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global eyes
Doubt no obstacle
to Ace expansion
Although fears of recession continue to swirl around the media, in the US Ace Hardware, the world’s largest hardware cooperative, recently celebrated the opening of its 105th new store this year, no less, and expects to open “at least” 60 more new stores by the end of 2022.
To keep pace with the growth, Ace continues to expand its distribution network with plans to add 4.4 million square feet of capacity to its distribution network by opening three new warehouses in the next five years, in addition to the more than 2.5 million square feet already added in the past four years.
“With over 100 new stores already opened for the year, we remain enthusiastically bullish about the continued prospect for new store growth,” says Ace Hardware President and CEO, John Venhuizen.
“I applaud our local Ace owners for the pace with which they’ve integrated our digital efforts with our physical assets. Seventy percent of Acehardware. com orders are picked up in-store and 20% are delivered to customers by our own red vested heroes, thus further advancing the relevance and necessity of our neighbourhood stores.”
Ace operates 5,600+ locally owned hardware stores in all 50 US states and 70 countries, having opened over 840 stores in the past five years.
www.acehardware.com
Facial recognition investigation underway
AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER WATCHDOG
CHOICE having raised the issue of Kmart, Bunnings and The Good Guys using facial recognition technology in retail stores, since our last report the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has opened investigations into “the personal information handling practices of Bunnings Group Limited and Kmart Australia Limited, focusing on the companies’ use of facial recognition technology.”
The OAIC had commenced preliminary inquiries with Good Guys Discount Warehouses (Australia), while Bunnings and Kmart also switched off the use of facial recognition technology in their Australian stores prior to the OAIC starting in on them.
“Given an investigation is underway, we won’t be using it for the time being,”
Bunnings Managing Director Michael Schneider has said in a statement.
“For absolute clarity, an individual’s image is only retained by the system if they are already enrolled in the database of individuals who are banned or associated with crime in our stores,” he said.
“We don’t use it for marketing or customer behaviour tracking, and we certainly don’t use it to identify regular customers who enter our stores as Choice has suggested.
“When we have customers berate our team, pull weapons, spit, or throw punches, we ban them from our stores. But a ban isn’t effective if it’s hard to enforce.”
Bunnings has already confirmed that it does not use facial recognition technology in New Zealand.
www.oaic.gov.au
Lowe’s: New product pitch program
LOWE’S HAS REVEALED a new Shark Tank-like product-pitching program for November this year at Lowe’s soon to open Tech Hub facility.
“Into The Blue: Lowe’s Product Pitch Event” is a two-day, in-person event at Lowe’s Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters where entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes can pitch their products to Lowe’s for the opportunity to sell their products in the
company’s stores and on Lowes.com. The event is going to be big, to the
tune of US$5 million, which is how much Lowe’s plans to invest in purchase orders to the new suppliers that make it to the final round with their unique product.
“We are inviting businesses of any size to apply for ‘Into the Blue’ because the more innovative products we uncover, the more solutions we can provide to
our customers to make their homes and lives better,” says Executive VP of Merchandising, Bill Boltz.
www.lowes.com
32 NZHJ | AUGUST 2022
MORE AT www.hardwarejournal.co.nz