Fun & games bring customels to Tennessee dealer

I T'S NOT BEEN easy, but Dick I Farrar Jr. has built a reputation for Williams Lumber Co. as one of the best promot€rs of business in Fayetteville, Tn. Casual visitors as well as local Fayetteville residents readily recognize that he has earned the reputation. But it was not always that way.

His father, Richard Sr., bought the lumberyard from the Williams family in 1960, expecting the 90 year old company to continue in the same established busi- ness pattern it had follorad since it began as a remotely located sawmill. The original owner had follorrcd the philosoptty of "Wait for the customer to come through the door, treat him fairly and meet his needs in the best way possible and the business will ake care of iself." Richard Sr. thought that was a pretty good way to operate.

That's pretty much the way things hap pened for the first few years. Six years later, however, disaster struck. A raging fire destroyed virtually everything in the business in April 1966. Undaunted, Richard Sr. rebuilt and reopened with his business philosophy unchanged.

Seven more years passed and in 193 Mother Nature struck again. Although Williams Lumber is located on the Elk River. it was considered safe since the Tennessee Valley Authority's projected 100 year flood plain placed the lumberyard's high water mark within safe boundaries. However as the rains continued and the river rose in l9B,Farrar Iearned thatthe TVA had missed the high water mark by three feet. His business was awash in mud, but he took a deeP breath, cleaned it up, reopened and continued doing business as usual.

Then in the '80s the whole ball game changed. Fayetteville, located in southern middle Tennessee, suddenly uasjust 30 miles north of booming Huntsville, Al., il miles s,outh of sprarling Nashville and a mere 53 miles from the proposed site of General Motors' highly publicized Sanrn automobile plant.

The next change was set in Place bY Dick Farrar Jr., who joined his family in

Buildi ng Prcducts DlgEst

business on April l, 1983. He made a conscious decision to get the word out to the uorld aboutWilliams LumberCo.

Residens not receive anarea widecircular mailed to their doors twice each year to announce either the annual spring or fall sale at Williams Lumber. As they go driving, they are greeted by one of several billboards bought by Williams to promote the local school's sports schedule.

If tlrey tune into radio station WYTMFM at home or in the car, tlrey hear Dick Jr. discussing ircms of local interest. If they carch his twice-weekly sports trivia questions and come up with the right ansrcr, ttrey can call the "lumber number" and win a gallon of Gray Seal's Pro Ptastic Paint.

During the groving seiason last summer, citizens of Fayettwille participated in the Williams tomato grorving contest. They brought theirprize tomatoes othe store, $righed them qr the mil scales ald registered the u€ight. The bigg€st tornalo of the week won its owner a gallon of Gray Seal hint. Top wirurcr dthe seasst uon enough pa.intto paint the exteriorof his house.

But Fayeneville residents don't tnrc o wait fora seasonal or ryecial prorncionat Williams. Almost any time, they can go into the sorc and participarc in dr Hottse Key pmnnion. The custonpr 86 to dle key closet, selects a key and tries it in dte mystery lock. If it opens, he wins the prize of the week.

Dick Farrar began a remodeling pro' gram in 1985. The addition of $l&000 in new store fixtures and $35,000 in new offices and storage brought a rrw image to the store. The results? Sales in 1985 urcre up each rnonth orcr the corrcsponding month in 19E4. The total year ended with an 80% plus increase in sale.s. Faint sales alone tripled durhg the par.

Williams Lumberwas ftatuedby Gray Seal hint's parent organization in Louisville, Ky., as the "Dealer in the Spotlight" in a company newsletter. In addition they presenrcd Farrar wih a special award at the annual sales meeting wrappingup 1985.

Story at a Glane

Nu management uses Plollrc tions, remodeling and othel modern method3 to increase sabs and ptofits lirm lras sur' vived devastating llnand llood paintsalesalone hae trlPled.

I N THE PAST five years. home cenrers f have seen their potential client base more than triple in size. Several reasons account for this increase, all emanating directly from the fact that more and morE homeowners are choosing to renovate their present home instead of purchasing a new one.

Escalating prices for new homes have made it less feasible for many to move up. Instead two-income homeowners are using their avrailable financial resources to imprwe their present homes. In addition, steadily appreciating home values have made home improvement loans easier to obtain. First time home buyers are also recognizing the financial benefits ofbuying the older, less expensive homes and fixing them up themselves.

A popular remodeling technique today is that of opening up rooms with natural light. Homeowners have discovered the cost effectiveness of using increased natural light to visually expand a room.

For example, a typical room addition will cost an average of $27,000. On the other hand, the illusion of extended space can be created for about $10.000 bv changing existing windows and doors or installing new ones where there are none. For retailers, this has been a boon for replacement window, garden window, patio door and skylight sales. With sales of 21 million units last year, replacement windows are a hot home improvement item.

Manufrcturers are backing the retailers by producing a wide variety of windows so that there is little need for a homeowner to go outside the home center for custom work. Some have added comput€r aided drafting systems which allow them to produce custom products with a short turnaround.

"We find that homeowners are lookins for dramatic new ways to open up theii