The Battle of the Bulb heats up
LAS VEGAS — Ace Hardware VP merchandising and marketing John Surane boldly declared 2015 the “year of the light bulb” for Ace nation. Here’s why: 3,000 store resets with the new LED-bulb-friendly assortment and plans (conservatively) to sell 5 million LED bulbs.
There’s a sense of urgency at Ace, as well as throughout home improvement retailing, to win the race to the homeowner’s light socket with long-lasting, highly efficient LEDs. Because once a socket goes LED, it’s going to be a long time before it burns out.
Augie Venezia of Fairfax Lumber & Hardware in California is one of the 3,000 Ace stores getting a reset. “We’re big into LEDs,” he told HBSDealer. “The interesting thing is we’re constantly selling light bulbs. They’re rated for 1,000 or 2,000 hours. But what’s going to happen in a couple of years when the market gets saturated with LEDs rated at 25,000 hours-plus?”
That day may be here sooner than you think. During Ace’s fourth quarter, LED bulb sales increased by a factor of three, compared with the year-ago quarter.