Hardline competition

lly Rqer E. Peterson President Ace I lardware ('orporation

I f If'S true thar the past is prologue to the future, the I hardlines industry is in great shape to continue its impressive rate of growth even with increased competition and a gradually maturing market. The challenge for retailers will be to get a fair share of their segment by implementing action plans based on consumer research.

Simple to say, but obviously not as simple to do. In the hardlines industry, working hard is a "given," but it will be "working smarter" that will determine success todav and in the future. That includes utilizing technology to its full advantage to reduce costs and free personnel to do a better job of selling. lt also means being in stock, selecting and- training good employees in a shrinking labor pool, fine tuning merchandise assortments, communicating benefits to customers, knowing your business and those you serve, and doing it better and less expensively than your competition.

Over the past several years we have seen an emphasis on ".new ways" to go to market and "new concepts" of retailing, many of them based on price alone. Some have been successful; many others are now a painful part of hardlines history. While new concepts wiLl always be an