Hardware Connection February 2022

ORGILL TURNS 175

WE’RE BACK!

Join us in Orlando for the 2022 Dealer Market

February 24 - 26, 2022

Join us and celebrate our 175th anniversary at our first in-person event in two years. Leverage our online-buying tools at this truly hybrid event and improve your margins.

Discover something new while you walk the floor and collaborate with any of more than 2,000 vendors. Generate new ideas for your stores and meet face-to-face with Orgill services team members.

Visit our concept stores or rest your feet and attend in-person workshops or clinics — and take home ways to improve your business.

Whether you’re a current Orgill customer or are interested in learning how we can help your business, register today and get ready to join us in Orlando for this one-of-a-kind celebration.

Founder/Principal: Tom Chasteen tom@thehardwareconnection.com 305-852-6126

By Chris Jensen

Some Things Do Get Better With Age

Sports fans know the sinking feeling of watching their idols grow old and over-the-hill as their skills deteriorate. Willie Mays shuffling around the outfield ungracefully. Muhammad Ali unable to dodge punches from Larry Holmes. Father Time is undefeated in that context.

Companies are different from individuals in that age sometimes leads to rot and decay if the right corrective measures are not adopted. However, the opposite is also true—with age comes experience that can be tapped into to make the proper adjustments.

The Hardware Connection Century Club features a good sample of companies to examine for clues to longevity in the hardware industry, since all are at least 100 years old. Our Century Club currently includes 685 hardware and LBM stores, 15 wholesalers and 186 manufacturers.

Ten retailers joined the Century Club this year as their roots date back to 1922.

Last year we saw 28 hardware and LBM stores join the Century Club, while seven Century Club retailers closed (including one that closed shortly after turning 100). When you dig into the background of these

stories of retail longevity you discover common traits: resilience, persistence, adaptability and innovation. These traits all stem from strong leadership, the ability to get others to follow a vision and row in unison.

A company cannot make it to the century mark without taking risks, but the good ones take calculated risks and always have a viable backup plan. I still remember the incredible story of Wadsworth Hardware in Maine—the nation’s second-oldest hardware store, dating back to 1818—which saw its entire store building washed out to sea during a storm in 1976. The sixth generation of the Wadsworth family simply regrouped and reopened across the street, focusing more on hardware items and less as a source of supply for ships.

This year marks a momentous occasion for one wholesale company—Orgill Inc. is celebrating its 175th anniversary. The industry’s oldest and largest independent wholesaler dates back to 1847, when William Orgill and his business partner, R.T. Lamb, moved a retail hardware business from Virginia to the Memphis riverfront.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to write the book to

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commemorate Orgill’s 150th anniversary, which gave me great insights into the company’s remarkable family history. A member of the Orgill family was involved in running the company from 1847 all the way up to Joe Orgill’s death in March 2018—171 years! How impressive is that?

What is even more impressive to me is the humble yet somewhat risky strategy Joe undertook in late 1979 to turn the company’s day-to-day-management over to professional managers who were not family members. Joe was a very smart man, an astute businessman who graduated from Yale University, but he came to the conclusion that he needed to step back for the company to move forward.

What else happened in 1979? Home Depot opened its first two stores in Atlanta, ushering in a new era of bigbox competition that would prove a big threat to independent hardware and lumber stores.

Joe Orgill picked the right people to lead the company, first Bill Fondren and Ron Beal, and gave them the financial resources and support they needed to help Orgill reach new heights. In an industry populated with hundreds of regional wholesalers back in the 1980s, Orgill slowly and steadily transitioned to become a national distribution company that reached all 50 states, with significant operations in Canada and customers in 50 other countries.

The best part of writing the 150th anniversary book for Orgill was getting the chance to spend a day with Joe Orgill in Memphis. He had his driver pick me up, who showed up driving a Toyota Camry! Yes, there was nothing flashy about Joe, just a humble and gracious servant who understood that company legacies last longer than individual ones.

Turn to page 31 for our special 15-page feature to commemorate Orgill’s 175th anniversary, including Q&A interviews with President and CEO Boyden Moore and Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Information Officer Marc Hamer. What I really enjoyed putting together was the timeline of Orgill company history, which is where you discover the hidden gems of innovation that ensured the company continued to evolve and thrive.

Several dates stand out to me in that timeline. Orgill remained open for business in 1862, even though Memphis fell to Union forces. The company remained open all but one day in the 1870s as a yellow fever epidemic raged through Memphis. Then in 1908, Orgill discontinued its retail business to concentrate on its wholesale business. Having over 60 years of experience in the retail business has undoubtedly been beneficial knowledge to help grow the wholesale business, as Orgill keeps getting better with age. n

trend watch Trade Shows Continue to Evolve with the Times

The great Major League

Baseball player and manager

Yogi Berra once said, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” During the COVID-19 pandemic I keep coming back to that quote. As soon as you believe we are turning the corner and putting this behind us something new happens—virus mutations, everchanging public health policies, travel restrictions, lockdowns etc. I had this same feeling recently when Do it Best Corp. elected to forego the in-person portion of their market and proceed with their scheduled virtual market.

The independent hardware channel has a rich history of trade shows, with early pictures of Orgill hosting a show dating back to 1863. However, when the pandemic made in-person shows impossible the wholesale community quickly responded with virtual markets and other technologies to support the channel. Some folks were quick to predict the future demise of in-person markets, or that the tradeshow industry was over and would never return to its prepandemic levels. Like independent hardware retailers, the tradeshow

By Craig Cope

industry was forced to adapt to everchanging conditions.

Now entering 2022, the wholesale community has announced a host of different approaches to fulfill the needs of their customers. Some wholesalers have expanded the frequency of virtual markets and reduced in-person shows or enhanced their in-person markets with virtual components.

As the co-host of The Hardware Conference, the nation’s largest independent dealer conference, I believe virtual markets, or some variation, will be part of the tradeshow industry indefinitely. I can envision an entire market supported by just virtual reality, enabling an in-person experience without leaving the comfort of your office.

Overall, virtual markets are a success for an industry experiencing record sales. However, it also brings up a problem for some manufacturers. Some manufactures rely on in-person demonstrations at markets to sell their products or even raise awareness that they exist. Imagine trying to launch a new product in the independent

made in america*

THREE WORDS NOT EVERYONE CAN SAY

Dear Dealers,

Thank you, on behalf of all the employees of STIHL Inc. We are proud to manufacture, market and distribute the number one selling brand of chain saw worldwide and the number one brand of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment among landscape professionals in America.**

We are also incredibly proud that the majority of products we sell in the U.S. are actually made here in Virginia Beach, VA.

2021 brought significant challenges for all of us, but we stayed STIHL Strong and experienced another record sales year! This success was in large part, due to the tremendous efforts of STIHL dealers, and we thank you.

While none of us can be certain what the future will bring, we will not let uncertainties slow us down. We continue to work diligently to overcome supply chain challenges as we plan in 2022 for more new products in our expanding battery range and groundbreaking enhancements to our gas range.

Thank you again for your continued support. We send our best wishes for a safe and prosperous year. Together we will remain STIHL Strong in 2022.

Sincerely,

The Employees of STIHL Inc.

trend watch

channel with only a virtual booth. How would you communicate the benefits of your products to an extremely diverse independent marketplace if no one knows you even exist or what your product does?

Every time I attend an in-person show I am always amazed at the large number of manufacturers who are exhibiting there for the first time. One of the last in-person shows I attended had more than 70 first-time vendors in attendance, all wanting just a few minutes of retailers’ time

so that the interaction would hopefully lead to a sale.

As the tradeshow industry continues to adapt to new market conditions, shining a light on new vendors remains challenging. At The Hardware Conference, we are always searching for new and creative ways to help our first-time vendors.

Make sure to mark your calendar for the in-person 34th edition of The Hardware Conference taking place August 19-21, 2022, at the 5-star JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Marco Island, Fla. n

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HARDWARE STORIES Amazing but TRUE HARDWARE HUMOR

We found a way to redeco- rate the store really fast. Let me just say this: Make sure the paint lids are securely on the paint cans before putting them in the shaker. We forgot to do that—twice.

Pete and Sherrill Sciortino

Franklinville True Value Hardware Franklinville, N.Y.

Two years ago, customer comes to Umber’s Hardware and wants very tiny screws for a visor. Never have I seen tiny screws on a visor. He suggests I step outside to see what he was working on—holy moly! It was a beautiful Shelby Cobra replica 427 turning out 600 horsepower. What a beautiful car. He and his wife appreciated my enthusiasm for their car.

WMaurice White

White Hardware | McCormick, S.C.

* Originally posted in Hardlines Digest

e now stock ordinary size window panes, regular vacuum cleaner bars and belts (one for the red ones and one for the black ones), universal kerosene wicks (for the regular kerosene heaters that you fill up with kerosene), regular size cpvc pipe, larger space heat- ers (1500 watt) that are bigger and put out more heat than the small ones (1500 watt) and regular size faucet washers.

Keith Wyss Umber’s Do it Best Hardware (now Connolly’s Do it Best Hardware) Fort Wayne, Ind.

Alady rented a rug shampoo machine. She called later and said she could not understand the instructions. I walked her through the hookup by phone as well as reminded her there were pictures on the machine. That afternoon she called back and said neither she nor her husband could hook up the hoses. She then put hubby on the phone and I walked him through it. He still claimed to be unable to hook up the thing even with pictures. In desperation I said, “It’s not rocket science.” He replied sternly, “I am a NASA Engineer.”

As we are a few miles from Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral, I thought this conversation would sure give the astronauts a warm fuzzy feeling.

Dick Beal | Retired retailer | Merritt Island, Fla.

