After recently reaching 5,000 US stores, Ace Hardware has unveiled an experiential store concept to enhance the customer shopping experience while also driving store growth.
The hardware chain debuted the new store concept, dubbed “Elevate3 Ace,” with a 13,000sq ft, full-scale model at its fall 2024 convention in Chicago. The format, which Ace will begin rolling out in January, features brand showrooms, an outdoor backyard space, enhanced customer service and new product assortments that focus on brands that are “fuelling growth” for Ace, including grilling and power tools.
Over the next five years, Ace plans to invest over $1bn in opening new stores and remodelling existing stores, with Elevate3 Ace being at the heart of the investment.
Dale Fennel, VP of Merchandising at Ace Hardware, told Chain Store Age that the new store concept offers customers a more experiential, in-depth shopping experience.
“That’s what we aimed to build here with Elevate3 Ace,” he said. “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 fuelling most of our growth, and so we set out to elevate those brands.”
