Hardware I Housewaresi '83 Venerable retail firm keeps contractor business while adding do.it.yourselfers

EVOLUTIONARY forces in the Eindustry are forcing many old time building supply comPanies to adapt to the do-it-yourself customer, while keeping the contractor, and also expanding into the home center field.

There is a company that has done all this under one roof: the Sandstone Brick Company, Bakersfield, Ca.

Founded in 1886, the firm originally manufactured brick and was called the Bakersfield Sandstone & Brick Co. As time went on, they began selling building materials along with their manufactured products and eventuallY got into the lumber business about 50 years ago.

Just like its counterparts in the industry, the lumber Yard grew. The original building was exPanded, walls were knocked down, the additions added on, uP, down and sideways to house a continually growing business. As they added more and more items to service the contractor, it was natural to add a hardware store. The pressures in the marketplace caused Sandstone to add more and more caPabilities to their company to the Point where they were doing a significant volume in the retail trade.

Four years ago, Sandstone, as it is now called, suffered a major setback. A huge fire broke out, the result of an arsonist, and the entire company burned to the ground. Recovering from the disaster was a monumental task-but recover theY did! Not only did they bounce back from the fire, but they did so in a big way. The board of directors, headed by James Curran, II, decided to seize this opportunity and design, from the ground up, a new facilitY.

They looked at the disaster as an opportunity to design a company that would offer both the builder and the retail customer all of the services they had to look to several different companies toprovide at present.Since they were unwilling to relinquish their hold on the contractor business in the Bakersfield area, that aspect of the company was beefed uP, new warehouses built, and land allocated to stock one of the area's largest lumber inventories. TheY then set about designing a "home center." The resulting structure won a Home Center of the Year award in 1982 in both the exterior and interior categories!

Story at a Glance

Conversion to comPuter age by 97 year young company now serves both contractor and d-i-y builds Prize winn' ing home center after big fire.

The 35,000 sq. ft. home center contains the area's largest selection of home related products. Jim Curratt III, who is now in charge of the home center, says, "Our goal is to provide our customers with a one stop center and not restrict ourselves to certain types of products. We want our customers to come back so we Provide a high level of service at a reasonable price."

The formula has worked. TheY offer over 23,000 products for sale in the home center, a full lumber and building materials inventorY, a nursery, an equiPment rental business and a truss plant. Contractors and homeowners can build, remodel and decorate a home (or building), inside and outside, all with the products and services of Sandstone.

Less than two Years from the architect's drawing board to the fullY stocked and functioning facility, the complex is designed to support about $60 million in annual volume.

As an extra attraction, along side the home center theY have a dining car from the Southern Pacific Railroad (circa 1940) where shoppers can have lunch or sit with a Sand- stone salesperson over coffee to discuss a project.

James Curran II, President and the third generation to operate the business, has a son (Jim III) and a grandson (Jim IV) in the comPanY. Two other principals in the company are Walt Heisey, v.P., and Bill Steele, treasurer. Both are related by marriage to the Curran familY.

James Curran II says, "The greatest thing any companY can do, is to do what you say you're going to do." That attitude is reflected bY the employees who are all polite and anxious to help their customers. Their reputation as a company has brought back all their customers from before the fire and then some.

Their next objective was to install a computer to keep track of all this activity; a tall order-even for a computer.

After thoroughly researching the leading suppliers of POS systems, they chose one designed bY the Dataline Corp. of Wilton, Cn. The computer firm has specialized in supplylng such sYstems to the lumber and building materials business for

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