Ace sees record show attendance
Ace Hardware reported it broke its own record for attendance with over 11,800 attendees for the entire show at its recent in-person convention held March 14-16 in San Antonio, Texas.
“The numbers reflect the importance Ace Hardware places on in-person relationship building and the enthusiasm Ace retailers have for the brand after two consecutive years of historic, record-breaking sales,” said the retailer-owned hardware cooperative.
As part of its spring convention, retailers took part in over 50 live and virtual retailer training sessions. There were 2,700 attendees at the training sessions – tying last year’s record attendance.
“The availability of various Ace teams is one of my biggest reasons for attending,” said Bobby Heuser, president, Heuser Ace Hardware.
While the goal of Ace Hardware’s semi-annual conventions is to allow its teams to plan their business, take advantage of margin-building buying opportunities and give vendors a chance to showcase and sell their products, the true purpose is to build the valuable relationships that drive passion for the Ace brand, said the company.
“Chatting in-person with folks from Ace Retail Training, Ace Healthcare, and Ace Bankcard Processing gave me the opportunity to gain clarification on these programs and gain important contacts for if I need additional help in the future,” said Heuser.
With over 1,200 vendors in attendance, the San Antonio show allowed Ace retailers the opportunity to plan their retail product mix and experience vendor demonstrations of the latest trending products.
Oak Brook, Illinois-based Ace Hardware calls itself, “the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world” and has more than 5,700 locally owned and operated stores in approximately 70 countries.
