Ace Hardware Hosts Fall 2025 Convention in Chicago, Opens 100th New Store
Ace Hardware’s Fall 2025 Convention took place August 12-14 at McCormick Place Convention Center, drawing thousands of retailers, vendors, and employees for what the cooperative describes as the industry’s largest hardware event.
The convention occupied more than 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space and featured over 1,500 booths with participation from more than 6,200 vendor personnel. About 1,250 Ace stores registered, representing over 3,600 locations nationwide, along with 224 Emery Jensen Distribution stores, accounting for nearly 1,000 additional locations.
Highlights included a sold-out general session, a “Windy City Savings” event offering exclusive buying opportunities, and a full-scale garden center on the show floor featuring tours, retailer panels, and vendor demonstrations.
ELEVATE³ Ace Marks One-Year Anniversary
A major feature of this year’s convention was the return of Ace’s 10,000-square-foot ELEVATE³ Ace flagship “Store-on-the-Floor,” showcasing the company’s next-generation experiential store format.
Launched at the 2024 Fall Convention, the ELEVATE³ Ace format emphasizes immersive brand destinations across four key categories — paint, outdoor power equipment, outdoor living, and home preservation — and has expanded rapidly over the past year. More than 130 ELEVATE³ Ace stores have been completed so far, delivering an average of 12 percent higher sales and 10 percent higher gross profit compared to non-implementing stores, according to the co-op.
This year’s convention featured new enhancements to the ELEVATE³ concept, including a pilot “Sun & Shade” department offering premium sunglasses and outdoor lifestyle products, as well as a refreshed lighting aisle and an Ace-exclusive Kohler faucet. Ace has committed $1 billion to further roll out ELEVATE³ Ace across its store base.
Ace Opens 100th New Store of 2025
On the heels of the convention, Ace Hardware announced the opening of its 100th new store this year. The cooperative remains on pace to open more than 175 new locations by the end of 2025, continuing a growth trend that has seen over 930 new stores open in the past five years.
“Ace’s growth reflects the strength of our local ownership model and the trust customers place in our stores,” said Andy Enright, senior vice president of retail strategy and operations.
Ace now operates nearly 5,200 locally owned stores across all 50 U.S. states and more than 60 countries.