* Originally posted in Hardlines Digest

How’s

Business?

MIDWEST

Sales and customer counts in 2021? Sales versus 2020 are almost the same, maybe down a little, about 3.5 percent. The big sales year of 2020 was because of the pandemic with a lot of gloves and hand sanitizer sales.

How was holiday selling season? Holiday season was good, maybe down 1 percent from the year before. The main reason we’re down is not being able to get supply. We will do just about anything for our customers. We recently got quite a bit of snow and knew our customers would want sleds. We couldn’t get sleds from our regular warehouse, but there were some available in a warehouse 10 hours away. So, we got in the truck, ended up driving 24 hours there and back to get 1,200 sleds. They were all sold out in two days.

New products selling well? Everybody in the neighborhood around the store wants to pick up walnuts. So, we brought in nut gatherers to test out and people loved them. Everybody is coming in to get the nut gatherers.

Upper: John and Lisa Justice bought Chevy Chase Hardware in late 2019.

Lower: John and Lisa Justice went to great lengths to secure 1,200 sleds.

How’s Business?

New initiatives planned for 2022? The big issue is dealing with products that have been discontinued, so we need to have replacements. That’s our biggest goal for 2022.

Strongest niche categories? We repair screens, sharpen knives and repair lamps. We’re really known for our service and have really good Google reviews. Our customers know we’re here to help, and we can get products that they can’t get anywhere else.

Any problems with hiring and retaining employees? We did back in August and October. We went through a tough spell, but it’s better now. We’re

located next to a college, so we’ll put a sign up in the window and talk to associates who will spread the word that we’re looking. Our associates know what the job requires and they recommend people to come and apply.

John and Lisa Justice Chevy Chase Hardware Lexington, Ky.

NORTHEAST

Sales and customer counts in 2021? We’re up in both sales and

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customer counts—about 20 percent up. We’ve been able to keep well stocked, and a lot of new people in the area are still doing projects.

How was holiday selling season? Our holiday season was good, with a lot of gifts on the more practical side, such as clothing and footwear. We have a huge pet department and that did really well during the holiday season.

New products selling well? We have a lot of new items that are replacements for items that we couldn’t get. What’s been funny is that the substitutes are selling better than the items they’re replacing. We’ve done really well with Carolina boots and Crocs. During garden season, the soils did well.

New initiatives planned for 2022? The big push would be to try to bring back inventory. We want to expand our variety. Some distributors will only keep us supplied with A and B products, but we usually go deeper.

THE FUTURE STARTS WITH ILCO

Ames True Value Supply has a huge pet department and tack shop.

How’s Business?

We’ve always been known for keeping a huge inventory, so we want to get back to that. Strongest niche categories? We’re strong in Milwaukee tools, sporting goods and lawn and garden. A lot of people are into outdoor activities around here, so ammo has grown as well. Any problems with hiring and retaining employees? We’ve been very lucky. We have a great core group, and we’ve been able to add two or three. We could have used a couple more but weren’t able to find those. Everyone else stepped up and worked the extra hours. Hiring is a huge problem. We mostly use word of mouth and pull from our core customers.

Wayne

Averill Ames True Value Supply Wiscasset, Maine

Boots are a strong niche at Ames True Value Supply.

Ames True Value displays a wide range of pet toys.

SOUTH

Sales and customer counts in 2021? Sales numbers were up a little just due to inflation. However, the customer count was down, maybe off by 1 percent.

How was holiday selling season? The holiday season was slow, probably because of the virus kicking back up and inflation.

New initiatives planned for 2022? Hopefully, we’re looking to expand, both our retail space and product lines. We’ve run out of space. Right now, we’re at about 4,000 square feet of retail space, and we’d like about twice that. We want to go deeper into some product lines, like plumbing and electrical and provide more variety.

Strongest niche categories? Paint is the big thing for us. We carry PPG gallon paint and mix it for customers. Any problems with hiring and retaining employees? Yes. We’ve had our main employees here for a while, but

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Paint is the top-selling category for Bryant & Sons Building Supply.

How’s Business?

hiring new people has been pretty difficult. Some will work a day or two, then quit. We typically find new employees through social media and word of mouth. It’s never been an issue finding help until last year.

Landon Bryant Bryant & Sons Building Supply Summerville, Ga.

SOUTHWEST

Sales and customer counts in 2021? We’re down a little bit from 2020. A lot of people were doing DIY during 2020, and now a lot of people from this area are back to work. Around here, things have gone back to semi-normal.

D & J Ace is known for its specialty bottled soda. HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS SAVE $305 OR MORE PER YEAR*

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How was holiday selling season?

The holiday season was average.

New products selling well? Our Traeger grills have done well. That’s been an uptick.

New initiatives planned for 2022? We haven’t got anything planned. We’re just going forward with what Ace wants us to do. We’ll do the new sets they have planned for us. One thing that’s been interesting is that we have a lot of marijuana growers in this area. So, we’ll be implementing some product lines related to that. That would be a newer approach for us.

Strongest niche categories? Grilling and lawn and garden, which is larger than any other department. We’re known to carry a bigger lawn and garden product mix than other stores in the area.

Any problems with hiring and retaining employees? No, actually we’re an exception in that area. We’ve not had any new employees since 2015. We’ve

had the same employees for many years. We have a tight crew here that includes five employees. We let them know they’re appreciated. We let them know if customers say anything about them on Google Reviews and how they score with mystery shoppers. We show them we appreciate them with raises.

Jessica Woodward D & J Ace Hardware Lone Grove,

Okla.

WEST

Sales and customer counts in 2021?

Because prices were up, sales were up, but that doesn’t necessarily mean customer counts were up. For customer count, we were almost flat. Just because of inflation, sales were up.

Jessica Woodward with a sulphur-crested cocatoo named Jasmine that came to visit from a local automotive shop in town.

D & J Hardware has had no problems retaining employees.

New products selling well? No, we’re diversified. This last year, it’s been so hard to get anything through the supply channel.

New initiatives planned for 2022? We are going to do more events than we’ve done in the past. We used to do all demos and customer engagement inside the store. We’re going to double

or triple the number of customer engagements, such as barbecue or tool demos or customer appreciation nights. We’ll host them outside without the COVID restrictions.

Strongest niche categories? We’re

Buck Electric Ace Hardware was founded in 1977 by Steve Buck, who turned over the business to sons Stephen and Joe a year ago.

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How’s Business?

very strong in clamming accessories. People come here to find razor clams, so we sell clam shovels, nets, boots, gloves, headlamps and lanterns. Those tools can range from $14 to $140. We also do a great job in paint, and we’re consistently in Ace’s top 50 in paint sales. We also have strong outdoor power equipment and plant sales.

Any problems with hiring and retaining employees? Nothing is as easy as it was. We have no secrets, though. We do have a pretty good retention. Well over half of our crew has been here five years or longer. We treat our employees like family. We provide them benefits as good as we can manage with insurance, 401(k) plans and we give bonuses.

Stephen Buck

HARDWARE PRODUCTS REVIEW ShopTalk

By Craig Cope

PRODUCT #1: SPIDER TRAPS

RESCUE!

For anyone that has spent any time in Florida, you know the state does not lack for its fair share of bugs. Mosquitoes, beetles, ants, spiders, you name it and we have plenty. While all of these bugs perform their unique purpose in our environment, it becomes a problem when they enter our homes.

Spider traps have been around for years, but recently RESCUE! took a different approach to removing these arachnids. Most spider traps consist of paper tents with glue to catch the spiders when they enter the trap. One of the issues with these traps is the entry point catches the spider and does not allow the spider to enter further into the trap. This limits the number of spiders that can be caught using traditional paper tent traps.

RESCUE! Spider Traps did away with the messy paper tent and instead created a decorative, thin, hard plastic shell with multiple entry

points. The traps also feature a glue dot pattern, allowing more spiders to enter the trap. The glue dot pattern is also applied to both sides of the trap, effectively doubling the use of the trap. Click here for a brief overview of the RESCUE! Spider Traps.

All our testers mentioned how easy it was to use the product since no assembly is required. The dark color and thin profile made placement easy, but more

HARDWARE PRODUCTS REVIEW

TITEBOND DURAMASTER SEALANT FRANKLIN INTERNATIONAL

importantly out of sight. As one tester said, “No one wants to see a messy glue tent in the house or around their children and pets.” An unofficial review was given by my nine-year-old son when I showed him the product in our office.

If you have spent time sealing a gap, then you know the frustration of having to redo the project a few years later due to joint movement. Joint movement is inevitable and happens with temperature fluctuations, soils sifting and set-

with 100% joint movement. Simply stated, it’s four times the minimum requirement for elastomeric sealants. Further, it can span gaps up to 2” wide while staying flexible, crackproof, paintable and VOC-compliant. It can be applied both indoors and outdoors to common building materials including: vinyl, metal, glass, wood, PVC, concrete, aluminum and all types of siding. It’s available in 13 colors to match numerous applications and is UV-resistant. Click here to view a brief company video.

Since joint movement is a problem for all we provided DuraMaster Sealant to a pro and a DIYer looking for prolevel results. All reported application was no different than other sealants

and clean-up was easy, only requiring soap and water. Both also mentioned it was reassuring to know the project was done and would not need to be revisited after a few years of joint movement. DuraMaster Sealant is an excellent addition to any hardware store wanting to provide its customers with premium products that will last.

“Power Safely initiative that drives awareness of the risks that

By Chris Jensen

TOrgill Celebrates 175 Years of Innovation and Service

he year is 1847. The fi rst telegraph company is established in Maryland. John Fremont is appointed governor of the new California territory. The United States issues its fi rst postage stamps. James Polk serves as the 11th president of the United States, which then comprises 29 states. Also in 1847, William Orgill and R.T. Lamb move a retail hardware business from Virginia to the Memphis riverfront, opening at 107 Front Row, starting a tradition of innovation and service in the hardware industry that continues 175 years later.

