Ace Hardware?

[bryceleinan]

The past couple times I've gone into Ace Stores I've left empty handed due to the stores not having what I needed. The stores were semi messy, price labeling was sloppy, and one store was so helpful it was so obvious they thought I was there to shoplift and I became uncomfortable to even browse.

The only ones I've been to that look good lately and I had a decent experience are that Crown operator.

I think they are over expanding. Pushing these store operators to over expand is not going to end well.

I have found the past few years their pricing is at or below Home Depot/Lowes on comparable items though. There is a wide pricing variance by store.

One unit in Sparks that closed had outrageously high pricing (Big R took it over, and their pricing seems even worse).

That buyout of the Sparks Ace by Big R (a Do-it-Best licensee) was a real head-scratcher for me. I’m not quite sure what Big R saw in Sparks, other than a large store for sale. That store did better as Ace, although Big R did win Stihl dealer of the year for Nevada.

Was it doing better as Ace? Ace had a huge portion of the space filled with "furniture." But I never saw much traffic there, the garden program seemed to shrink every year, it felt like a dying store for many years before Big R took over. Since Big R took over, I still see very little traffic. I am completely turned off by Big R's "so so" mix of products and high pricing. Big R seemed better in Fallon and Winnemucca, was never too impressed with the Fernley Big R either,... supposedly Sparks has more variety... I don't know.

Big R or someone affiliated with them bought that building in Sparks...

I'm not sure why they wanted that location either. Something further out in Spanish Springs may have made some sense, well, until Lowes opens by the WinCo if that ever happens.

I’d be curious to compare prices between Big R and CAL Ranch, since they’re part of the same buying group (MidStates Distributing).

[storewanderer]

That buyout of the Sparks Ace by Big R (a Do-it-Best licensee) was a real head-scratcher for me. I’m not quite sure what Big R saw in Sparks, other than a large store for sale. That store did better as Ace, although Big R did win Stihl dealer of the year for Nevada.

Was it doing better as Ace? Ace had a huge portion of the space filled with "furniture." But I never saw much traffic there, the garden program seemed to shrink every year, it felt like a dying store for many years before Big R took over. Since Big R took over, I still see very little traffic. I am completely turned off by Big R's "so so" mix of products and high pricing. Big R seemed better in Fallon and Winnemucca, was never too impressed with the Fernley Big R either,... supposedly Sparks has more variety... I don't know.

Big R or someone affiliated with them bought that building in Sparks...

I'm not sure why they wanted that location either. Something further out in Spanish Springs may have made some sense, well, until Lowes opens by the WinCo if that ever happens.

I’d be curious to compare prices between Big R and CAL Ranch, since they’re part of the same buying group (MidStates Distributing).

I'm curious too. That Coastal thing was one of the highest priced stores I've ever seen in this segment so if they are using their approach at CAL Ranch now... it won't be good.

Big R Sparks had fair pricing when they initially reset it but it seemed like after the reset was done they went through and made very drastic price increases a month or two later. I wonder if they initially got "suggested" pricing from Do It Best, then had to go through and "adjust" it to their desired pricing.

[bryceleinan]

Was it doing better as Ace? Ace had a huge portion of the space filled with "furniture." But I never saw much traffic there, the garden program seemed to shrink every year, it felt like a dying store for many years before Big R took over. Since Big R took over, I still see very little traffic. I am completely turned off by Big R's "so so" mix of products and high pricing. Big R seemed better in Fallon and Winnemucca, was never too impressed with the Fernley Big R either,... supposedly Sparks has more variety... I don't know.

Big R or someone affiliated with them bought that building in Sparks...

I'm not sure why they wanted that location either. Something further out in Spanish Springs may have made some sense, well, until Lowes opens by the WinCo if that ever happens.

I’d be curious to compare prices between Big R and CAL Ranch, since they’re part of the same buying group (MidStates Distributing).

I'm curious too. That Coastal thing was one of the highest priced stores I've ever seen in this segment so if they are using their approach at CAL Ranch now... it won't be good.

Big R Sparks had fair pricing when they initially reset it but it seemed like after the reset was done they went through and made very drastic price increases a month or two later. I wonder if they initially got "suggested" pricing from Do It Best, then had to go through and "adjust" it to their desired pricing.

CAL Ranch is technically owned by Coastal, but run by the CAL Ranch team, at least that is how I understand it. They did finally merge the rewards programs recently, and the SKUs are merging between the chains.

[storewanderer]

I’d be curious to compare prices between Big R and CAL Ranch, since they’re part of the same buying group (MidStates Distributing).

I'm curious too. That Coastal thing was one of the highest priced stores I've ever seen in this segment so if they are using their approach at CAL Ranch now... it won't be good.

Big R Sparks had fair pricing when they initially reset it but it seemed like after the reset was done they went through and made very drastic price increases a month or two later. I wonder if they initially got "suggested" pricing from Do It Best, then had to go through and "adjust" it to their desired pricing.

CAL Ranch is technically owned by Coastal, but run by the CAL Ranch team, at least that is how I understand it. They did finally merge the rewards programs recently, and the SKUs are merging between the chains.

I felt like Coastal had better SKU variety than CAL Ranch. I liked everything about Coastal but its pricing... this was up in OR where I went to one...