Ace Hardware retailers express strong satisfaction with co-op and pride in the Ace brand

Ace Hardware Corporation, the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world, is pleased to share findings from its Biennial Retailer Satisfaction Survey. Launched earlier this year, the survey generated the highest-ever participation rate with candid responses on the co-op’s performance from more than 1,000 Ace Hardware store owners.

The survey results were overwhelmingly positive, key findings based on a 10-point scale include:

• More than 90% of retailers surveyed expressed strong pride in Ace.
• 80% of retailers rated their overall satisfaction with Ace at 8 or higher.
• 85% of retailers rated their likelihood to recommend Ace at an 8 or higher.
• More than 80% of retailers ranked the Ace brand reputation at an 8 or higher in their communities.
• More than half ranked satisfaction with cost of goods at an 8 or higher.
• The vast majority of retailers are optimistic about the future and 27% are interested in opening new stores.

The survey also uncovered the following pieces of information:

• When asked what most impacts their own store’s success, retailers rated Ace’s people and culture of “helpfulness,” supply and distribution, as well as marketing support as the most impactful.
• From a distribution standpoint, 90% of respondents expressed strong satisfaction with the helpfulness and consideration of the driver who delivers their products from Ace retail support centers weekly.
• Ace’s stated values were exemplified through the words of many of its own store owners’ open-ended comments in the survey; the following words were mentioned nearly 200 times: helpful, love, pride, winning.

Ace Hardware engaged Liminality, Inc., a third party market research and strategy firm, to facilitate and analyze survey data. “Liminality has conducted dozens of satisfaction surveys for purchasing and retail cooperatives similar to Ace,” said Cheryl Dale, chief engagement officer, Liminality, Inc. “Member satisfaction scores at Ace in 2016 easily eclipsed almost 90% of those earned by other similar organizations,” Dale said.

“Ace is certainly the place to be if you are an independent retailer looking to compete at the highest level in today’s ever-changing and challenging retail environment,” said Greg Gold, owner of two Miller’s Ace Hardware stores in Pennsylvania. “From my perspective, the Ace brand is at an all-time high in terms of awareness, reputation and consumer loyalty. Our stores have been affiliated with Ace Hardware for more than 15 years and we couldn’t be more proud of that relationship” Gold said.

“At Ace, the retail store owners are the very heartbeat of this organization – and because of that, we hold their feedback in extremely high regard,” said Kane Calamari, Vice President of Human Resources, Communications and Organizational Development, Ace Hardware Corporation. “

“While we are encouraged by these strong survey findings, as well as Ace’s three consecutive years of record sales and profits, we know there are always opportunities for improvement – and this insightful survey data will play a role in shaping our efforts,” Calamari said.

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