Orgill, now headquartered in Collierville, Tenn., will be celebrating its 175th anniversary at its Spring Dealer Market, set for February 24-26 in Orlando, which will be the

Orgill’s DC in Tifton, Ga., its first outside Memphis, recently marked its 25th anniversary.

company’s first in-person event in two years. An online Spring Buying Event will be conducted in tandem with the Spring Dealer Market. Orgill will be hosting a birthday party at the Universal Orlando Resort on Friday evening, February 25. The company has rented out the theme park for the night, and all of Orgill’s retail customers and guests are invited to join the fun.

Even when the pandemic finally ends, Orgill plans to continue operating a mixture of in-person, online and hybrid buying events and educational conferences, taking flexible advantage of technology. Read on to learn more about the company’s long tradition of innovation.

Keeping tHe Family tRaDition going

For many years, up until 2018, Orgill was run, to some degree, by a member or members of the Orgill family. The company was known as Orgill Brothers & Co. from 1857 to 1996, a nod to its formative years stemming from a partnership of brothers Joseph, William and Edmund Orgill, who all came over from England because they saw America as a country bursting with opportunity. Each successive generation of the Orgill family capitalized on market forces and overcame challenges—the Great Depression, World War I and II, a crippling yellow fever epidemic—by taking calculated risks and demonstrating innovative solutions.

Orgill will be celebrating its 175th anniversary at its spring dealer market, set for February 24-26 in Orlando, which will be the company’s first in-person event in two years.

aside as president of the company after being elected mayor of Memphis in 1955—while cousin Joseph Jr. pioneered the concept of operating a single-story warehouse by opening a 626,000-square-foot distribution center on Latham Street in 1954.

Edmund saw the advantages of operating on the banks of the Mississippi River. In the next generation, Frederick expanded inventory into the new categories of electrical and plumbing. William started a long tradition of geographic expansion by opening a branch in Jackson, Miss., in 1923. Edmund navigated the company through product shortages during World War II— he had to step

Joe Orgill III followed in the footsteps of his father, Joseph Orgill Jr., who served as president of the company from 1955 to 1968. When Joe took over as president in 1968 at the age of 31, the company was just one of hundreds of regional wholesalers trying to carve out a niche in the industry.

In the early days of Joe Orgill’s presidency, during the 1970s, the company through affiliates and subsidiaries,

Joseph Orgill Jr. and later his son, Joe Orgill III, guided the company as president from 1955 to 1980.

owned manufacturing as well as distribution operations. Joe Orgill had formed a business partnership with a cousin from his mother’s side, Michael McDonnell, in 1969. Orgill ran the distribution business while McDonnell ran the manufacturing arm.

Under Joe Orgill’s guidance, Orgill became the fastest-growing independent distributor in the industry, expanding its geographic reach with a series of acquisitions: C.M. McClung in 1970, Teague Hardware in 1978 and StrattonWarren in 1980.

Another major decision came in 1980, when Joe Orgill made a tough

decision—he decided the company needed professional management. Although he was the fourth generation of his family to be involved in running the company, Orgill knew it was time to get some help. “You can’t fire yourself, but you can get out of the way,” he said.

Enter Bill Fondren, who had joined Orgill in 1977 to head up its appliance division. He was named president of Orgill in 1981. Fondren was the first non-Orgill to rise to the presidency, and just the seventh president in the company’s history. In Fondren, Orgill obviously saw someone who could reinvent the company and get it back on track without tearing down a solid foundation. Under Fondren’s guiding hand, the company enjoyed a steady period of territory expansion and sales growth.

He was followed by Ron Beal, who joined Orgill in 1985. Beal was brought in and given a specific charge: to increase the company’s market share. He moved quickly to bring more talented, experienced people on board. In the process, Beal revamped the buying department, created a marketing department and upgraded the company’s training program.

Fondren spent 24 years as president and CEO and then was followed by Beal, who led the company to exceed the $1 billion mark in sales in 2007. Under his guidance, Orgill greatly expanded its distribution network, evolved into a national distributor reaching all 50

states and expanded into Canada.

Today, Orgill Inc., still privately owned, is the largest independent wholesaler in the United States with sales exceeding $3.5 billion. It moved into a new world headquarters building in Collierville, Tenn., at the end of 2017.

Orgill moved its headquarters to a new building in Collierville, Tenn., at the end of 2017.

Boyden Moore, who had been serving as Orgill’s general manager of retail, as well as president of the company’s subsidiary, Tyndale Advisors, assumed the position of Orgill president on January 1, 2019, becoming only the ninth president in Orgill’s history.

As Moore explains Orgill’s history of adapting to change, “The company’s culture is rooted in carefully listening to our customers. That deep listening and genuinely caring about our customer is lived out throughout the organization from top to bottom and will always be who we are.”

stRengtHening tHe eXecutiVe team

At the end of 2021, Orgill announced a number of changes to its executive team including several promotions and retirements.

Brett Hammers, executive vice president of sales and purchasing,

retired from day-to-day management. Hammers served in a variety of positions during his 20-year career with the company.

The transition involved splitting Hammers’ responsibilities into two distinct areas: purchasing and sales. To lead these areas, Orgill’s senior vice president of purchasing, Jeff Curler, was promoted to executive vice president of purchasing; and David Mobley was promoted to executive vice president of sales.

“Brett has done an outstanding job preparing Jeff and David for these roles,” said Moore. “Restructuring this executive role into two positions will help us better manage our growth in these departments now and in the future. These individuals have a wealth of knowledge and experience at Orgill, and we’re excited to welcome them to the executive team. I am very proud of the strength of this team and am confi dent in its

ability to continue driving success at Orgill.”

To read more on Orgill’s executive changes, click here.

RestRuctuRing Buying teams

Orgill announced further changes to the structure and operations of its purchasing department last month. These organizational changes reflect the company’s long-term plans for accelerated growth and a continued focus on its mission to help its customers be successful.

Orgill’s purchasing department will now be divided into separate merchandising and replenishment divisions. This reorganization will allow the merchandising division to focus on vendor relationships, promotions, pricing, sales, reviews and revenue generation. The replenishment division will focus its efforts on conditioning inventory, maintaining service levels, inventory turnover and supply chain management.

“This division of merchandising and replenishment within the purchasing department is a change that we have seen coming for some time now,” said Jeff Curler, executive vice president of purchasing. “The company’s rapid growth and the new market realities we have seen develop over the last couple of years made this realignment even more important. This change helps us better address the distinctly different, yet connected, functions our

purchasing department deals with on a daily basis.”

According to Moore, this realignment will position Orgill’s teams to better serve its customers while improving efficiency and vendor relations. “We know how critical it is that we evolve as a company and constantly look for ways to respond to market changes and create efficiencies within our own operation,” he said.

geaRing up FoR e- commeRce

During the fourth quarter of 2021, Orgill reached a significant milestone in its efforts to help independent retailers enhance their eCommerce capabilities as the number of individual items within its shareable product information database grew to more than one million.

To make this amount of data easily accessible to retailers who subscribe to the service, Orgill houses the information in what is called a Product Information Management (PIM) system. Referred to as the “Orgill Industry PIM,” this software makes it easy for users to find and access the information they need.

At its core, the Orgill Industry PIM is a database of enriched product data that its customers can use to populate their eCommerce websites, point-ofsale (POS) systems or in a variety of other functions. But what truly makes Orgill’s Industry PIM unique is the products it contains go far beyond

what Orgill stocks in its warehouses, according to Marc Hamer, Orgill’s executive vice president, chief information and technology officer.

“What’s often overlooked is that this collection of products, data and images is truly unique because we are supporting our customers by providing them with all the enriched product data they need, not just the products that we sell them,” Hamer said.

To read more on how Orgill’s product database is driving eCommerce capabilities, click here.

eXpanDing DistRiBution capacity

Orgill welcomed hundreds of customers, vendors and local dignitaries to Rome, N.Y., last July to celebrate, tour and take part in the official ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the grand opening of its newest distribution center.

“We enjoyed the opportunity to have so many of our customers and vendor partners on hand so they could get a firsthand look at the Rome DC, see the investments we are making in our distribution network and have the opportunity to meet our team,” said Moore.

During the two-day event, Orgill offered guests tours of the new 780,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, hosted a vendor meeting and

invited guests to a reception and dinner to thank them for their support.

“We needed to recognize our team who made this opening happen. They did a fantastic job. We broke ground here in April right when the pandemic started and there was also incredibly high demand for home improvement products that was really stressing the entire distribution network. So, we challenged everyone working on this project and asked if there was any way we could get it done faster than our original schedule, and everyone answered the call,” added Moore.

In fact, Orgill’s Rome DC was completed faster than any other facility in the company’s modern history. And while those present for the grand opening might not have gotten to witness how the distribution center came together, they were clearly impressed with the end results.

“It was very impressive,” said Jacob Buckingham of Bucks & Bolts Hardware in Blossvale, N.Y., after

Orgill opened a new DC in Rome, N.Y., in 2021.

getting a sneak peek at the new location. “You could see a lot of the thought that was put into everything and the way it was designed and put together to create efficiencies. Just looking at features like the way they used the narrow aisles between the racking to get even more product in the space shows how they thought through every detail.”

Chad Hirschey of Buckingham Hardware in Croghan, N.Y., remarked, “It was obvious as they walked us through everything that they were taking all these years of distribution knowledge and everything they had learned and were designing this facility to use all those insights into how it functions,” he says.

