Products and promotions shine in Chicago

Chicago -- Among the plethora of merchandise stories playing out in the cavernous McCormick Place convention center here at the Ace Convention and Exhibits, Ace merchants pointed to a handful of hot categories.

One of them is the tried-and-true paint department. At the paint area of the show floor, Ace was showing off its new Color Sample Station, rolled out in April. It's a point-of-purchase display that offers consumers free testers. Since its rollout, stores that allow dealers to "try it" have seen sales increase 60%, the co-op said.

All around the exhibit floor, dealers are looking for the next big thing. One possibility, according to Chris Hankla, Ace's lawn and garden merchant, is the lightweight portable hammock from Eagle Nest Outfitters. "This could be the very next Yeti," he said, referring to the hot-selling cooler brand.

According to Ace, light bulbs rank first in both retail sales dollars and gross profit dollars across Ace stores. The company rolled out a new Ace brand LED product for price-sensitive customers looking to trade up to LED.

Also on the show floor are 77 new vendors. The co-op's Convention and Exhibits runs through Saturday.