• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, April 10, 2007

Ace Hardware wants to remind shoppers just how helpful its red-vested clerks can be.

In a national TV campaign that includes three different spots, as well as radio and online, Ace is positioning itself "as the customer service-oriented, helpful home improvement retail destination," the company says. With some 4,800 stores, Ace is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry, "and shoppers have told us that it's the helpfulness of our associates that differentiate us from our many competitors," says a spokesman. "We think ads that shine the spotlight on them are a good idea."

Ads feature smiling customers showing off their feats of home-improvement derring-do-a spiral topiary, a perfectly matched apple green wall, a garage-door opener that works-flanked by their supportive associates. Ads, created by MARS Advertising, Southfield, Mich. are tagged, "Almost Like We're Right There; Ace: The Helpful Place."

TV spots feature lawn and garden and painting projects, two of Ace's biggest sales categories, as well as outdoor entertaining.

Despite constant predictions over the years that chains like Lowe's and Home Depot would squelch neighborhood stores, the 80-year-old Ace, which generates sales of about $12 billion a year, posted records sales and earnings last year.