Unveiled today at Ace Hardware’s Fall 2024 Convention in a 13,000-square-foot Store on the Floor, ELEVATE3 Ace is a new experiential store concept that will roll out at new and existing stores over the next five years. Ace plans on investing $1 billion in this new initiative.
Hardware Retailing went on an exclusive tour of the Store on the Floor with Lisa Schmitt, director of store development, and Dale Fennel, vice president of merchandising operations, to learn more about the new concept.
ELEVATE3 Ace fits into Ace Hardware’s focus on paint, power, backyards and barbecue and home preservation by expanding dedicated floor space for those departments, Fennel says. The new store format will emphasize those categories and brands that are fueling growth. Brand loyalty has driven growth in these four areas by 109% year over year.
“We also want to create a space where customers not only shop, but can connect with these brands, our red-vested heroes and their community,” Fennel says.
In the new layout, the front of the store will be dedicated to what Ace is calling “brand immersive showrooms,” which will bring together everything the customer will need in that department.
“Whether it be the treatment on the fixtures, the flooring or the backdrops, everything is intended to make it real, as if the customer is shopping in a mini Weber store or mini DeWalt store,” Fennel says. “It’s an immersive shopping experience where the brand is the star.”
From the displays to the flooring to the signage, the immersive showrooms walk the customer through all that brand’s offerings, Schmitt says. Instead of having to visit three or four areas in the store, a customer can get all they need in one place.
“In our pilot stores, we’re seeing really great results from a profit perspective, because retailers are better able to attach the accessories to the grill for example,” Schmitt says. “Grills can be a low-margin category, but when you’re able to pull the basket by adding accessories, it’s a win-win for retailers.”
In power tools and outdoor power equipment, the evolution is in the battery platform with consumers wanting convenience with one battery for multiple tools across devices.
“We are basically the only company at retail that is bringing those two categories together into one cohesive space,” Fennel says. “Because the battery is central to the consumer purchase decision and the brand, we brought them all together.”
From Front to Back
In ELEVATE3 Ace, paint will continue to be a focal point for stores, with the Helpful Hub and paint department in the middle of the store.
“What might have been a traditional service counter in the past and a dedicated paint-mixing station have been integrated together,” Fennel says. “This will be the heart and home for customer service in the store.”
ELEVATE3 Ace will also impact the rest of the store, which Fennel says is the heart of the business and why customers shop at Ace. The new format utilizes about 60% more space than a traditional store by improving the space productivity of the back of the store.
“The back of the store is where 70% of the profit dollars of the store come from. It’s where a customer comes to fix, maintain and repair their homes,” Fennel says. “So we’ve done work there to help make sure that we’re credible and have the right offering. Customers get what they need, but we’re also improving the economics for our stores in terms of productivity, so it all cohesively works together.”
The new store format will also elevate customer service, Fennel says. In the grilling section, Ace is launching a digital grilling assistant that will help associates improve customer service by allowing them to walk a customer through qualifying questions to help them find the right grill.
“Associate training is also a huge focus for us, so when you start to combine incredibly well trained, passionate store associates with an updated and enhanced environment, the customer is going to have all the tools for an incredible experience,” Fennel says.
Loss prevention also plays a role in the new store format, with the immersive showrooms integrating methods such as cages and take-to-register cards that are non-intrusive.
“We’re trying to run an appropriate line of protecting the security and the economics of the business, but making sure that the customers can touch and feel the product,” Fennel says.
Rolling Out
As ELEVATE3 Ace rolls out in the next few months, Schmitt says Ace has a team dedicated to helping retailers bring in the new program. The store planning team works on designing and building the plans. The team starts from a template in different size formats, and they work with the retailer and the project management team to build out the store format together.
“We work within that unique retailer’s needs, their market and the shape of their store,” Schmitt says. “No two stores are the same store, so we have a whole process for taking that store’s specific data and customizing the template to them.”
Since launching in pilot stores, ELEVATE3 Ace has performed 11% better in sales than the control stores and seen an increase of 5% in gross profit compared to the control stores. Schmitt says feedback at the pilot stores has also been extremely positive.
“There’s an excitement about what’s new and seeing this fresh and different brand focus,” she says. “I think a lot of the stores are responding really well to the concept.”
