Closed on the Sabbath

Ace Israel intends to set up an additional sales format directed at orthodox Jewish customers. It will be called Kne Ubney (buy and build). It is planned to open the first store in the fourth quarter of 2013; it will be located in Petach Tikva, only 300 m away from an Ace outlet. By the end of the year two more stores are to be added in Jerusalem and Bnai Brak. This information comes from Israeli media reports of a press conference held by the Electra Consumer Products Group, owner of Ace Israel. These new businesses will, unlike the Ace stores, be closed on the Sabbath, which is the day of rest in the Jewish week. The price level is to be geared to the target group, which includes families that frequently have a lot of children. Many orthodox Jews have so far refused to shop at Ace. The name of the new store format is not new: Kne Ubney was one of the chains, along with Ace and Homecenter, which originally brought the DIY store concept to Israel in 1992. It was acquired by Ace in 1995 and rebadged to that brand.