Late to Retail Media Means Right on Time: Ace Hardware's Molly Hjelm

Why It Matters

Ace’s network gives vendors nationwide reach while giving independent stores a new revenue stream, proving that late‑movers can still capture value in the fast‑growing retail media space.

Key Takeaways

• Ace Hardware launched its own retail media network in 2023.
• Leveraging a 5,200‑store co‑op and robust loyalty data.
• Real‑time, full‑funnel measurement built in from day one.
• Vendor and merchant alignment creates a virtuous cycle of adoption.
• New "Retailer Reach" lets ads appear on ordering platforms.

Summary

Ace Hardware, a cooperative of 5,200 independently owned stores, announced the rollout of its own retail media network last year, positioning itself as a late entrant that can learn from early adopters.

The network draws on Ace’s extensive loyalty program and longitudinal shopper data, delivering real‑time, full‑funnel measurement from day one. It offers a full‑stack portfolio—off‑site, on‑site, and in‑store placements—designed in partnership with merchants, ensuring that campaigns are both measurable and aligned with store interests.

Executives highlighted the “late mover advantage,” noting that they avoided friction points that older networks now face. The recently introduced “Retailer Reach” feature extends advertising to independent retailers via email, banner ads, ordering platforms, and editorial content—tactics unique to Ace’s co‑op model.

For vendors, the platform provides a level playing field to reach a nationwide audience, while merchants gain a data‑driven revenue tool. The move signals that even late‑entering retailers can build sophisticated media ecosystems, potentially reshaping the competitive dynamics of retail media.

Original Description

NEW YORK — Ace Hardware may be famous for paint, screws and the reassuring smell of lumber, but now it also sells advertising. Molly Hjelm, head of retail media at Ace, says the co-op’s unusual structure gives it a distinctive angle in the ad business now sweeping retail.

“Ace Hardware is a unique business model in that we're a co-op,” Hjelm said in an interview with Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein at the IAB Connected Commerce Summit. “We have 5,200 stores across the U.S and all of them are independently owned and run.”

That means brands selling through Ace have a slightly more complicated journey than at centralized chains. First, they need to work with merchants to get products into the system. Then individual store owners decide whether those products make the cut. Democracy is alive and well, and apparently it stocks power drills.

Retail media finds a level playing field

Hjelm said ecommerce has become the shared layer that helps vendors reach customers across the Ace ecosystem.

“It is a way to reach customers across our entire ecosystem,” she said. “It's a level playing field that vendors can now engage in and advertisers can engage in.”

In other words, whether a shopper needs mulch, a snow shovel or one bolt that somehow disappeared in the garage, the ads can now find them.

Late mover or smart mover?

Ace launched its retail media network last year, which in internet years makes it either fashionably late or practically prehistoric. Hjelm prefers a different framing.

“I like to say that we have a late mover advantage there,” she said.

Instead of rushing in early and learning painful lessons in public, Ace watched others stumble through measurement headaches, messy product portfolios and internal turf wars, then built its own version with fewer bruises.

Hjelm said the company launched with real-time measurement, offsite, onsite and in-store capabilities from day one, while staying closely aligned with its merchant teams.

“We've had the opportunity to build it measurable, full funnel portfolio and aligned with merch from the start,” she said.

That may not sound glamorous, but in retail media those words are the equivalent of fireworks and a guitar solo.

Her priorities weren't optional

Asked what mattered most in launching the network, Hjelm did not hesitate.

“These were my table stakes,” she said. “Those three things that had to be measurable. It had to be a full stack portfolio with many options for our vendors to choose from, and it had to be aligned with merch.”

She said when campaigns perform and results are visible, merchants and vendors quickly support the program. Amazing how enthusiasm appears when numbers go up.

What comes next: Selling to shoppers and store owners

Ace is now focused on products tailored to its unusual structure. One example is a program called Retailer Reach, which goes beyond customer targeting and helps advertisers communicate directly with independent Ace retailers.

“It’s this ability not only to reach an audience of customers, which is what most retail media is designed to do, but also giving our advertisers the ability to connect with our independent retailers through email and through banners and their ordering platforms,” Hjelm said.

That also includes articles developed alongside merchants, creating what Hjelm described as a win-win for vendors and store operators.

“And so that is a model that wouldn't make sense anywhere else,” she said.

Which may be the nicest possible way to say: good luck copying this, everybody else.