Inside Look at Ace’s Elevate Concept Store
The co-op aims to transform customer experience with a $1 billion investment and plans to remodel 1,900 stores over five years with Ace’s Elevate concept that introduces immersive, brand-focused spaces and community-centric focus.
Ace Hardware’s new Elevate Ace store concept is built on data-driven insights designed to optimize the customer purchase funnel. By analyzing consumer behavior and decision-making processes, Ace has identified key points in the customer journey—brand loyalty, product immersion, and convenience—that influence buying decisions.
Launched at the 2024 Ace Fall Convention in Chicago this past August, the experiential store model aims to enhance customer engagement and boost sales by focusing on four key categories: home preservation, paint, power tools, backyards and barbecue. Designed to be more than just a place to shop, Elevate Ace creates an immersive, community-centered experience.
“With Elevate Ace, we are setting a new industry standard,” says Ace Hardware President and CEO John Venhuizen. “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.”
Ace plans to invest over $1 billion in new stores and remodels over the next five years, with 1,900 stores adopting elements of the Elevate model. This massive rollout reflects Ace’s belief in the effectiveness of the Elevate Ace concept.
In six pilot locations, grilling is up 35 percent versus control stores; power tool sales are up 50 percent versus control, and, as a whole, the new store model is up 11 percent in sales and 5 percent in profit, according to Dale Fennel, Ace’s vice president of merchandising operations, during a tour of a fully built-out, 13,000-square-foot model store on the Ace Convention floor in Chicago this past August.
