Meatballs, masking tape and multi-tools decorated the vendor tables in front of Battle Ground Ace Hardware on Friday, Aug. 21, for a special business-to-business event hosted by the store.
“A lot of people think of Ace Hardware as a very specific type of thing, nuts and bolts type store,” said Rubin Rule, business-to-business director for Hi-School Pharmacy and Ace Hardware stores. “We do events like this to try to break that mold and show people that we’re more than just nuts and bolts.”
The event was attended by representatives from Milwaukee, DeWalt, Diablo, Benjamin Moore and Phase Three, all brands that Rule says represent the best that Ace Hardware has to offer.
“My role here today is to make sure that people are connected with the vendors and the tools that they’re buying and products that they’re buying,” Rule said. “Those are some of our top-selling brands, not just from a professional standpoint, but do-it-yourselfers are buying those brands.”
Each brand represented at the event had a special display of their tools, with Benjamin Moore showing off their new Scuff-X paint, Phase Three featuring its masking tape and rollers, and the power tools putting their multi-tool blades to the test.
Rule had his own table set up alongside the vendors, sporting a raffle for some free hand tools and a stack of papers for business customers to open their own business-to-business accounts with the store.
“We’re, over the course of time, trying to strengthen the community through relationships, and we’re trying to develop a partnership that goes a lot deeper and longer,” Rule said.
In his job position, Rule is responsible for servicing businesses in the local community around the Ace Hardware stores owned by Hi-School Pharmacy.
There are designated teams at each store, which are structured to make sure customers always have someone at the store who knows what they’re doing.
“(It’s) local supporting local. Each Ace Hardware is locally owned, and we take a lot of pride in servicing our community to the best of our ability,” Rule said.
For him, the biggest value of the program is the ability to serve customers and have those customers know they’re being helped by someone who understands their problems.
“We’re more in the business of relationships. We like to build bonds that are longlasting,” Rule said. “Rather than saying, ‘Hey, this is a transaction that happens one time,’ we’re trying to be the person that helps get the job done every time.”
Part of what makes the store successful, according to Rule, is that it doesn’t matter if someone is a professional or an everyday shopper, the employees will go out of their way to make sure that the customer is taken care of.
“We look forward to doing these events. It’s our way of saying thank you to the community,” Rule said. “We care about Battle Ground and we care about the mom-and-pop shops that make up Battle Ground.”