Last March, Orgill announced plans to nearly double the size of its distribution center in Hurricane, Utah. The plans in Hurricane call for the addition of more than 425,000 square feet of under-roof storage at the facility as well as several projects designed to improve workflow.

To read more about Orgill’s new DC in Rome, click here.

Orgill recently marked a milestone for its distribution network as its Tifton, Ga., distribution center celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Tifton was the first distribution facility Orgill opened outside of the Memphis region and represented a major step in the company’s growth from a regional supplier to its position

today as the world’s largest independently owned hardlines distributor.

“A quarter century ago, the Orgill team had a vision for how the company could grow beyond its regional roots and broaden its mission to help retailers be more successful across the country and around the world,” said Moore. “The opening of the Tifton distribution center was a significant step in this process and helped Orgill become the company it is today.”

When it opened in February 1995, the Tifton facility measured 330,000 square feet and was a model in distribution efficiency. It also allowed Orgill to provide more efficient service to its growing customer base throughout the southeastern United States.

In 2003, with Orgill’s business rapidly expanding, the company made an investment to double the size of the Tifton facility to 660,000 square feet. Since then, Orgill has continued to invest in enhancing and modernizing the internal logistics systems at the Tifton DC, adding features such as new conveyor lines, voice picking and more to drive efficiency. Most recently, Orgill added a second shift at Tifton to keep up with surging demand.

While Tifton was Orgill’s first distribution center outside of the Memphis area, Orgill now operates eight state-of-the art distribution facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

To read more about the Tifton DC, click here.

With a strengthened executive team, robust database and eCommerce capability, hybrid approach to buying events and expanded distribution capacity, Orgill is poised to continue growing for the next 175 years.

Q&a WitH BoyDen mooRe

Boyden

Moore is

president and chief executive officer of Orgill Inc.

1. What major initiatives does Orgill have planned for 2022?

First of all, and most importantly, we are working diligently to restore our service levels to our customers to our historical standards as quickly as possible. We’ve worked for so many years building trust with our customers that they can depend on us. The past two years have been very disappointing as we’ve not delivered to our standards.

We’ve invested heavily in inventory to help drive our service levels, and we believe that improving our inventory management is a big opportunity for us to improve service levels. We’ve also invested in new technology and reorganized our entire purchasing team to do so.

Next, we will begin to leverage other investments that we’ve made in technology. We established a vision for the technology infrastructure that we’ll need to grow to $5 billion and beyond. We began investing in that roadmap in 2021. 2022 is a year that we’ll begin to leverage those investments and realize some of those business process improvements. We’ve invested heavily in our integrated eCommerce programs. We are introducing a new custom loyalty program, called FanBuilder, at our dealer market in February. We’ve implemented Salesforce to improve our service and responsiveness to our customers. We have a new project and portfolio management software that is in the early stages of adoption among our teams. We’ve built a new Learning Management system that is also being leveraged across our teams. These are just some of the investments we’ve made in transforming our technology infrastructure to meet tomorrow’s needs.

After two years without a dealer market, we will return to an in-person event with our dealer market in Orlando, February 24-26. This will be

our first hybrid event incorporating our very successful Online Buying Event with an in-person dealer market for the first time.

Finally, growth is another major initiative for us this year. We expect to grow at double the rate of the industry, which we did in 2021. However, we will continue to prioritize the improvement on our service levels to our current customers before pursuing aggressive growth.

2. Explain how growing your distribution capacity is an effective strategy for helping the company withstand the ongoing supply chain crisis, while also positioning Orgill for future growth.

Growing our distribution capacity to keep up with the increasing demand was critical to our progress in 2020 and 2021 and allowed us to deliver 40 percent more product in 2021 than in 2019. In addition to the new distribution center in Rome, N.Y., and the significant expansion of our Hurricane, Utah, distribution center, our teams developed additional capacity in all eight of our distribution centers with additional shifts and business process improvements. Growing our capacity gives us more flexibility today as well as preparing us to handle future growth.

3. For Orgill to continue prospering for the next 175 years, what does it have to do to help

retail customers attract the next generation of customers? How do independent hardware and LBM retailers stay relevant in the face of escalating competition from online and big-box companies?

One of the things I like most about Orgill is the breadth of our customer base. We serve customers from hardware stores, home centers, lumberyards and farm stores. We serve customers in urban, suburban and rural environments. We serve customers who focus their brands on specific niches. The industry has been pretty balanced in market share among independents and the big boxes for the past decade or so. I think that is because independent dealers have successfully evolved as they focus on their customers and communities and provide a differentiated and unique value that makes them relevant.

At Orgill, we customize our approach for each of our customers to support them with the strategies on which they have built their success. Our customers are innovators and really the experts on what works in their business and their communities. We listen, learn and work to support them. Additionally, we learn in our lab of 139 stores at CNRG and share what’s demonstrably successful from those 17 different brands.

Q&a WitH maRc HameR

Marc Hamer is executive vice president and chief technology and information officer for Orgill Inc.

1. Since joining Orgill in 2020, how have you progressed with integrating technology teams and rolling out innovations in the company’s technology systems?

We have progressed very well. We combined all of the technology teams to best leverage the talent we had and brought in some additional top talent to complement that team. In 2021, we made a large investment in technology and we continue to do so. We need to maximize the adoption and capabilities these new tools will provide us to get the business results we expect. Technology and data will help us accelerate everything we want to

do, achieving the company’s goals and most importantly, making our customers more successful.

2. What is technology’s role in helping Orgill’s retail customers be successful?

Every investment we have made will deliver positive results for our customers in some way. Most of the technology we have and are implementing inside of the company can be leveraged by our customers. We will get closer to our customers, even further understanding their business needs and market opportunities. We are looking at providing better data, in-store solutions, process improvement and how to deliver more value to our customers. We are making our existing solutions better, more affordable, easier and faster to implement as we continue to develop and look at new solutions that we can deliver to our customers. This is not a one-time event, this is a continuous process to drive value for Orgill and our customers. Solution ideation is something we look at every day and there really is no ceiling to the upside that technology and data can bring to this industry, to our company and especially to our customers.

3. Explain how Orgill’s Product Information Management (PIM) system and e-commerce

capabilities will be the engine that drives future retail growth.

As Boyden stated prior, “Nearly a decade ago, we realized that independent retailers would need access to all of the product data, images and information for the products they carry in order to populate their e-commerce engines. And, if they were going to properly represent their store brands, this would also include products that Orgill may not supply.” This is exactly what we are doing with the PIM. We are supporting our customers by providing them with all the enriched product data they need, not just the products we sell them, so they don’t have to use multiple PIM systems. We really look at this as the “industry PIM” vs. Orgill’s due to this fact. Because this data has been “enriched,” it includes most everything a retailer would need to populate an e-commerce website such as high-quality images, long (text) descriptions, specifications, filterable attributes and links to supporting documents.

A trend that we have seen since we started this project and has been enhanced by the pandemic, is that e-commerce is becoming more and more important for retailers of all sizes. The ability to offer customers a true omnichannel experience is more important than it ever has been and we continue to work on ways to improve our offerings.

The company moved to a three-story building in 1850.

175 yeaRs oF oRgill HistoRy

1830 Joseph Orgill comes to the U.S. from England, establishing an import business in N.Y. Brother William joins him a few years later.

1846 William Orgill buys a retail hardware business in Petersburg, Va., forming a partnership with R.T. Lamb.

1847 William Orgill and R.T. Lamb move hardware business from Virginia to Memphis riverfront.

1849 Upon the death of R.T. Lamb, his share of the business is purchased by Henry Lownes.

1850 The company is now known as Lownes & Co. Edmund Orgill comes to America to join his brothers in business.

1856 The company, now known as Lownes, Orgill & Co., publishes first catalog.

1857 Edmund Orgill becomes the first member of the Orgill family to actively head the

Invoice for an order in 1866.

company, now known as Orgill Brothers & Co.

1862 Orgill remains open for business even though Memphis falls to Union forces.

1870s Orgill remains open all but one day as a series of yellow fever epidemics cripple Memphis.

1898 Orgill Brothers & Co. incorporates as a business with Edmund Orgill as president, son Frederick as vice president and son Joseph as secretary-treasurer.

1900s Plumbing and electrical departments are added to the inventory.

1905 Edmund Orgill’s son Frederick succeeds him as president.

1908 Orgill discontinues retail business to concentrate on distribution business.

1915 Outside sales department started under the management

Upper right: Orgill displaying its wares at the tri-state fair in 1898.

Lower right: Orgill’s first large delivery truck was purchased in 1920.

of Reginald Orgill, son of Fred Orgill Sr.

1919 William Orgill named president.

1920 Company buys first truck. 1922 Move to new offices and warehouses at Calhoun and Tennessee in downtown Memphis.

1923 Branch office opens in Jackson, Miss.

1935 Orgill now has 35 sales representatives on the road.

1940 William Orgill’s son, Edmund, succeeds him as president.

1944 Orgill joins Liberty Distributors, a buying group with $150 million of purchasing power.

1946 Complete $300,000 expansion and building addition.

1947 Orgill celebrates 100th anniversary with banquet for employees.

1947 Company introduces pension and disability plan for employees.

1947 Electrically operated conveyor is installed to connect two warehouse buildings.

1952 First data processing equipment is installed.

1954 Orgill opens new 626,000-square-foot

Once held in a circus tent, Orgill’s dealer markets now fill major convention centers.

distribution center in Memphis at 2100 Latham Street.

1955 Edmund Orgill steps aside as president after being elected mayor of Memphis. Joseph Orgill Jr. succeeds him as president.

