HOME GENTIER MERGHANTI

Bill Fishman & Atfiliates

11650 lberia Place

San Diego, Ca.92128

? HE HOME Center Show in Chi-

I cago this March is going to be a humdinger.

The show will be larger. There will be more vendors displaying and there will be more retailers attending. The attendance figures will be way up because of input by those attending the Home Center Show Advisory Board Meeting that I chaired about four weeks after the close ofthe 1986 show. We, the show's management team, got quite an earful from the advisory board.

Helen Jo Whitsell, ceo of the Copeland Lumber Yards in Portland, Or., remarked that some dealers felt that the show was outside their comfort zone. She let us know that some of the retailers that she talks to in her market felt that the very title of the show and its Chicago location left the indepen- dent building material dealer with the impression that the show was positioned for the big guys only. The other members of the board representingthe independents agreed with Helen. Dale Boozer from Columbia, S.C., Pat Rooney of J.T.'s Home & Building Centers in Newport, R.1., and Ric Russell of Millard Lumber in Omaha, Ne., advised us to create an identity with the less-than-giant home center and we could count on more people feeling that this show was for them.

"Let people know how much it would cost to come to Chicago for the run of the show, how to get from the airport to the hotels and what to do after show hours," they advised us. "Pinpoint the seminar programs to their size and talk about concepts that they can adapt to become better merchants. Talk to them about their problems and within sales figures that they can identify with "

We listened carefully. The manage- ment team was very responsive to the advice ofthe advisory board. You have probably received a copy ofthe 20-page promotion about the show. You may not, however, recognize that there are two versions of this promotional piece. Version B is the typical brochure that is sent to the major home center chains. Version A is pinpointed to the rural markets. The opening two pages are specihcally geared to those who have never before visited Chicago or the previous Home Center Shows. lt shows typical airfares, cab fares, hotel costs, meals, courtesy buses, shopping areas and sightseeing.

As the board recommended, I pulled together a seminar program that identifies the needs ofthe independent dealer. There will be two opportunities to attend a full-day session with Jim Pence. Chilt Ellett of Chapin, S.C., will, in his good-ol-boy style, present 25 ideas to increase effectiveness in dealing with people.

There will be sessions on how to attract big-user customers and idea exchanges that will put retailers at round-table discussions with other retailers of their size.

Most importantly, I have advised all the speakers at all l3 seminars to tailor their addresses to this newly identified audience of less-citified operators. But there's more to this month's column than just the new format for the Home Center Show. There's a point I'm trying to make. It has to do with the overstoring of America.

Is America overstored? You bet it is! Only in some very rural areas do you find people driving more than 20 minutes to choose from a variety of different retailers merchandising similar products. In the lumber and building material industry the competition has become fierce.

Today's customer, whether he's a do-it-yourselfer, a small contractor, a commercial account or a major developer, has the option of shopping close to home at the home center or lumberyard at which he feels most comfortable and where he feels he's getting the best value. (That's "best value" not necessarily the lowest price.) So how do you find out what to do to make customers feel comfortable in your location. Ask 'em! Sit 'em down and ask'em.

One of the most important, yet neglected. sources of information available to a retailer about his own operation is from his own customers. Most retailers have never learned to harness this source of information. It's so easy, so inexpensive and, regretfully, so overlooked. One of the best ways to have your customers tell you how your showroom fits within their comfort zone is to create an advisory board just like the advisory board that provided us with the input to reposition the Home Center Show.

What can retailers learn about their own operations from an advisory board of their customers and non-customers? Here are just a few areas that were touched upon by advisory board meetings that I have chaired for retailers:

. How the communitv identifies the store

. What is missing or unnecessary in the merchandise mix o Just how friendly and knowledgeable are the "friendly and knowledgeable" sales people How easy or dilficult it is to shop the store o Does the background music and paging system create discomfort lor the shopper Do systems and procedures need overhauling

. Do the employees understand and believe the company's charter and goals

When you attend your first advisory board meeting, wear your thickest skin and come ready to learn that what you wish you were and what you are are not necessarily the same.

FRED CARUSO executive secretary

I IOUNTAIN States members met lUl recently to take a hard look at the challenges facing their businesses in an era of stiffcompetition, rapid change and a tough economy. Some 136 dealers from 65 companies met at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Co., for two days of discussion and education.

"The economy in the Mountain States region has been hit hard in the past three years, but because the national economy is still expanding, the area has a chance to turn itselfaround," said economist Morton Marcus.

"Competition is from the intellectual activity of all other people," said Marcus. "How you use your mind to meet the needs of customers is the challenge. lf times were better, there would be even more competition. The competition is not from price-cutters, foreigners, cheap labor, too much supply, nor others in the industry."

Frank Denny, president of Builders Square with 83 home center warehouses throughout the country, said that his company is on the leading edge of the information age. "lt is information utilization that will win the competition. The factualness of the information and its utilization is the key."

"Go forward on systems," Denny said. "lt doesn't take a lot of time. money or people to do it. lt takes a person dedicated to capturing, identilying, analyzing and reacting to information."

"lndependents can't compete item by item on a price basis with mass merchandisers. The biggies have more money. more resources, more staying power," said Jerry Attridge, speaking on how to sell against price competition. "Anybody can drop a price but nobody can match your service."

"Warehouse home centers, a new concept in retailing, will never represent more than l2-150lo of the market and will never be in more than 30-35 metro markets," according to Denny. "The remaining 850/o of the market will be represented by independents."

Independents have the home field advantage," said Jerry Attridge. "They know their customers, their market, the financial state of their customers and where needs are not being filled."

"The sole purpose and objective of being in business is to create and keep a customer the only source of revenue and profit," Attridge said.

Ed Sandlin, Trinidad Builders Supply, Trinidad, Co., was elected president of the MSLBMDA.

LINK executive director

THE IMMIGRATION and Relorm I Control Act o[ 1986 was signed into law by President Reagan on Nov. 6, 1986. lts major impact is that all employers - including individuals who hire domestic workers. businesses of whatever size. trade associations and other tax exempt organizations and state and local governments - must examine citizenship papers prior to hiring.

The bill makes it illegal for an employer to knowingly hire an alien not authorized to work in the United States. An employer convicted of a hiring violation would face a fine of $250 to $2,000 per illegal alien for the first offense and up to $10,000 per illegal alien for the third offense.

All employers are required to verily new hires by examining either a U. S. passport, or a combination of a birth certificate or Social Security card and one of the following: a driver's license, a state-issued identification card or an alien identification document known as a green card. In order to ascertain if employers have actually examined the documents, employers will have to fill out and retain a special form to be developed by the Justice Dept. verifying the document examination.

In addition, newly-hired employees will have to fill out a similar form. Both forms will have to be retained by the employer for three years. ln the case of applicants who are not hired, the bill only requires record retention for appli-