Accelerating expansion of its metropolitan-area footprint, growing the home-repair market
Expanded product lineup of repair materials, paints, tools and more
‘ACE Hardware,’ the home-repair specialty brand of group affiliate Eugene Home Center, is setting its sights on the Incheon area.
Starting in Seoul and with stores in Gyeonggi Province locations such as Goyang and Namyangju, ACE Hardware is now moving in earnest to expand the metropolitan-area home-repair market with the opening of its Incheon Yeonsu store.
The Incheon Yeonsu store, ACE Hardware’s sixth location, occupies a ground-floor space of 1,438㎡ (about 435 pyeong) of sales area on Aenggogae-ro in Yeonsu-gu. With retail and commercial facilities such as Square One and E-Mart clustered nearby and an eight-lane road and subway lines (Incheon Line 1, Suin-Bundang Line) close at hand, the store offers strong customer accessibility and transport convenience. Leveraging this infrastructure advantage—combining transportation and commercial facilities—the company plans to absorb home-repair demand in the Incheon area and establish the store as a wide-area commercial hub serving northern Gyeonggi.
The ACE Hardware Incheon Yeonsu store also differentiates itself in the items it carries. In keeping with the area’s characteristics—a higher rate of owner-occupied housing than the regions of other stores—it has expanded its product lineup across the interior materials, paint, and tool categories needed for home repair and maintenance.
Following the Yongsan store, it plans to permanently operate a ‘Home Repair Academy’ so customers can experience an advanced home-repair culture. It also offers a range of services unique to ACE Hardware, including early opening hours (8 a.m.–10 p.m.), a home-repair concierge, paint color mixing, and wood cutting.
As interest in family camping has grown in the wake of COVID-19, the Incheon Yeonsu store has expanded its camping and outdoor product offerings. With the spread of stay-at-home culture, it has significantly increased its selection of barbecue grills and accessories so customers can enjoy a barbecue at home just as they would on a trip. To mark the new arrival of the U.S. barbecue brand ‘Grillmark,’ the store is also running a 10% discount event.
Dramatic discount events are also underway. Popular items such as power tools and lighting are being offered at up to 60% off, and all products of the premium imported paint Clark+Kensington are on sale at 20% off. There are also a variety of giveaway events. New members receive a 5,000-won Starbucks voucher (100% guaranteed), and depending on the purchase amount, customers are given items such as eco bags, bucket bags, and long umbrellas.
An ACE Hardware official said, “We have differentiated our product assortment and services to suit Incheon’s residential environment and changing lifestyles,” adding, “In particular, through the Home Repair Academy, we plan to go a step beyond simply being a store that sells products—raising interest in home repair and creating a space where customers can directly experience the brand’s value.”
Meanwhile, ACE Hardware, with a 100-year history, is the world’s largest home-repair specialty brand, found today in some 6,000 stores across more than 70 countries. It entered the Korean market in 2018 with the opening of its first store, the Geumcheon store in Seoul. Following the Yongsan and Ilsan stores in 2019 and the Toegyewon store in 2020, it opened the Nowon store this past March.