1958 Orgill installs new IBM computer system, making it one of the first industry companies to computerize.

1968 Joseph Orgill Jr. retires; Joseph Orgill III succeeds him.

1970 Orgill acquires C.M. McClung in Knoxville, Tenn., and adds 27 sales representatives.

1971 New branches established in Knoxville, Bristol and Chattanooga, Tenn.

1977 Joseph Orgill III named “Hardware Merchandiser of the Year.”

Orgill’s shipping department in 1947.

Orgill expanded its Memphis distribution facilities at Calhoun Street in 1946.

1978 Orgill acquires Teague Hardware of Montgomery, Ala.

1980 Stratton-Warren Hardware is acquired in Memphis.

1981 Acquire hardware business from Louisville Tin & Stove.

1981 Bill Fondren is named president of Orgill Brothers, the fi rst non-Orgill family member to head the company in 124 years.

1983 First Trustworthy store is signed.

1986 Orgill capitalizes on the demise of Belknap by hiring 15 sales representatives, enabling expansion into Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

1986 New sortation system installed at Memphis distribution center.

1987 Orgill unbundles its service offering and introduces Value Plus buying program.

1989 Computers are added to delivery trucks and Golden Rule Lumber Center is rolled out.

1990 Purchases Feltus Brothers Hardware in Natchez, Miss., and hires 10 of their salespeople.

1991 Expands into Florida, Georgia and South Carolina by hiring 40 sales representatives from General Hardware and opening a branch in Jacksonville, Fla.

Orgill execs were proud to show off the company’s new single-story distribution center in 1954. From left: Kenneth Orgill, Edmund Orgill, Joseph Orgill Jr. (who planned the facility), Frederick Orgill, W.I. Moody (who would retire as chairman that year after working there 68 years) and John Morris.

1991 Company installs PC-based computer program and introduces Market Driven Retailing program.

1993 Sentry Hardware program is made available to Orgill retailers.

1993 Orgill acquires Odell Hardware’s Florida operations. 1994 Palmetto Wholesale Co. is acquired in Columbia, S.C.

1995 Odell Hardware Co. is acquired in Greensboro, N.C.

1996 New distribution center opened in Tifton, Ga.

1996 Company acquires Witte Hardware Corp. and distribution center in Vandalia, Ill.

1996 Company is spun off from West Union Holding Corp. and changes names to Orgill, Inc.

1997 Orgill celebrates its 150th anniversary.

2000 New distribution center opens in Inwood, W.Va.

2005 Ron Beal becomes president and CEO.

2005 New distribution center opens in Hurricane, Utah.

2006 Orgill exceeds $1 billion in sales.

2008 New distribution center opens in Kilgore, Texas.

2009 New distribution center opens in Sikeston, Mo.

2010 Company expands operations into Canada.

2010 Orgill establishes wholly owned subsidiary Tyndale Advisors to provide consulting and management services to home improvement retailers.

2011 Central Network Retail Group (CNRG), a multi-brand, multiformat retail company, is established.

2015 Orgill establishes wholly owned subsidiary, Orgill Canada, and picks up a distribution center in London, Ontario, after purchasing the Chalifour assets from TIM-BR MART Group.

2016 Orgill exceeds $2 billion in sales.

2017 New distribution center opens in Post Falls, Idaho.

2018 Orgill is awarded the President’s “E” Award for its contribution to U.S. exports.

2019 Boyden Moore becomes president, adding the CEO title a year later.

2020 Orgill exceeds $3 billion in sales.

2020 Company holds first Online Buying Event.

2021 New 780,000-square-foot distribution center opens in Rome, N.Y.

2021 Hurricane, Utah, distribution center begins 425,000-squarefoot expansion/modernization.

2021 Orgill reaches $3.5 billion in annual sales.

2022 Orgill celebrates its 175th anni versary. n

Above: Orgill exceeded $1 billion in sales in 2006.

Right: Ron Beal was named president and CEO in 2005.

By Chris Jensen

PurposeDriven Retailing

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be successful at hardware retailing, but it sure helps, as Ben Honeycutt can attest.

Honeycutt served four and a half years in the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq, Afghanistan and Japan, before he took a medical retirement. It was his background as an F/A-18 fighter jet engine mechanic that prepared him for his dream job—working at SpaceX to get rockets ready for launch. “I always wanted to work on rockets,” he says.

After four years at SpaceX, where he rose to lead launch technician overseeing 15-20 employees, and another 18 months at Firefly Aerospace at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Honeycutt was ready for a new challenge by 2020. “SpaceX was very demanding. I was working 12 to 15 hours a day with a lot of travel,” he notes.

The next time opportunity came knocking, it literally came from next door. “I had a neighbor who owned a hardware store who was looking to retire,” says Honeycutt, who saw the appeal of owning a hardware store that

Ben Honeycutt pays tribute to his years in the U.S. Marine Corps by ensuring Oak Knolls Hardware supports causes that help veterans.

would allow him to be close to home and be his own boss.

With his past experiences giving him interesting perspective, Honeycutt also saw hardware retailing life as less pressure and stress. “I like to be able to put 100 percent into something and get rewarded,” he adds.

His wife, Alyssa, took some convincing of the benefits of owning a

Ben Honeycutt oak knolls HarDware orcutt, calif.

hardware store. As Honeycutt explains, “She was enjoying doing her own thing. She operates a wedding and events rental business.” Another option was to move back to Kansas, where Ben is from, and open an automotive shop.

After weighing the pros and cons, the Honeycutts decided to take the plunge into hardware retailing. Then the pandemic interrupted. “We were supposed to close in March 2020 but held off due to the pandemic. We saw sales were high in March, April and May, so we went ahead and took over June 15, 2020,” Honeycutt says.

Oak Knolls Hardware in Orcutt, Calif., had opened in the late 1960s and converted to non-branded Ace in 1978. Ace was wanting them to sign a fully branded franchise agreement, but Honeycutt pivoted and switched to Do it Best to enjoy greater independence over decisions.

Taking over a retail hardware business in the middle of a pandemic is less than ideal. “It’s been tough. We’re still fighting supply chain issues and the cost of everything is going up,” Honeycutt says.

Furthermore, the store they were taking over was distressed. “We should

Left: Ben and Alyssa Honeycutt have quickly taken Oak Knolls Hardware to new heights since taking over in June 2020.

Middle: Ben Honeycutt (left) helped raise $800 for local youth baseball program led by Bryn Smith (right), a former Major League Baseball pitcher who is from the area.

Right: Portable pizza ovens have turned into a popular item.

have dug more into the inventory when we bought it, as there was about $50,000 less inventory than we expected. The wall colors were ugly. The floor was bad. It was overpriced,” he says. These were not insurmountable problems, and less daunting than trying to figure out how to get a rocket safely into space or navigate a war zone in Afghanistan.

Honeycutt got right to work. He painted the whole store, upgraded electronics and installed new lighting and flooring. The flooring took three weeks, while the painting took a week. “I did it all myself. I remodeled the entire store after hours,” Honeycutt says. “I would work from 6 at night until 1 in the morning, then come back and open up the store.”

He is still upgrading things, such as the touchscreen POS monitor he just installed.

The goal is to streamline processes.

“That’s what I did the last two years at SpaceX—save time and money without cutting corners,” he says. Alyssa takes care of all the marketing for the store, while he takes care of everything else.

Bluetooth scanners are handy to scan items, while the touchscreen monitor makes it easier to serve customers. “I put in all-new shelving for screen repair and organized it so we know what we need. There are now location codes for everything in the store—everything has a place. I will continue to streamline and automate more processes,” says Honeycutt.

GivinG Back to vets

As a proud Marine, Honeycutt has placed an emphasis on supporting programs that support veterans. “Kids, military and education are the only three things we support. That’s where we believe money should go,” he explains. They held their grand opening on Veteran’s Day weekend and are turning that into an annual event. “The first year we bought enough food to do 1,000 sandwiches with bottled water and raffled off a lot of prizes. We ended up raising $3,000 to support Band of

Left: Goofyfoot Pretzels sell out as fast as they can get them in stock.

Middle: The store is an authorized dealer of YETI® products.

Right: Owner Ben Honeycutt installed new flooring by himself after hours to give the store a fresh new look.

Brothers, which helps vets in need,” according to Honeycutt.

Last year’s event was way bigger. They had a Marine mobile RV that helps disabled vets. The local radio station did a remote broadcast, while a local musician played a couple of sets. They ended up raising $6,000 for Operation WEBS (Women Empowered Build Strong). That organization’s mission is to create safe and affordable, high quality housing solutions for women veterans to help them rebuild their lives. For Honeycutt, these events reinforced how impactful he could be as a hardware retailer.

“We do a lot for the community and look to generate community engagement, whether it’s the local high school or Little League baseball. Every hat we sell goes to support youth baseball—we raised $800 for that,” he says.

Honeycutt calls himself a people person, but he wants to ensure his

employees do everything possible to provide exceptional customer service. “Every employee gets it beat into their head—when the customer walks in, you have to greet them nicely. If you need anything at all, let us know. People like that,” he says.

He is such a strong believer in their customer service, he is willing to put money on that promise—he gives out $5 store gift cards. There is a video posted on the store’s Facebook page with the following pledge: “When you make Oak Knolls Hardware your first stop and we can’t get what you need, we pay for your gas! We appreciate all the support from our community and want to thank you for always shopping with us first.” Click here to watch that video.

Building for the future

The store has a fresh new look, revamped operations and streamlined processes, but Honeycutt keeps running into another challenge—the 6,000-square-foot store is too small. “I don’t even have a loading dock. I’m trying to find a bigger location or looking at expanding this store,” he says.

Left: The store sold 40 Trager grills in November and December.

Right: The assortment plan at Oak Knolls Hardware revolves around the needs of the community, such as MTN 94 spray paint from a Spanish manufacturer.

