Flagstaff HomCo Ace Hardware recently awarded $11,000 to a variety of local non-profits and individuals, including Coconino High School Sports Department, and The American Cancer Society.  Funding for these donations came from the store’s annual Shoes & Brews Horseshoe Tournament, held July 30, which was created in 2008 to give local businesses a way to help people in need in their community.  The event consisted of a horseshoe tournament, silent auction, raffle, split-the-pot, costume contest, toss the polar bear, and the Golden Toilet Seat trophy.

According to HomCo’s division manager, Todd Callahan, “we are always looking for future non-profit organizations to donate to.”

HomCo Ace Hardware is Arizona’s leading premier customer service company.  Founded in 1975 as the “Helpful Place”, the expert staff is able to provide goods and services to meet the needs of its valued customer and improve the quality of life for local residents.

FootSteps Marketing Team

At the  Chicago Ace Show we celebrated two years of business.  What started with a handshake between Vicki Peterson, Kevin Nyberg, Ted Barnes, Ron Erwin and Tom Mortell has mushroomed into a thriving business. FootSteps now supports 50 websites representing over 100 stores. With your help we have become the largest vendor of Internet Marketing services to the independent retailer. Visit FootSteps Blog:  Ideas Worth Sharing,  to see our success bring you success with footsteps in your door!

Thanks to all of your sharing ideas, we continue to find new and better ways to use the Internet to help you advertise and market your stores.  Recently, a number of you have launched the first pay-per-click programs, newly printed Facebook pages and are stretching the reach of email with each new campaign we send.

Gloria Farmer (left), Patrick Curry
(center-back), Teresa Swann
(center-front), Patience Griffiths (right)

I mean – who could resist a face like this!?

At the Ace Show, Patience was so thoughtful and bought us all t-shirts – including one for my almost 2-year-old, Macy.  I had hoped to capture lots of great pictures of her wearing this shirt during our latest weekend trip to Moab – but as many of you know, getting a toddler to stand still is nearly impossible!  So, I’ve included one where you can see her face and another where you can see the ACE logo.  I guess I’ll have to put my Photoshop skills to work!

Stay tuned for more Macy-in-action shots!

FootSteps Marketing takes our “Hat’s off”  to all of the Coakley Carpet One Ace Hardware team for their efforts to help their community grow and succeed!  It is nice to see that nice people do nice things and get noticed for their good work!

CANTON, NY (02/24/2011)(readMedia)– A prominent North Country family is sharing their passion for athletics and academics in order to benefit SUNY Canton students.

William J. (Bill) and Carol M. Coakley, Carol J. and Ronald J. Spadaccini, and Thomas F. (Tom) and Nellie E. Coakley, the owners of Coakley Carpet One Ace Hardware in Canton, recently made a gift to the SUNY Canton Foundation for the College’s new athletic facility. The family’s donation secured the right to name the Coakley Family Student-Athlete Study and Classroom in the new athletic office suite within the brand-new Roos House.   [Read more...]

Article is a repost from the National Retail Hardware Association website. Footsteps wanted to recongize all our dealers that raised $40,000 for Children’s Miracle Network. Great job everyone!

Ace Hardware stores across Colorado and Wyoming teamed up to donate more than $40,000 recently to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and specifically The Children’s Hospital in Aurora. The money was raised during two   fundraising events held over the past two months. This latest donation brings the total amount raised by local Ace Hardware stores for The Children’s Hospital to more than $255,000 over the past six years.

The Children's Hospital in Aurora

The first fundraiser was held in Aspen, Colo., from Jan. 13-17. More than 60 people from Ace Hardware stores nationwide convened for the sixth annual Miracle on the Mountain charity event benefitting The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colo. The event raised $18,000 this year, bringing the six-year total for this event to more than $183,000 thanks to Ace retailers and event organizers Chris and Vicki Peterson from Ace Hardware of Carbondale, Colo.

In a second fundraising initiative, 105 Colorado and Wyoming Ace Hardware stores participated in the “Have a Heart” icon campaign, raising $22,000 by selling heart-shaped icons at the cash register for $1 each. All proceeds went to The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and, specifically, The Children’s Hospital in Aurora. The campaign ran from Jan. 14 – Feb. 14. The donation was made in conjunction with the Alice 105.9’s 36 Hours for Kids radiothon, an annual event to raise money and awareness for The Children’s Hospital in Aurora.

