As it marks 100 years, Ace Hardware’s VP of new business looks to the future

In an age of online shopping and social , it is not often to see a bricks-and-mortar change last, let alone thrive. However, one legacy hardware supplier just hit its 100-year-anniversay mark and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Inside Retail connected with Jason Hipskind, vice president of new business at Ace Hardware, to learn more about how the brand has survived to reach its centennial anniversary and the company’s plans to keep the momentum going strong. 

Inside Retail: Ace Hardware is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. What’s the secret to building such a long legacy? 

Jason Hipskind: It begins with our purpose. At Ace, we exist to serve others. It is our dedication and devotion to serving others that is our solid foundation. We have built on this firm foundation by bringing Ace helpful to neighbours in need for the last 100 years. These two factors are the biggest contributors to being relevant for generations, and we are confident that they will be relevant for the next 100 years and beyond. 

 IR: What methods and strategies is the brand leaning into to cater to its existing consumer base as well as reach new customers? 

JH: Our three strategic imperatives are service, convenience and quality. 

We deliver world-class service by being helpful to our neighbours in need.

Next is convenience. With over 5000 US locations, there is an Ace Hardware within 5 miles of more of the country’s households than any of our competitors. Convenience is also providing the customer options for shopping at Ace, whether that is in-store, buying online to pick up in their local Ace or buying online and having the product delivered to their home by one of our red-vested heroes. 

Then there is quality. Ace Hardware is the only retailer that has the best brands of Stihl, Ego, Toro, Milwaukee, Craftsman, Benjamin Moore, Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines, Yeti, Blackstone, Weber, Traeger and Big Green Egg all under one roof. When a customer is looking for the best quality products for their work and home, they shop at Ace. 

Our consistent focus on these three strategic imperatives is our differentiator versus our competitors and allows us to meet the high expectations of our existing and new customers.

IR: Ace Hardware has opened 5000 bricks-and-mortar shops, with over 900 stores opening in the past five years alone. How does the company support such fast-paced bricks-and-mortar expansion? 

JH: The vast majority of Ace Hardware locations are locally owned and operated, with over 2000 owners [in the network]. Many of our owners are growth-minded and are looking for opportunities to open additional locations across the country. This growth mindset coupled with our strong store model provides us with the scale needed to fuel and manage our aggressive growth.

IR: What are some of the benefits and also drawbacks of this business model? 

JH: With most stores being locally owned and operated, there are thousands of owners walking the aisle of the local Ace Hardware store each and every day. You just can’t duplicate the positive effect of having an owner in the store. It is our owners that truly make Ace special and why most Ace customers refer to the local Ace as “my Ace.”

It is the owner, catering their store to the needs of the local community that sets Ace apart from our competition. While local ownership is a major benefit, it can also be a challenge. The interest in Ace Hardware ownership is at an all-time high. As we review Ace ownership with new potential owners, it is critical that we partner with future owners that have the character, competence and commitment to be the owner of one of the best, most helpful hardware stores on the planet. Devotion and dedication to our purpose, values and strategic imperatives are required to be an Ace owner.

IR: In addition to sourcing products from Ace Hardware, store owners have the flexibility to curate about 20 per cent of the merchandise mix and order from other vendors to suit local tastes. What prompted the company to take this approach and how does it help Ace stores to stand out in the market? 

JH: Ace started back in 1924 with an idea to give local hardware stores the size and scale needed to compete with the retail giants of the day, Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Co. While size and scale are necessary to compete, to truly be successful and win the Ace store must localise their product mix to meet the needs of the community.  Whether it is gifts, live goods, outdoor sporting equipment or even jewelry, we encourage our owners to localise their product mix to stand out from their competitors.

IR: With such an expansive bricks-and-mortar presence, how are you working to ensure a fully rounded omnichannel presence? 

JH: We must take advantage of having more locations and hardware inventory closer to US households than our competition. Being deemed an essential business during the pandemic increased the speed of omnichannel transformation in the hardware business. We had been making significant investments in acehardware.com prior to the pandemic; however, we embraced the change and hastened the transformation by making a five-year investment in five months to improve the efficiency and efficacy of our omnichannel strategy. 

Following several years of historic growth in omnichannel sales, we continue to experience double-digit growth in our .com sales which include buy online, pick up in-store and buy online via delivery from the store. We also partner with Google to provide customers with visibility to the inventory of their local Ace store so they can shop right in the Google search bar. This partnership is driving customer traffic into the local Ace Hardware for the products they want and need.

IR: Beyond the rise in online shopping during the pandemic, many hardware stores experienced a boom in business from an increase in DIY. How is Ace Hardware striving to keep the momentum going? 

JH: I just mentioned how we embraced the omnichannel transformation during the pandemic with a bold investment in our future. In 2020, we experienced 20 years of customer traffic growth as more customers wanted to shop small and local during the pandemic. We had millions of new customers who enjoyed their experience while shopping at their local Ace. The greatest areas of growth were in paint, power and BBQ. We have continued to make a significant investment in these growth areas with an improved in-store shopping experience and expanded product offerings of the best brands. The result has been continued market share growth, even after the pandemic.

IR: What is the expected growth for the year ahead? What opportunities for growth do you expect the brand to come across in the next few years? 

JH: We opened 203 new locations in 2023 and we project another 200 new locations in 2024. Unfortunately, we have seen hundreds of pharmacy and discount retailer store closures in the last couple of years and it appears this trend will continue with the recent announcements of even more unprofitable locations. 

We have identified over 2000 development areas across the country where we would like to open an Ace Hardware. With our aggressive growth plans, we see an opportunity to backfill the retail space vacated by pharmacy and discount retailers. This would allow us to not only bring Ace helpful to a new community but also provide meaningful jobs to the community affected by the store closure.

IR: What are the biggest challenges on the company’s radar this year and how do you plan to navigate them?

JH: We compete against the biggest and most well-funded companies in retail history. In order to remain relevant in the mind of the consumer, we must have a radical devotion to what makes Ace different from our competitors: service, convenience and quality. We must continue our aggressive growth plans to bring Ace helpful to neighbours in need. We must grow our market share with not only the consumer but also with the business and pro customer. 

We cannot just celebrate the last 100 years of Ace Hardware; we must honor our past by boldly embracing the future.

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