Exclusive interview \Mith a merchandising expert

REClNAllYC some 20 years ago, Bob u Neiman and Bob Reed, a,s a result ol being in the seraice together, lormed Neiman-Reed Lumber Co.. lnter' knoun as Lu,mber Ci,ty. With a firm. beliel in the concept ol a one stop shopping center t'or the home otoner, the southern Calilornia, organization has grown to lour stores uith a fi.lth under construction and, seoeral more pla,nned in the near luture. Each store is geared to do approximately $2-$2lz million in uolume.

7'o tie in with the hardware and, houseware shows rtow being held on the West Coast, The Mercha.nt fuIagazine had the pleasure ol interuiewing Robert "Bob" Reed ol the highly successlul Lumber City operation.

MERcTTANT MAc-{zrNE: You say that 708O/o of your retail division sales used to be lumber. What with staying ollen on Saturday and Sunday and the current consumer buying trends, what percentage is now lumber, housewares and nursery. nnEn : Lumber 30 ;.0/6, hardware-housewares 6O/o and nursery l0lo.

I\IERcITANT MAcAzTNE: Why and how do you sell hardware and housewares?

nrno: We want to be known as a complete one stop Home & Garden Improvement Center ofiering an in-depth inventory; items such as hardware, paints, housewares, nur. sery and even everything in our fast-growing Decorator Village. W'e are customeroriented. In all our stores layout is important, making sure one department flows into another. For example hardware traffic must move naturally into tools and then into lum'ber, paints into painting accessories and so on.

I\IERCHANT MAGAZINE: Do you display hardware and houseware items?

nrno: Yes! (a very resounding one). We made surveys by following male and female customers through the stores and found that the female will turn toward the housewares, paint and decorator items while the male will turn toward the hardware, electrical and tools. We also have impulse items {or both that do not necessarily tie into the gondola display. We also have

Story qI o Glqnce

Valuable hows, whats and whys from one of the best of the mass merchandisers. Bob Reed of Lumber City tells how the lessons he has learned can be applied to any yard.

merchandising hot spots for seasonal items such as patio furniture in the center isle. We have no set pattern for displays but all displays must o'screamt' at you, If not, we rearrange or move them.

I\,TERCHANT MAGAzTNE: How much inventory is displayed, how much policing do you do and do manufacturers help with displays?

nuno: We keep all displays filled with complete inventory working on the theory that you never take the last biscuit. Not only because it is not polite, but because there are none left and the last is cold. Displays are the same thing, you must keep them filled with a wide range of inventory and change them often. This is true with end displays, racks and basket displays.

Yes, the manufacturers do help us with displays. As a matter of fact, in most cases, they supply the physical display, racks. baskets" literature and the like.

MERCHANT MAGAZINE: How many sq. ft. is the ideal hardware/houseware display?

nrro: Depends upon the size of item and type of promotion. We have had displays running as high as 1,500 sq. ft. but I would say the average is 20-30 sq. ft., either on a rack or peg board, again using the grocery store approach of in.depth displays.

MERcHANT MAGAZINE: Do you use co-op advertising, newspapers and direct mail coupons?

nnro: Yes, we believe in coop advertising. We advertise every week in local community papers with an ad or a stuffer. We use coupons of different colors to determine the pull of the local newspapers and the metropolitan papers. Direct mail is used for our revolving charge account customers and participants in our Decorator Village classes. nnrp: We bring.people up through the ranks. In every case, our department heads and store managers have followed this practice. We have never gone to the outside. We train our people in sales, appearance, encourage initiative and a good attitude. We have the usual benefits and have an incentive plan. Approximately 60/o of our help is part-time and many have shown the desire to become full time and build a career. nnno: Naturally there are a few problems. We feel that they can best be overcome by good sound, in-depth merchandising, an effective advertising campaign on a continual basis and a eood flow from one department to anothei. Well trained and knowledgeable help to assist ,customers is also essential. nuno: By offering a fair price and taking into consideration that we are a consumeroriented one stop shopping home improvement center and thus eliminate the 5 or 6 different places a customer must go for bargains. Also we have a real depth of merchandise. nuno: Yeg very good. The Los Angeles area is probably one of the best distribution areas we know of. It ofrers a wide range of merchandise. We have very few back orders. nnno: We stock medium and up due to the fact that we guarantee every item and (Continucil op Page 28)

MERCHANT MAGAzTNE: How and where do you get people, do you train, offer benefits and incentive plans? How much part-time help is used?

MERcHANT MAGAZTNE: What are the problems of selling hardware and housewares?

MERCr{ANT MAGAzTNE: How do you handle price competition ?

MERcTTANT MAGAzTNE: In the sense of availability, is hardware and houseware mer. chandise good?

MERcHANT MAGAzTNE: Is your hardware houseware merchandise stock low end, medium and top of line?

tll.

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