About Great Lakes Ace Hardware

With 40+ locations serving dozens of communities throughout Michigan, Great Lakes Ace is all about building customer loyalty by providing an excellent customer experience. They pride themselves on going above and beyond customer expectations and creating a fun and helpful environment in their stores.

For Great Lakes Ace, the ultimate goal is to create meaningful connections that bring customers back for years to come – and they believe in the power of music and messaging to help them make it happen.

The Challenge

Before working with Mood, Great Lakes Ace experienced a number of issues with their business music provider. For starters, their music selection was outdated, rarely updated and very repetitive. Additionally, the music delivery technology was very dated, making it difficult for Ace IT personnel to manage the devices and ensure compatibility with Ace’s evolving backend systems.

Finally, their music provider didn’t offer in-store messaging – a solution that Ace sought to help take their customer experience to the next level. In 2016 they began searching for a trusted provider that could resolve these issues and save them money. Their search ended with Mood – the world’s most experienced Music and Messaging provider.

“When it comes to the in-store experience at our locations, we needed a provider that could give us great music and flexible messaging at an affordable rate. With Mood, we received that and much more.”

– Ross Owens
IT Systems, Support Manager
Great Lakes Ace Hardware

The Approach

Mood’s vast experience with Ace Hardware franchise groups and hundreds of other franchise-based brands was essential in guiding the approach to the in-store media solution for Great Lakes Ace.

Mood began by assigning a dedicated Account Management team that could work with Ace to create a branded and centrally-managed music and messaging solution.

The Solution

MUSIC

In order to provide Ace with the cost savings and the music variety they were looking for, Mood implemented Core Music – an industry leading choice for local and regional brands alike. Clients that use Core Music can choose up to 10 professionally-designed programs from a wide variety of genres. All programs are frequently updated to keep the music experience fresh.

With Mood’s accessible online portal, authorized users can easily schedule music programs and manage preferences for as many of their locations as they like. Users can also use this portal to manage their on-hold and in-store messages. Ace’s suite of corporate-approved messages are written and recorded each month to highlight in-store specials and flier promotions, helping Ace drive sales and enhance the friendly feel of their stores.

Finally, both music and messaging are driven by Mood’s reliable and efficient ProFusion iS device. The ProFusion leverages the latest in background music technology, providing secure internet-based content delivery and seamless playback at all times.

The Results

Great Lakes Ace was so pleased with the music and messaging at select stores that they decided to rollout the solution to all of their 40+ locations. By partnering with Mood, Ace receives the cost savings they need, an enormous music library that’s always up to date, engaging overhead and on-hold messaging and reliable music players. It’s all backed by a dedicated account management that responds quickly and understands Ace Hardware’s unique brand standards and needs.

Furthermore, Great Lakes Ace can rest assured that the experience will be excellent and consistent across all of their locations. But don’t take our word for it – read on and see what management had to say about their partnership with Mood.

“When it comes to the in-store experience at our locations, we needed a provider that could give us great music and flexible messaging at an affordable rate. With Mood, we received that and much more. The music is frequently updated with the latest content and our employees and customers love the selection. The messaging has a really positive impact on the business, and my service contacts at Mood are always very responsive. It’s really the complete package – and it’s consistently great at all of our 40+ locations. I highly recommend Mood – they make my job easier, and they’ll make yours easier, too.”

– Ross Owens
IT Systems, Support Manager
Great Lakes Ace Hardware