“Each year, Ace Hardware customers, employees and owners rally together to support these two fundraising initiatives benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and The Children’s Hospital,” said Jackie Dieter, an associate at Greatwood Lumber in Bennett and winner of an employee contest to sell the most heart icons. “Many of our own families, friends and colleagues have benefitted directly from the care provided by The Children’s Hospital and we feel so lucky to have such a great resource right here in Denver.”

Lake Ridge Ace Hardware, located in Lakewood, Colo., employee Frank Nowakowski’s family is one that has benefitted directly from the care provided at The Children’s Hospital. Last fall, Nowakowski’s four-year-old great granddaughter Kenna was diagnosed with “adult” leukemia. After extensive treatment that included five different types of chemotherapy at The Children’s Hospital, she is now a gregarious and outdoing little girl in complete remission.

“There are no words to express the extent of my family’s gratitude toward The Children’s Hospital,” said Nowakowski. “I’m so proud and happy that Ace Hardware supports organizations like Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and The Children’s Hospital that mean so much to employees, customers and the Rocky Mountain Community. The Children’s Hospital really is one of the most important resources we have living in Colorado.”

To see the original post from NRHA click here.

The Six Engagement Elements THAT MATTER

From this article we learn (in order) what matters the most to our customers.

Engagement isn’t just about a channel, it is about the customers relationship with the brand, their ability to choose how and when to engage.

The six most important needs consumers have when they reach out to a brand: Feeling Valued, Trust, Efficiency, Consistency, Relevance, and Control.

Valued

When a customer feels that they can expect a company to go out of it’s way to support his needs and knows that the company values his business.  It’s the feeling that you are just not another customer, that your situation is important and that someone is out there working on your behalf.  This is the personal touch that your associates give to your customers. It’s listening to the customers situation and helping them get whatever they need, no matter the lengths they must go to find the right product

Efficiency

When a company respects a customer’s time and energy and promptly addresses his or her needs. I think that Ace stores can really capture this category. It goes along with “Get in. Get Help. Get on with your life.”  People know they can come to Ace, get what they need, and get their projects done.

Trust

When customers feel confident that a company is credible and will handle engagements honestly, sincerely, and transparently. You trust that when you buy something from someone, that they will stand by that product and correct any problems you have down the road.

Consistency

Consistency is achieved when a company is uniform in things such as policy, attitude, communication, and messaging. Make sure that you and your employees are consistent in all of the above things. That people know that they can come to you with a problem and you will always have a solution.

Relevance

Relevance is achieved when a customer feels messaging from a company is interesting and applicable to their needs. When a retailer offers personalized coupons to its customers that’s relevance and probably makes the feel valued too. People are also not going to come to your facebook page unless you give them a reason to. Everybody has a facebook page. They want to “like” you to become part of the brands culture or if they have some important information there.

Control

Manifested when the customer can determine if, when and how a company will communicate with them. They want to give companies permission to be in touch with them up front; conversely they want to opt out when they are done engaging. Control can be implicit or explicit, yet the consumer wants to be the center of it. If a company delivers trust then control becomes less important.

Link to the full article click here.

Thanks to John Fish at Razorfish.com for the article.

Which viewpoints do you excel at? Which ones could you improve on?

Another one of our retailers was featured in this month’s National Retail Hardware Magazine! Kevin Capps from Cinco Ace Hardware of Katy, Texas.

This article discussed what retailers have learned in 2010 and what new ideas they have for 2011. Retailers from all over the country shared what worked for them or what they might change for 2011.

Kevin Capps said “We discovered the power of web and e-mail captures. Our use of these formats led to a record Ladies’ Night Out for us with more than 1,500 ladies in attendance.

FootSteps Marketing is thrilled to see that Cinco Ace’s website and email campaign is working so well for them.

Did anyone else have a record breaking event that you promoted with the web and email?

Here’s a link to the article:  http://www.nrha.org/v2/Hardware_Retailing/Article.aspx?slug=lessons-our-retailers-learned-in-2010