4 minute read
Worth the wait
VESS BRINGS NEW IDEAS TO CLASSIC BUSINESS
Story by JOHN CLAYTON | Photography by MATT LEDGER
It took more than five years for David Vess to realize his dream, but it was worth the wait.
Vess bought what is now 53 Farm & Hardware in Ardmore in 2016, finding the opportunity to own and operate his own hardware and farm supply store several years after he decided to move to the other side of the counter.
“I fell in love with the feed and hardware business,” Vess says. “I thought it was a really neat business and thought I would pursue it. Five years later, I found one that was available.”
Vess, formerly the manager of a local horse farm, has been building his new business ever since, expanding feed offerings for local farmers from one line to four and keeping a variety of tools and products on hand for customers. “It used to be that folks would come here for something and then go somewhere else to get something else,” Vess says. “Now, they’re able to get everything here because of the way I’ve structured the business.”
CHANGING MINDSETS
Vess says serving 21st-century farmers and other customers called for new ideas. Though his business is small, Vess says he has big ideas that include ways to compete with big box stores.
“In this business, if you don’t diversify and have a good buying power structure, you’re going to get left behind pretty quickly nowadays,” he says. “We changed our pricing structure so that we’re moving a quantity of quality items. We don’t have items that sit there for a while.”
There are no dusty shelves with old stock waiting to finally be purchased by just the right buyer. Instead, Vess is using the playbook of the new chain stores that continue to expand in North Alabama, which combines accessible price points with inventory. “Moving a high quantity of merchandise helps you make more profit,” he says. “When you’re selling one item for a higher price, you’re going to be sitting there with it for a while. That’s an old mindset.”
A new philosophy also means Vess has to try to anticipate the needs of his customers, but that’s something he says he has been able to do because he was one not so long ago. “I came in with the mindset that you’ve got to be willing to change with the times,” he says. “That has helped us. We did a store reset with a hardware company. They came in and changed around every shelf in the store, and that took six weeks. It made it more shoppable.”
In addition to tools, hardware implements and feed, customers can find ducklings and chicks as well as plants and decorative items for the home and garden.
Vess says it is important to know who the competition is. “It’s not the other hardware store down the road. If anything, we’re in it together,” he says. “It’s the big-box stores, and we have to recognize that and change the way things have been done before.”
While Vess and his employees have rebranded the store and made significant changes to reflect his vision for it, the service and expertise customers expect from a small hardware store is still vital to its success.
“I do believe that’s a driving force behind it — personality and customer service,” he says. “We do things the big-box store doesn’t do. There, you check out and you go out and load it. We’ll pick it up for you, and we’ll load it for you.”
ANOTHER HIGHWAY
53 Farm & Hardware is aptly named for its location on Highway 53 in Ardmore.
So, when Vess decided to expand and open a sister store about 39 miles away in Gurley this past October, he kept the theme. The 72 Farm Store is located on Highway 72.
He also kept the same ideas that have made the original investment successful over the first four years of his ownership. There are always challenges, but Vess says he takes his role as a small-business owner seriously for both his customers and his employees.
“Small business is the lifeblood of America,” he says. “When I bought this store, we had six employees. Now, we have 10 and two more at the other store. When I hire somebody, I know I’m not just hiring one person. I’m hiring the whole family, and it’s my responsibility to not mess up so I don’t have to lay somebody off. That’s what small-business owners do — when we go home at night, we worry about the whole gamut of things.”
Vess says it’s important that he is there working beside his employees, not just “calling in” to check on things. That’s another part of being a small-business owner. “We’ve been pretty successful,” he says. “But I will say this — it’s not me. It’s the Lord. I depend on him. I’ve always told people that David isn’t smart enough to do this, so the Lord has to be a driving force behind it. When I say He is in control, I mean it.”