There is an administrative suite for a charter school next door that could provide an extra 2,000 square feet if that space becomes available. “I would bring in more STIHL equipment, nuts and bolts, and focus more on outdoor stuff and grills,” Honeycutt says.

Current top sellers include GCI rocking chairs and gopher traps—he sells 2,000-3,000 gopher traps each year. “My number one thing now is Goofyfoot Pretzels from Olympia, Washington. We sold 500 bags in one week. I ordered 1,000 more and they were gone in two weeks,” he reports.

Make sure you have what customers want and need and sell it to them with a smile—a simple formula for retail success that the Honeycutts are learning to execute. The store did $1 million in the first six months after they took over—a big uptick over the previous annual volume of $1.2 million—then posted sales of $1.9 million in 2021.

The Honeycutts just had their second child six months ago, so Honeycutt has a new mission to focus on now. “We hope to pass on this business someday to our kids, so we have to keep growing and improving it,” he says. n

By John Henry III

Change Can Be Uncomfortable and Perfection Can Be Paralyzing

This topic is personal and has come up in many conversations lately. I will start with the relevancy of this statement for me personally, and then I will share some observations where this statement has been relevant.

My company is growing. It is changing to meet immediate needs and positioning for the future. We have created five-year goals, and the team is working on executing initiatives defined in our strategic plan to achieve these goals. We have determined the new roles we need and discussed modifying current positions. We see an opportunity to redefine roles so that they are precisely aligned with the strengths of the individuals on the team. We see this as a win for the organization and the individual to ensure they come to work excited (at least most days).

It all seems straightforward. It looks like a well-laid plan that should create positive results for multiple stakeholders. I have taken responsibility for completing these initiatives. I have spent countless hours researching

job titles, job descriptions, job postings and LinkedIn profiles. I have yet to post the new job postings through all this research. I have not finalized a restructured job profile for a team member. The underlying reason why is that I want it all to be perfect before it is shared with the world. Striving for perfection has delayed progress by days, weeks and months.

Business owners are faced with decisions, big and small, regularly. We have decisions that we are proud of and those we learned from. Our ability to make decisions has probably contributed to our success.

Sometimes decisions are made based on research. Sometimes decisions are based on outside influencers. Sometimes decisions are made simply on gut, feel or impulse. Decisions are often based on the amount of risk we are willing to take and the potential reward with that risk. Decisions can be made differently depending on where we are on our journey: startup, established, growing, shrinking, stable, retiring.

My team and I have the opportunity to talk regularly to independent home improvement store decision-makers. We pride ourselves on listening first and trying to present solutions second. One of the primary ways we are helping home improvement stores today is meeting their customers

had extensive experience with the product. So we recruited d-i-yers to solicit their feedback.

where and how they want to do commerce. For example, we have an ecom merce solution where Do it Best Corp. members can allow their customers to visit their website to buy from their instock inventory for same-day purchas es and shop their distribution network for purchases delivered later.

While consumers expect this sales experience today, readers of this publi cation can empathize with what it takes to make this offering a reality. This is not an advertorial of our solution and how well it integrates with the store’s point-of-sale and distribution warehouses. Instead, I share this information as context on where the conversation is going next, where I see striving for per fection at times creating paralysis.

Each used FrogTape on multiple surfaces windows, baseboards and corners, and everyone was amazed by the clean lines usually only possible with pros. No one had any instance of paint bleed or difficulty removing the tape even after it stayed in place for over a week. If you currently do not stock FrogTape, then bring in a few SKUs of their Pro Grade Painter’s Tape and Pro Grade Orange Painter’s Tape, which offers higher adhesion. ■

I have written multiple articles about the changes in consumer buying habits and how important it is to have your don’t have anything in stock today.

technology update

Store: What happens if a customer orders something online or simply comes into the store to purchase an item we don’t have because our inventory was off?

Gus: It sounds like you have an opportunity to have a discussion with a customer. A conversation that may have never happened if you didn’t have inventory on your website. You may be able to provide them with an alternative option. If that isn’t an option, you can always credit back the sale and maybe even give them a coupon to use for another purchase as an apology for the inconvenience.

Store: It is hard to find staff, and I don’t want to overwhelm my current team with a new offering right now.

Gus: If the statistics are accurate and 80-plus percent of people check stock before visiting a retailer, then maybe you are making their jobs easier. Does fulfilling a BOPIS (buy online pick up in store) order take more or less time than helping a customer when they walk in?

Store: I am afraid services like curbside pickup will hurt our business in the long run. We need to get people into the store to promote additional impulse buys.

Gus: You will never get the first sale if you don’t provide it. I have also seen other retailers offer incentives to come

into the store or continue shopping after an online initiated sale. Maybe a $5 off $25 coupon or something.

If you are not showing in-store inventory to your online customer, you are now in the minority of retailers. In 2019 less than one-third of retailers offered online ordering. To say things are moving fast is an understatement. It is no longer just the big-box and grocery stores. Even the convenience stores are making a play to attract customers (and I used it last week).

It is a serious topic. I empathize with change being uncomfortable, and the paralysis that striving for perfection out of the gate can create. I can promise to have my job descriptions completed and new jobs posted within 30 days. If anything in this article hits you as personally relevant, it may be time to talk to your technology provider. I do not suggest settling in your approach. Instead, strive for perfection but potentially get there through good and great stages. n

John Henry III started JH Specialty in 1998 as a full-service digital solutions company. Results driven, John prides himself on collectively helping his clients sell over $550 million through Ecommerce on the MOCE platform. Go to www.jhspecialty.com and contact him at john@jhspecialty.com .

Are DIGITAL PRICE LABELS the WAVE of the FUTURE?

By John Fix III

In conjunction with the supply chain crisis, one of the biggest problems facing hardware retailers is all the time and effort required to keep up with the never-ending price changes. It was a recent topic of interest on Hardlines Digest. Interestingly, three of the retailers participating in the discussion are members of The Hardware Connection Century Club, like my store. Kyle Little of Little Hardware in Charlotte, N.C.—which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year—asked if other retailers are using digital

Upper: Keeping prices updated has turned into a time-consuming task for retailers.

Lower: Mass merchants and grocery stores have been early adopters of digital price signs.

hardlines digest

price labels yet. “I expect they can get pricey, but I’m curious if anyone is using them in our industry yet with Eagle. Like everyone, we are tired of repricing due to rising costs. I can see other uses for digital labels, such as displaying near real-time quantity-onhand values,” he said.

“I asked my True Value rep about it. I don’t recall the exact total, but it was a ‘spit your coffee out’ expensive for my 6,000-square-foot store,” posted Adam Novick of Alper’s True Value Hardware, a member of The Hardware Connection Century Club in Port Washington, N.Y.

Will Aubuchon of Century Club retailer Aubuchon Hardware posted that he recently attended the National Retail Federation’s Big Show and spoke to some electronic shelf label (ESL) companies. “Assuming about 12,000 SKUs in a store, the investment is about $100,000 per store. Alternatively, assuming a 10-year life for each label, you could think of the investment as about $10,000/ year/store. It is possible for high-quality labels to last longer than 10 years, which would further drive down the costs per year,” he said.

Aubuchon added, “Expensive yes, but at about $10,000 per year, you can start finding ways to cover that cost: Labor required to do price changes, margin lost to time it takes to do price changes manually, bin ticket and printer expenses. However, one vendor said the

After 111 years, Alper’s True Value Hardware is still investigating ways to improve operations like using digital price labels.

biggest opportunity with ESL is dynamic pricing—small changes to pricing throughout the day and week to specifically capture more margin. We are definitely considering them. I know of others in our industry that have already taken the leap,” he posted.

Chris Finethy of Gilford Hardware & Outdoor Power Equipment in Gilford, N.H., responded, “Digital price tags are going to be the future. It’s the implementation cost and quality that need to be worked out. They don’t integrate seamlessly with many legacy point-ofsale systems. The cost/quality, sure you might be able to purchase a large quantity of them to drive down the prices but what are the lifetime and quality? If I buy 10k how many will actually work right off the bat? Battery life? Fixes? If they’re low quality you just screwed yourself in the long run, because you’ll be

replacing/fixing tags forever. It’s cheaper to pay someone to replace a sticker than start troubleshooting low-quality e-ink tags.”

Finethy added, “I’m messing around with this at the moment, but it’s not a viable solution since prices are too high. https://tagr.shop starter kits are pretty rad though. I’ve been looking into making my own custom solution using Rasberry Pi’s as the controller and programming my own interface, which I can control over WiFi or Bluetooth vs RFID. Why?

1. Most of these companies want you to pay a monthly fee to use their software to update tags.

2. More control—the interface needs to be simple. I want to be able to change a single price and have it updated over every sales channel.

3. Quicker, faster, easier.

I think you could also integrate an app that will change the prices of customers on the fly as they walk around your store to fit specific pricing tiers, run automated flash sales and a bunch of other cool stuff that I dream of. I’ve been keeping my eye on them for years now. It’s kind of hilarious they just mentioned them in 2022. I still don’t think I’d go and cover my entire store with them even if I had the $ and time. I’ll implement them on higher-ticket, faster-moving commodity items and work my way down. Digital tags are just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve got a rough outline for the

‘hardware store of the future’ and it’s bonkers—retail staffing isn’t going to be an issue,” Finethy posted.

Little responded, “Electronic shelf labels have tremendous potential to help us drive sales, improve shoppers’ experience and streamline operations. Besides the obvious time savings in label distribution, I’m intrigued by the ability to display things that would assist stocking, counting and replenishment. Some tags even have programmable buttons on them, so theoretically, you could do things like program a button to add an item to a stocker’s pull list or purchase order when clicked.”

