Hqrdwdre / Housewotes: 1973 A Hardware Growth Story

fN the late I940s and early '50s I there was one Ole's store in the Greater Los Angeles community of Rosemead. Now there are eight. Soon there'll be ten. By 1975 they plan to have fifteen. This leads to an obvious question: "What makes a small single unit hardware store grow into a large home improvement center chain?

The simplest answer, of course, is "success," Analyzing the reasons for this success, however, is a more involved and thoughtful exercise. Asked "why," Ole's pointed to the implied emphasis given in the slogan, t'Sery. ice . . . Selestion Savings."

Here is how Ole's, itselfo states its case. The words are those of Harvey G. Knell, vp. and general manager:

"Our emphasis on service begins in our approach to management and to people. People are of the utmost im. portance. Today I believe we can state that Ole's is heavy in qualified retailing management personnel and has one of the most complete personnel systems in the business.

"We assure service to the customer in the great variety of his'do-it-yourself' projects by providing more and better trained sales personnel. In turn, training is an ongoing functiono from the initial orientation program through various headquarters.sponsored training programs, store conducted and vendor conducted trainingo on up through our area manage. ment training program.

"Selectionthis is really a part of service. We have twelve major departments, each of which could qual. ify as a store in itself. We are noted for a breadth of assorunent, and for carrying hard-to-find items in all of these departments.

"Finally, OIe's ofiers demon.

Story ql s Glonce

An in-deplh look qt q hqrdwore success slory . plus lheir concepts cnd fechniques of morketing ond monogement. . . Nt'|. Retoil Hordwore Assn. progroms ore on integrol port of personnel troining.

strable savings through an aggressive, competitive advertising program that, among other things, is calculated to show us as the experts. ."

These are rather general statements. Let's analyze each one still further to see what they mean by "Seryice Selection . Savings."

PERSoliltEt IRA|lttilc

Ole's is confident that its ability to best serve its customers begins with its hiring and training practices. It prides itself in having a well organized, complete system, and a system that can expand to any size.

Upon joining the company, each new employee is introduced to the firm by means of a cassette tape and flip chart presentation that details the history of the company, company benefits, stresses the importance of customer service and establishes a universal concept of the company mission and the employee's part in it.

The new employee is then taken on a conducted tour of his particular store, at which time he meets his fellow employees and learns from them about each of the twelve major departments and the receiving area.

Once the new employee is separ. ated into his specific job function, training is directed toward his or her specialty. For cashiers, the Ole's cashiersn manual is studied and fol- lowed closely, with a test given after a stipulated period of time.

Sales trainees have several programs. First of these is the National Retail Hardware Assn. course related to the trainee's particular department, and there are courses that cover every department.

In addition, the employee attends product knowledge meetings programmed by the season for each department. These meetings are conducted at the store, at vendor locations or at manufacturing facilities. Regularly, weks prior to the intre duction of new lines of merchandise into the stores, employees attend shows conducted at the chain's distribution center on such subjects as patio equipment, lawn mowers and air conditioners.

Once the employee has taken the complete series of courses and tests available, he becomes certified by the National Retail Hardware Assn. and has placed himself in an excellent position for promotion to management,

There is a sepaiate Area Management Training Course at Ole's and, for tlliso a specified "training store" is used, with instruction administered by the designated training store manager. An area manager is an assistant to top store management and is responsible for several of the store's twelve major departments.

In his course entitled,, "Principls ol Area Manngement," the area manager trainee learns the philosophy of area managemento in which he comes to identify himself as both merchant and manager. He learns how to plan, organize and control his work, how to develop other employees, and how to delegate. He learns the theory and

"8AIH 80UI|0UE' concept won a Hardware Retailer Industry Service award "as a tribute to the firm's leadership and outstanding ability in hardware merchandising ad improving its service to customers." Flankirg both aisles, vanity pullman sinks are displayed in settings that include wall paneling or wallpaper, mirrors, medicine cabinets, carpeting and elec- trical fixtures. Customers can look at the setting and get a full impression of what the various elements would look like in their own homes. practical use of two-way communications, the management of time, plus specific details of operational (sales supporting) and merchandise management.

Position openings, including those in new stores, are posted in each store, with first consideration given to store personnel in filling the vacant post.

"00.tT.Y0uRsRF"

Increasing use is being made of simple, attractive three-dimensional "exploded" displays desigaed to assist customers in a variety of t'do-it-yourself" projects. Included are those on faucet repair, selection of the ideel electric drill accessories, roofing, fencing, the types and uses for moulding, nailg wire, and at least a dozen others. These are meeting with critical acclaim by customers, vendors and OIe's peers in the business. Remarkably, efiorts are underway now to make the details of such displays available to the industry at large. snEcTl0ll

As stated by Ole's Harvey G. Knell, it regards a broad assortment of merchandise as part of its service to its customers. A simple walk through one of the stores vividly demonstrates this point. One might expect to find every kind of nail, bolt and screw, and every length and size of pipe and fitting. But there are many other examples. In the plumbing department, one doesntt encounter just two or three difierent faucets. There are 27 difierent kilchen faucets, alone, two dozen different sizes and styles of finished and unfinished vanity pull. mans, thirty difierent toilet seatg a dozen different styles of mail boxes, lB different fireplace screens and every kind of paint.

rovERTtsile

It is a competitive business and the chain has to be able to convey to the buying public that it ofiers a high degree of savings on merchandise in every department. This it does through a hard-hitting advertising campaign that relies heavily on direct mail circulars distributed each month and which last for a two week period. The format for ads and circulars includes a floor plan (engineering (Continued, on Page 8)

6011110 sq. ft. stores in Pasadena (above), Upland and Riverside, Ca., serve as proto$pes for future, large stores. 0le's now has eight stores, has announced two more ad plans a total of fifteen by the end of 1974.

(Contirrueil lrom Page 7) drawing) border, with the body of the ad canted or tipped, providing instant recognition. Ad features are large and there is no mistaking what the traffic items are. Price points and merchandise art are large. Headlines are in bold, black capital letters and copy is limited to the "reason whyoo a customer would want the item.

GIRCUUnS

Through experience Ole's has come to believe that it takes a circular, in which it controls everything, including the quality of reproduction, to convey the picture of stores with thousands of merchandise items in twelve major departments. Circulars with a distinctive use of coloro spell Ole's, and provide the greatest appml to the greatest number of customers. Newspaper ads are used in those weeks when there is no circular in effect and for special events (i.e., tttruckload saleso' or "parking lot sales") of shorter duration.

SUilfrllRY

Tracing their impressions of the t'reasons for successt' over the course of 27 years boiled down to the essentials, Ole's points to a hard won reputation for service, very broad assortments, and savings. To this it might well add factors such as quality'and brand name merchandise, a very liberal merchandise return policy, and other specifics. But all of these tend to bear, in one way or another, on the three main topicsserviss, selection and savings.

To its stores in Rosemead, Pasadena, Covina, West Covina, Hacienda Heights, Upland, Fontana and River. side, Ole's will soon add three new facilities in 1973, bringing it to approximately 500,000 sq. ft. "under roof," and a far cry from the small 1,120 sq. ft. Rosemead store of 1946.