Ace's Innovation Specialist

On a recent day on or near the desk of Maya Schultz, Ace Hardware’s new “Product Innovation” lead, one can find traces of a connected car platform. There’s also an Ergie Shovel, with an ergonomic handle fused to the central pole. Elsewhere, indestructible cables from Fuse Chicken can be found.

It’s Schultz’s job to find the latest and greatest, and that brings some interesting products her way.

“We’re looking for that three-carat diamond in the jewelry case of one-carat diamonds,” she said.

Her title, “Product Innovation,” is a new one for the co-op, and it is aligned with the strategy of creating differentiation between Ace stores and its competitors.

“My big thing is ‘What’s the next big idea?’” she said. “It comes from a variety of inputs: cold calling, sales meetings, and some of it’s awareness of what’s out there and what’s trending.”

To find a winner, there are correlation formulas and hypothesis testing, but also a lot of pure gut feelings, she said.

Among the recent promising products being incubated and cultivated are the Hero brand of men’s cleaning products and the GoSun solar cooker — both of which reflect societal trends that give cause for optimism.

Schultz also invests energy into finding innovation in existing products, and working closely with The Grommet — a new product discovery platform — to bring the latest items to retail shelves in one easy installment. 

There’s a perception, she said, that the only way for product innovations to reach the mainstream is through “Shark Tank” or through one of the big boxes. That’s not the case. Ace, she said, looks to put these innovations on the path to controlled growth, avoiding the “retail death trap” of overreaching.

“We have a bunch of entrepreneurs running our stores,” she said. “If I can help our vendor entrepreneurs succeed, that’s a win-win proposition.”