Fennel added, "From the assortment to the store environment, we wanted to bring everything together and make the shopping experience easy for them so they don’t have to shop across multiple categories. But still at the heart of the hardware store are those home preservation categories. They still represent the lion’s share of the gross profit in a store and are central to Ace, but when you first walk into the store, you're going to be immersed in these brands."