He added, “Will’s estimate of $10k/ store annually is a helpful way to view the investment; thank you for sharing that. The implementation details that Chris brings up are significant. I would want to be sure the hardware and software we invested in would be reliable and well supported over the expected lifespan. I think this is a promising area of tech in retail that I look forward to watching in the coming years.”n

John Fix started Hardlines Digest in 1996. The list was run for many years using servers in John’s hardware store, Cornell’s True Value Hardware, a Century Club member in Eastchester, N.Y., but the list has migrated to Google Groups. There are currently more than 2,300 subscribers reading Hardlines Digest. To read more or subscribe, go to www.hardlinesdigest.com.

categorY report

PAINT & DECORATING TRENDS

Sales of Interior Liquid Paint (Independent Hardware Channel) 12 Months % Change vs. Year Ago

Source: Epicor’s Industry Data Analytics

Unit Sales Breakdown for Interior Liquid Paint

of 3,025 Items with Sales

Epicor’s Industry Data Analytics tracking information is based on sales from a representative sample of hardlines retailers located throughout the U.S. For more information, call 512278-5800 or email

Source: Epicor’s Industry Data Analytics epicorindustryanalytics@epicor.com

paint & decorating

Merchandising :

Upper Left: Alert-O-Lite True Value, Fresno, Calif.

Middle Left: Hall’s Hardware & Lumber, Milton, Fla.

Lower Left: New Palestine Hardware in New Palestine, Ind.

Upper Right: Sender’s Market Ace, Valley Springs, Calif.

Middle Right: Tum-A-Lum Lumber, Hood River, Ore.

Lower Right: Wigman’s Hardware, Mobile, Ala.

RAINBOWS AN INSIDE LOOK

Custer Ace Hardware, Custer, S.D.

Hagan Ace Hardware, Jacksonville, Fla.

Little Hardware, Charlotte, N.C.

McCoy’s Building Supply, Beeville, Texas

Travis

Table Rock True Value Hardware, Kimberling City, Mo.

Tum-A-Lum Lumber, Hood River, Ore.

Bomberger’s Store, Lititz, Pa.

Higginbotham Brothers, Cross Plains, Texas

Hardware, Cocoa, Fla.

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

PROCELL ALKALINE BATTERIES

• Procell Alkaline AA industrial batteries are general-purpose batteries, ideal for powering mid- and low-drain professional devices such as smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, security keypads, remote controls, wireless mice, keyboards, motion sensors and flushometers.

• Featuring long-lasting, reliable power, Procell batteries are also available in AAA, C, D and 9V sizes. Operating temperatures from -4°F to 129.2°F.

• Manufactured using superior cell design to ensure high-quality cell

construction. Each battery comes with a ‘quality warranty.’ Design, safety, manufacturing and qualification follow Procell’s stringent battery standards, which incorporate parts of the ANSI and IEC battery standards.

• Economically packaged in bulk and individually date-coded for effective inventory management.

DELICATE SURFACE PAINTER’S TAPE

• FrogTape® Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape is made with exclusive PaintBlock® Technology, a superabsorbent polymer that reacts with the water in latex paint and instantly gels to form a micro-barrier that seals the edges of the tape to prevent paint bleed. The result is a crisp, professional paint line.

• Specifically designed to work on delicate surfaces such as fresh paint, wallpaper and decorative projects, this premium-grade masking tape is perfect for when you need a lower adhesion level to help prevent surface damage.

• Removes cleanly from most surfaces for up to 60 days. Premium adhesion to help eliminate the need for touch-ups.

• Tape canister for clean, protected storage.

TORQUEMASTER ANCHORS

• Whether you’re looking for concrete anchors, hex screws or any number of other crucial fasteners, you can always trust the durability of TorqueMaster.

• Available in a number of display options, including counter, hanging packs and bulk displays, the TorqueMaster brand has gained a reputation for being the safest, easiest and most reliable anchoring solution available, great for indoor and outdoor applications.

• Star-drive concrete screws eliminate cam-out, while hardened alloy steel eliminates breaking.

• Features serrated washer head for a secure grip to the install surface, serrated threads for superior hold to concrete and superior exterior coating suitable for ACQ lumber.

MS 881 MAGNUM ® CHAIN SAW

• Features an updated engine design and the same power as the previous model while using less fuel and reducing exhaust emissions.

• Quickstop® chain brake safety feature is designed to reduce risk of injury in certain kickback situations by stopping the rotation of the chain if activated by operator’s hand or by inertia if the saw kicks back with sufficient force.

• Anti-vibration system minimizes user fatigue and provides a more comfortable working experience, while simplified design of the

carburetor settings allows for easy manual adjustment.

• ElastoStart™ starter handle includes a built-in shock absorber that helps reduce the effort when pulling on the starter cord.

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

9” RADIAL SANDER

• The 9-inch Radial Sander is engineered to allow pros to sand large areas with greater ease. This is the lightest radial sander on the market.

• It has a unique pivoting hinge and round shape that prevents flipping. The Hyde radial sander accepts any 9” round abrasive material that has the hook and loop attachment feature and attaches to an Acme threaded pole.

• Pivoting hinge prevents flipping to prevent damage to walls.

• Hook and loop system for quickly attaching and changing abrasive sheets.

PROFACTOR™ 18V CIRCULAR SAW

• Ergonomically designed for user comfort, the GKS18V-26L brings BITURBO BRUSHLESS™ technology to the core of the tool allowing for increased power while completing a variety of heavy-duty projects.

• Offers pros the ideal cordless tool with build-in features to provide added mobility and visibility.

• Blade left design provides a clearer view of the blade for better cut-line visibility when held in the right hand, while also keeping the tool balance to the right, perfect for rip cuts.

• Pivoting dust port rotates 360° directing dust or optional vacuum hose away from the user’s body. Electronic convenience

feature quickly stops the blade for less downtime between repeated cuts.

IN THE NEWS

NEW STORES:

• Brent Palmer and Jeff Olson have opened Volga Ace Hardware in Volga, S.D.

• Jeff and Austin Parzych have opened Brewerton Ace Hardware in Brewerton, N.Y.

• TAL Holdings acquired Bayview Building Materials of Elma, Wash.

• Jeff and Robin Kodet have purchased Merchants True Value in Union City, Mich., from Bob Merchant.

• Dr. Gerald Butters is opening Butters’ Ace Hardware in Thompson’s Station, Tenn.

• Kevin Fague acquired Century Club retailer Ritters True Value Hardware in Mechanicsburg, Pa., from Jack Winchell.

• Kyle and Emily Medearis have acquired Century Club retailer Johnson Hardware & Furniture in Sidney, Mont., from the Johnson family.

• Rocky’s Ace Hardware has acquired Karp’s Ace Hardware in Stamford, Conn.

• Builders FirstSource has acquired National Lumber and its 19 facilities in New England.

• Grabill Hardware in Grabill, Ind., has transitioned ownership from Claude Schrock to Len Schrock and Jim Gerig.

• Goldsboro Builders Supply has acquired Mebane Lumber in Mebane, N.C.

• Steve and Sue Fusek have opened a second Fusek’s True Value Hardware in Indianapolis.

• Ace Hardware Marketplace is opening a new store in Owensboro, Ky.

• The new owners of Crescent Ace Hardware in Clifton Park, N.Y., are Judd Robinson, William Swartz III and Rob McDonnell.

• Steve Guernsey has opened Sycamore Ace Hardware in Terre Haute, Ind.

• Richard VanDeWalle has purchased Hometown Hardware in Theodosia, Mo., from Justin and Cheryl Burnett.

• Century Club retailer Emigh Ace Hardware is opening its second store along with Emigh’s Outdoor Living in El Dorado Hills, Calif.

• Century Club retailer Bliffert Lumber Co. has merged with Oostburg Lumber Co., Oostburg, Wis.

KUDOS TO:

• Hartville Hardware in Hartville, Ohio, is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

• Schurman’s True Value Hardware in Clarkston, Wash., is marking its 75th anniversary.

• Cambria Hardware and

Mercantile in Cambria, Calif., operated by 93-year-old Chuck McMillan, was named 2021 Business of the Year by the Cambria Chamber of Commerce.

• MAX USA is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

• Dan Beck, national account manager for The Hardware Connection, was recognized with the Circle of Excellence Award from The Ward Group for his commitment to providing outstanding service.

• Red Devil is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE:

• Jason Blair has been named CEO of TAL Holdings.

• Tibbetts Lumber promoted David Stauter to president and COO.

• Bob Rummel was named president of Junior’s Building Materials in Ringgold, Ga.

• McCoy’s Building Supply promoted Corey Elmore to regional manager of 8 stores in south central Texas.

• Koopman Lumber has hired Thomas Warchal as merchandising manager.

• Master Magnetics promoted Alex

Onda to senior manageroperations, Trisha Lycas to senior manager-sales and marketing, and Lance Hill to senior manager-IT.

• Do it Best Corp. promoted Greg Fuller to vice president of sales and business development, Christian Parra to director of international sales, Peggy Chen to associate merchandise manager-outdoor living, Jenna Grannan to consumer marketing sales and service manager, and Nathan Selvey to associate merchandise managerplumbing.

• Concord Lumber Corp. promoted Benjamin DoylePita to division manager.

• Levi Smith added the CEO title to that of president of Franklin Building Supply in Boise, Idaho, succeeding Rick Lierz, who remains chairman.

• GreatStar Tools USA has promoted Roberto Izaguirre to chief operating officer.

WHOLESALERS IN THE NEWS:

• Wallace Hardware Co. is marking its 100th anniversary.

