Ace repackages private label hardware

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware has retooled the packaging for its builders hardware department.

According to Cynthia Brasic, Ace brand manager, the new color-coded labels help make the selection process easier for the consumer. It’s the first packaging makeover in the co-op’s builders hardware aisle in about 20 years, she said.

“It’s more user friendly,” Brasic told HCN. “We actually color-coded the packaging so that we make it more shopper friendly. All the bullet points have been updated so that it’s not industry information – its information that will help the consumer make a decision.”

The new packaging has a sustainability angle, too. A trap-blister package replaces a clam-shell package. Brasic says the new packaging will introduce savings of about 8.4 million water bottles per year.

The repackaging is a significant step for Ace’s private label portfolio. Ace has dubbed the program: “Hardware: Unlock the Potential.” The repackaging program has affected about 1,400 skus, Brasic said, and the program is expected to be in full bloom in the first quarter of 2014.

The new packaging was introduced to dealers at the Ace Fall Market in Orlando.