Westlake Ace builds a better backyard

Westlake Ace goes ‘yard’

Dealer builds on a foundational category

By Tim Burke

Ace Hardware Corp. executives for years have hammered on the importance of backyard and BBQ to the success of a hardware store. It’s one of the co-op’s “Famous for Four” family of priorities (along with paint, home preservation, an holidays and trim.)

Fixing up a backyard has been going on for as long as people first sprawled out to the suburbs. Lately though, it’s been more about bringing new choices and more options to the homeowners’ personalized backyard paradise, as the pandemic-induced nesting phenomenon settled over the nation.

More customers are at home working and spending family time together, not only indoors but outdoors in —where else — their backyards. This has blown up the ideas and options to make the backyard over into an outdoor grilleria, a playland, a vegetable garden, a workspace, and a glorious retreat full of options and dreams realized —all of it, sometime altogether — and hardware finds its place, perfectly fitting with the backyarding movement.

Westlake Ace Hardware is out in front of the backyarding trend.

“Customer interest in the outdoor living category has been growing steadily for several years,” said Laura Byrne-Harris, senior director, merchandising & marketing at Kansas City-based Westlake Ace Hardware. “With the COVID-related lockdowns of 2020, the category grew significantly as consumers found themselves at home more.”

As such, she said, homeowners reallocated portions of their personal budgets from travel to the products

“Backyarding is here to stay,” said Kansas City-based Westlake Ace Hardware Senior Director of Merchandising & Marketing Laura Byrne-Harris. Beyond an outdoor workspace, people have discovered a retreat full of options, such as gardening, cooking, and a getaway space to simply relax and dream.

they could use at home to create beautiful, multi-functional outdoor spaces where they could work, play, relax, and entertain.

“The backyarding trend carried over into 2021, and we don’t see any signs of it declining,” Byrne-Harris said.

Westlake Ace owns and operates 151 stores in 12 states, including California, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina and Washington. Generations have shopped at the 116-year-old hardware. Westlake has been part of the Ace Hardware Cooperative since 1959. Westlake Ace is not only Ace’s largest dealer member, it’s also a wholly owned Ace subsidiary, and has been since 2012.

This yarding trend is rekindled partly by homeowners’ desire to create a dream space back there. But how do hardware stores ‘find a spot at the fire bowl’ so to speak to best support their customers? Reaching customers can take the form of many channels.

Byrne-Harris said: “Westlake Ace has promoted the backyarding trend by employing several marketing channels, including print advertising, local market media relations, and social media to reach consumers.”

They have focused their marketing efforts on outdoor living products such as BBQ grills, outdoor lighting, live goods, and accessories.

As people return to more inperson activities at stores, she said, “interactive demos and sampling events will play a big role in customer outreach at our 151 neighborhood locations. BBQ grills, accessories, sauces, and rubs will play a big part

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in these events as well as the chance for consumers to see new services in action, such as the laser-guided Resharp knife sharpening program.”

As families spent more time at home in the past year and rediscovered the hidden joys and peaceful retreats just a few paces beyond their patio doors, they crafted purposeful outdoor spaces that reflect how they live their lives.

“From BBQ to lighting to accessories like patio furniture, fire pits, and live goods, they’re always delighted by the array of products they can find at our stores,” said the senior director. “More importantly, when we help them, it sparks a conversation that often leads to fun and creative ideas for their backyards.”

The backyarding trend affects how items are merchandised in-store. Westlake Ace, she said, continues to devote more space to the backyarding trend, typically at frontof-store to encourage aspirational browsing, and it continues to expand product assortments.

For instance, Byrne-Harris said, “store additions include the Ooni pizza oven, a tabletop oven that allows you to cook made-to-order pizzas in under 90 seconds right on your patio, creating a fun food component for your entertaining.

“We also added the stylish Solo Stove the newest fire pit option for your backyard that allows friends and neighbors to gather around the fire and enjoy the heat without the smoke of a traditional fire pit.”

She said that Westlake lives the Ace Helpful Promise mantra every day, providing friendly and helpful advice so customers get their projects done right.

“The recent backyarding trend has created some additional fun opportunities for our store associates to work with customers to share their own outdoor experience, and help shoppers realize their vision for a perfect backyard,” she said.

That leads us to the question: Is the backyarding trend more than a fad?

“I think it’s here to stay. Though 2020 was a challenging year, it afforded people the opportunity to reconnect with their families and those closest to them. That carried over into the backyard,” she said.

“Through a little bit of effort and the right products, they rediscovered the hidden joys and peaceful retreats just a few paces beyond their patio doors.”

The director offered tips on achieving success in the backyarding category. “Don’t be afraid to embrace it, but also make sure you have a meaningful assortment in any brand you decide to carry,” Byrne-Harris said.

“It’s not just the grill sale, it’s the repeat fuel, accessory, sauce, and rub sales that makes the BBQ category really inviting.”

Ace on the Twittersphere

The tweets tell the story of the people, places, products and paint that help make up Ace Nation.

The numbers from Oak Brook

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. had massive gains in last year’s third quarter, riding the pandemic-induced stay-at-home and spend-on-the-home trend. More recently, the company reported small gains, but big enough to propel Ace to another record Q3 revenues and net income.

Here are some of the numbers for the period ending Oct. 2: Q3 revenues: $2.0 billion, up 1.4%; Q3 net income: $99.3 million, up 0.6%. Total wholesale revenues: $1.8 billion, up 1.4%: Net domestic store growth: 30 new stores, for a total of 4,759 domestic stores. U.S. comp-store sales: up 0.3% (based on 3,400 retailers that share data);

“In light of last year’s extraordinary growth, and despite significant headwinds from global supply chain disruption, I’m pleased to see increases in both the top and bottom line for the quarter,” said John Venhuizen, president and CEO. “We added to 2020’s unprecedented surge in business, and our two-year stacked growth for the third quarter is up 32% in revenue and 64% in net income from 2019.”

Outdoor power equipment, electrical and power tools set the sales pace for Ace in the third quarter.

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