Ace Hardware Is Using AI To Make Store Associates Smarter: Here’s How

Ace Hardware has quietly deployed one of brick-and-mortar retail’s most ambitious frontline AI tools. In February 2026, the company rolled out a new AI feature which was added to a long-standing handheld device used by store associates named ARMA (ACE Retailer Mobile Assistant). The new tool, Hey ARMA with added AI features, has fielded more than 55,000 associate queries across more than 2,300 stores. “We make a promise that we’re going to be the most helpful store on the planet. And to do that, you can’t just be friendly. You’ve got to really be able to answer these questions that consumers come in with in a dizzying array of numbers. You’ve got to fulfill the promise, or you’re a promise breaker, and promise breakers kill brands,” states John Venhuizen, president and CEO of Ace Hardware Corporation in an exclusive interview.

Local Expertise At Scale With Hey ARMA

The rollout reflects a broader strategy that the future of independent hardware retail is not choosing between neighborhood warmth and enterprise capability but delivering on both simultaneously. As AI reshapes customer expectations across every retail channel, Ace is positioning Hey ARMA as the connective tissue between its 5,200-location footprint and the kind of on-demand expertise shoppers increasingly expect. Today’s informed shopper comes into retail stores armed with a plethora of information they have already searched up, but with Hey ARMA, the associates are elevated to a level playing field and are more confident to actively seek out shoppers in the stores.

Investing In The Workforce With AI, Not Replacing Them

“We’ll never have customers who love us because of great technology. Never. It’s got to be people. If associates don’t feel engaged and valued, that’s how they’ll treat customers. But when they feel like, ‘Wow, they’re investing in me, this is actually kind of cool,’ that feeling passes right on to the customer.” said Venhuizen. A central theme throughout Ace’s 100,000 store associates, known as the ‘red vested heroes’, is that they may avoid customers because they fear being asked something they don’t know.

Hey ARMA provides associates instant, accurate answers, which makes them more confident approaching customers. Store associates took quickly to Hey ARMA, aided by company training and the fact that the AI layer was built into a device they already knew and trusted. Most of today’s workforce is using AI in their personal lives to look up information or search items, so the application of Hey ARMA is a natural fit in the work environment.

The role of Hey ARMA, or other AI technology rolled out at Ace Hardware stores, is not to replace workers but give employees the opportunity to use AI to create better shopping experiences. When asked about the future of AI in the workforce, Venhuizen said, “I can’t predict the future, and you’d be a fool to. But here’s my sense: I don’t think you have a high probability of losing your job to AI, but you will have a very high probability of losing your job to someone who knows how to leverage AI.”

Ace Hardware’s AI Tool Top Features

The Hey ARMA tool, accessible via handheld devices on the store floor, gives Ace’s red-vested associates instant access to product recommendations, project guidance, and aisle-level inventory data all while helping customers in the store. The real usage data shows four dominant patterns:

1. Product search (what is this?)
2. Product availability (when can I get it?)
3. Product location (where is it in this store or the system?)
4. Product how-to (how do I use it?)

Associates also photograph items or use images to get instant answers or diagnoses. The shift of knowledge and expertise across categories within the store have allowed associates to deliver real-time answers to customer questions and provide higher levels of service for the growing demand of home improvement categories.

The Home Preservation Movement Continues To Grow

The global home improvement market is project to grow 4% in 2026 spurred by continued interest by homeowners to enhance property value. North America represents 38% of the market share in home improvement, where a majority of Ace Hardware stores are located. Homeowners participation in home preservation projects extends across many categories including painting, flooring, landscaping, along with projects to improve outdoor living spaces, kitchens, bathrooms, and exterior improvements. The increased adoption of remote work has motivated homeowners to improve home offices and multifunctional spaces. From a service perspective, having knowledgeable sales associates across multiple categories of home improvement projects can be a challenge. The new AI features in Hey ARMA help the workforce with becoming subject matter experts.

How AI Became A Service Assistant

The company has been playing around with AI use cases dating back 25 years but the technology was not at a point for widespread adoption and scale. The turning point came when Venhuizen, while casually testing the device in-store, asked it an unprogrammed, colloquial question. “I asked the device something no programmer ever input. I said, ‘Hey, what’s that thingamajig that we sell from the company DAP, that allows you to fix drywall without spackling and sanding?’ I intentionally didn’t tell the device what it was, and in about one and a half seconds, it spat out DAP Eclipse. I knew at that point this thing’s got legs,” explained Venhuizen.

Long-termSustainable Advantage

Hey ARMA is a tool that will not likely be outdated any time soon. “The way they built this thing is, and I’m oversimplifying it, but very plug and play. It’s giving us the ability to continuously improve at the lowest cost I’ve ever seen us develop anything here. The company has embedded itself in something sustainable,” said Venhuizen. Language models and image tools can be swapped in and out as better options emerge, at historically low development costs for Ace. It’s described as a significant cultural and architectural departure from how Ace has traditionally built technology.

AI At Scale With A Human Touch

Hey ARMA’s early traction suggests the concept is resonating where it counts most: on the sales floor and with the customers. With continued expansion toward Ace’s full 5,200-store footprint, the company will need to demonstrate that AI-assisted service translates into measurable outcomes: faster transaction times, higher basket sizes, and the kind of customer loyalty that keeps a neighborhood hardware store relevant in an era of same-day delivery. Hey ARMA is proving how to make helpful feel personal at scale, something the big-box rivals are trying to figure out.