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E ULK is out. Quality is overtaklJ ing quantity in the builder's hardware market, as dealers more and more stock their shelves with individually blister- and skin-packaged rather than bulk-displayed products.

On the surface, packaged items can provide a better appearance than bulk hardware. Colorful, coordinated packages can create attractive runs across a display. And many home centers are transforming once drab nuts and bolts sections into dazzling builder's hardware departments.

Packaged products can also be better organized in a display. Loose items are easily mixed up in their bins. And clean, smooth packages are definitely easier to handle than individual, oddshaped metal objects.

Packages also provide a service, carrying detailed instructions and precise dimensions. Consumers usually need the instructions and the specs help ensure they get the right part the first time, lowering returns.

Lawrence Bros., Inc., Sterling, Il., a national manufacturer of cabinet. closet, door, window, gate and security hardware, has significantly increased its packaged product mix in the last two years to respond to the trend.

The manufacturer's merchandiser Mark Lauritzen finds the prepackaged hardware allows retailers to keep the size of inventories lower. "Dealers can buy l0 of something rather than 50," he says. "Turns make the difference."

Packaged goods more easily accept bar codes, improving inventory tracking and alleviating pricing headaches. One home center shopper recalls holding up a long checkout line as her clerk ran back to check on the price of an inexpensive loose hardware item.

Most importantly, decorative packaging implies greater value, translating into higher prices and higher profits. "Naturally, the price is higher, but it doesn't matter to the consumer," Lauritzen says. "The do-it-yourselfer doesn't shop builder's hardware items. If he needs a coat and hat hook or sees one and likes it. he's going to buy it."

Story at a Glance

Packaged items replacing bulk displays in many builder's harclware departments... packaging improves ap'peannoe, tightens inventories, increases profits, though bulk packaging still has a role.

Still, some items may be best suited to bulk merchandising. "Heavy straps, t's, corner braces, some things because of their size will always be sold bulk," he explains. "And dealers wanting to cater to contractors who buy in large quantities will also maintain bulk inventories."

Bulk displays fit in well with the bare bones warehouse style and low cost image. And with bulk merchandising, greater quantity can usually be stocked on less shelf space.

But as long as repair, remodeling and doing-it-yourself remain on the upswing, so should the move toward packaged builder's hardware.

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