How a Golorado home center is fired with success

A FIRE last October that destroy- fil ed the then recently remodeled Burkey's Lumber & Home Center, Grand Junction, Co., may have been the best thing that has ever happened to the store.

While it seemedno blessing at the time, Burkey's took the reconstruction period to convert the store to Sentry's new "Store of Tomorrow" format. An overwhelming grand reopening in April had president Brooke Burkey predicting his decision to reopen as the first Store of Tomorrow would garner a better than 50% sales increase for the future. Actually, the store has maintained more than three times the business of last year.

Burkey couldn't be happier with how things have turned out. "We were trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear with this old building," he said. "lt's an old brick building built in 1905 and remodeled a number of times. In fact, the cause of the fire was a sign wehad added in a remodeling the year before. Now we've adjoined a new steel building with holes to allow our race track trallic pattern to connect the build- ings. It's quite abit different and very unusual."

The store opened very strong. Despite Burkey's large parking lot, some customers had to park two to three blocks away. Heavy planning for the event helped. Burkey distributed the Sentry Hardware spring circular, promoted heavily in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, placed a saturation spot radio schedule with eight stations during April andadvertised on the local TV channel for the three prior months.

At the store free door prizes, balloons for the kids and a Pepsi/hot dog special for 250 awaited customers. Rulon Jones, popular all-pro defensive lineman of the Denver Broncos football team, greeted customers and signed autographs, two disc jockeys provided on-site radio remote broadcasts andtwo girls entertained customers with country western music. Employees were dressed in the newest Sentry Hardware blue golf shirts with the Burkey emblem and matching blue ball caps. Opening day customers were wel-

Story at a Glance

Rebuilt to a Store of Tomorrow format, home center achieves sales three times ahead of prF vious year. racetrack traffic pattern, modern merchandising techniques prove popular .. detail planning preceded grand opening.

September 1987 comed into a store unlike one they had ever seen. Burkey's 10,000 sq. ft. Store of Tomorrow features the race track traflic pattern around the store withan attractive checkout counter in the center. Checkout is moved back 18 feet from the door to open up the shopping area while maintaining adequate security.

Use of red, white and blue striping and signage establishes a patriotic color theme that extends throughout the building, Functional interior design combines high rise traflic stoppers with dump bins at eye level, power aisles and directional striping on the floors to guide traflic. The total concept is designed to maximize sales per sq. ft. by encouraging customers to shop more often and stay longer.

The format utilizes the newest, retail merchandising techniques, including modular displays, promotional islands, project center wall promotional areas to promote event selling and feature ends, with strong signage, to direct customers to profitable departments at the rear of the store. Merchandise dominates the displays to make the store look full while reducing item depth and promoting cross-aisle selling.

"I really like the beautiful Sentry decor," Burkey said. "lt's so bright, cheery and pleasant. I also like the end cap system, the departmental signage system, the special value islands along the race track and the home project center on the power line."

Burkey and his crew are working hard to maintain the heavy store traflic. "We've done a lot of peripheral things," said Burkey. "We rely on Sentry's Best Buy program. We have turned the mundane housewares section into a gift department for the home, with hard to find items, wicker, and so on. We have also installed alive kitchen, with everything you have in your kitchen, plus some whistles and bells. And it's all functional."

And for the future? "We have a lot more ideas," he continued. "Like holding culinary seminars on Saturdays. Imagine someone coming in Saturday morning at 9 to buy a sprinkler head and he smells bacon and eggs cooking."

This could be the store of tomorrow.