OTHER NEWS:

• The Hillman Companies broke ground on a new distribution center

Dan Beck

Trisha Lycas

Greg Fuller

Christian Parra

Roberto Izaguirre

for its Protective Solutions division in Shannon, Ga.

IN MEMORY:

to work for Stanley Tools. In 1995, Bernard and his wife Connie opened their own manufacturer’s rep agency, MBA Marketing.

• Norman Taylor , sales manager for Retail Automation and former owner of Duncan Box & Lumber in Huntington, W.Va., died January 6 in a car accident while headed to a wholesaler show. He was 55. Norman is survived by his wife Kimberly and son Max. Click here for the full obituary.

• Robert Chandler, retired owner of Fairhaven True Value Hardware in Fairhaven, Mass., passed away December 5 at the age of 93. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War.

• James Hill, who owned O’Conner and Hill Hardware for 51 years in Lowell, Mass., passed away January 20 at the age of 96. A Marine veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he was a member of the New England Hardware Dealers Association and National Retail Hardware Association.

• Thomas Alexander, CEO of Century Club retailer Alexander Lumber in Aurora, Ill., died November 17 at the age of 81.

• Bernard Wind passed away December 27 at the age of 68. He began his work career at Ace Hardware in Illinois, then went on

• Joan Eggleston, retired owner of Mountainhome True Value in Mountainhome, Pa., passed away December 4 at the age of 76.

• John Crall Jr., retired president of Brain Lumber Co., in Springfield, Ohio, died December 5 at the age of 75.

• Sylvio LeBlanc, who was in the hardware business for over 80 years, passed away January 22 at the age of 102. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII and founded LeBlanc’s Hardware in Manchester, N.H., in 1967, operating it for over 50 years and working there into his 90s.

FOR THE FULL STORY:

• Ten retailers join The Hardware Connection Century Club. Click here.

• Do it Best goes virtual for its spring market. Click here.

• Strong attendance at House-Hasson Hardware January show. Click here.

• R.P. Lumber is celebrating its 45th anniversary. Click here.

• Engage for Good has named Ace Hardware and The Trevor Project its 2022 Golden Halo Award winners for outstanding achievements in the field of corporate social impact. Click here.

• Home Depot names a new CEO. Click here.

• Emery Jensen invests in supply chain. Click here.

Norman Taylor

UPCOMING EVENTS

FEBRUARY

Do it Best Virtual Spring Market

February 11-25

Florida Hardware Spring Dealer Market

February 11-12, Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld, Orlando, Fla.

International Builders’ Show

February 8-10, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla.

Kitchen & Bath Industry Show

February 8-10, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando

LBM Advantage Annual Buying Show & Shareholders Meeting

February 21-23, Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Kissimmee, Fla.

Monroe Hardware Spring Dealers Market

February 11-13, Myrtle Beach Convention Center, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Orgill Spring Dealer Market and Online Buying Event

February 24-26, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla.

MARCH

Ace Hardware Spring Convention

March 8-10, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev.

Blish-Mize Spring Dealer Market

March 18-19, Overland Park Convention Center, Overland Park, Kan.

Emery Jensen Edge Spring Show

March 10-11, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev.

Hearth Patio & Barbecue Expo

March 2-5, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta

PACOA Spring Show

March 18-20, Queens College-Fitzgerald Gymnasium, Flushing, N.Y.

The Inspired Home Show

March 5-7, McCormick Place, Chicago

True Value V-Union

March 1-3

Wallace Hardware 100th Anniversary Market

March 22-24, LeConte Center, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

APRIL

National Hardware Show

April 5-7, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev.

For a complete listing of calendar dates, click here.

Offering A UniqUe Service

ThAT’S hArd TO MATch

reTAil ideAS

Family Hardware, a Do it Best member in Cape Coral, Fla., has kept its business sharp by offering extensive specialization in the sharpening of carbide-tipped saw blades. Using methods handed down three generations, Family Hardware uses a mix of old-school knowledge and cuttingedge machinery to get the job done right.

Owner Jeremy Peterson constantly invests in new technology and upgrades to existing equipment to deliver superior quality that will keep blades running longer and cutting better. Their commitment to quality is so strong that they have built a national base for the sharpening services by offering an inventive mail-in program that enables customers to mail their blades from anywhere in the U.S. to be sharpened.

The blade sharpening business dates back more than 40 years, but Peterson purchased it in 2014 to complement the hardware store. It operates in an adjacent building. “It wasn’t being run properly but I saw the potential,” he says.

Family Hardware services about 300 local customers such as cabinet and aluminum shops in a four-county area, with two drivers who go out on regular routes. Expanding to mail-in service from all 50 states has led their customer list to grow to 8,000, many of them regular customers. “I’m trying to transition to more mail-in jobs,” Peterson says.

He has three employees trained to do the sharpening work on the blades, with

Upper: Dawne Hilton stands before the wall of blades, all ready to be worked on.

Middle: Chris Peterson loads the blade sharpening machine.

Lower: Ryan Cooper (left) helps a customer with a bladesharpening job.

three support people that help check in, clean and conduct a four-point inspection of the blades. “You have to check for runout, that the teeth aren’t at different heights and you may have to hammer a blade before sharpening,” he explains.

They sharpen everything from carbidetipped saw blades and cold saw blades to hole saws, drill bits, router bits and more. The store website details the process and the prices for each sharpening job.

Although it has developed into a lucrative niche for Family Hardware with no seasonality, the barriers to entry are substantial. Peterson owns six saw blade grinders and some are 20 years old. He is considering a $300,000 investment to upgrade one machine. “It’s completely automated, which would eliminate the need for an operator,” he explains. “Blade sharpening is kind of a dying industry, but the need is not dying.”

William Robbins, a high school employee of Brownsboro Hardware & Paint, entertained the crowd with a senior speech that poked fun at his experience building and cleaning grills.

THE GRILL MAN SHARES HIS SECRETS

In the backroom of Brownsboro Hardware & Paint in Louisville, a star is born. William Robbins, a high school senior who has been working at the store for nearly four years, recently delivered a senior speech that offered a hilarious and insightful tribute to his job.

Nicknamed “The Machine” by his manager (and new owner) Doug Carroll because of his uncanny ability to quickly build grills, Robbins says that he learned that building and repairing things with his own two hands is the most rewarding thing.

“The thing I build most is grills. I was continuously stuck on grill-building duty because of my speedy fast hands,” Robbins says. He goes on to share several humorous anecdotes from his time building and cleaning hundreds of grills, with customers now calling him “The Grill Man.”

“It’s important to find something unrelated to school that you’re passionate about. For me, it’s grills—building them, cleaning them, delivering them. Anything but actually cooking on them,” Robbins says. You can watch a video of his speech here.

Carroll had no idea Robbins was going to give his speech about working at the store. “It was so touching that he would dedicate his speech to his job. William has always been a good listener. If you give him a task, he does it very well and wants to get better at it,” says Carroll.

He adds, “I started at 16 with a job at a hardware store, and I didn’t know what I would do with my life. Now I own two stores. William already understands the importance of finding something you love to do.”

CREATING EXCITEMENT WITH POP-UP EVENTS

Putting on a special event is a great way to create excitement at your store. It’s even better if you can get someone else to put on the event for you.

Upcoming Events is a company with a background producing large music and entertainment festivals. Forced to pivot due to the pandemic, they have produced over 6,000 branded pop-up events at retail that have helped independent hardware retailers generate non-retail revenue.

“We had so many relationships with large brands. We started placing those brands like T-Mobile, Pella Windows and Renewal by Anderson at retail so they could still engage with customers,” explains Ray Sheehan.

“It was a huge win for retailers— free merchandise, gift cards and prizes. Clearly, the brands saw the value in integrating their brand into the fabric of

Pop-up events are a great way to create excitement in your store while generating non-retail revenue.

the community. It really is a winwin type program,” he says.

Each deal is different, but retailers are compensated for each day of the activation. Participating brands receive ten $10 gift cards per day to give out to customers. The events are supported with Facebook ads at no extra cost.

“We have pop-up vendors that would interest a hardware store customer,” says Rich Fishburn of E & H Ace Hardware, with 25 locations in Ohio. “Some examples include window manufacturers and installers, mobile phone vendors, gutter protection services and energy providers. We schedule one vendor per store so they are not competing for customers and our customers are not overwhelmed either. We have found that most of the vendors are very pleasant and easy to work with, not pushy or in the way of our business,” he adds.

Fishburn says, “From my end, I judge that it’s successful when the vendors, customers and employees are all engaged and working well together. The additional revenue to our bottom line really does help at the end of the day. It’s a program we would like to continue.”

He adds “The pros of the program are that we can get our customers in front of a vendor that is able to provide a service that they could benefit from. We also like the fact that we can utilize some extra space and monetize it. We’ve also had some vendors

turn around and buy all of their Christmas gifts from our store, which was a good way to build a B2B type relationship.”

In terms of working with Upcoming Events, Fishburn notes, “They are professional, timely, responsive, listen and are a really good partner to have. I appreciate that I do not have to spend time lining up different vendors.”

Darin Workman, CEO of The Helpful Hardware Company in Cumming, Ga., says they have done about six dozen popup events and counting across their 13 stores. “The groups buy Ace gift cards and give them away throughout the day. It’s easy bottom-line revenue and most importantly, customer friendly. Over $7,000 in free Ace Hardware gift cards to my loyal customers. The gift program has been a nice boost to my business,” he says.

Workman adds, “We enjoy the excitement it brings to the front of our store and when the bigger names like T-Mobile come it brings brand recognition. Our store in Indian Trail, N.C., also does quarterly pop-up markets with gifts, crafts, food and entertainment. Things like this drive footsteps and make the visit to the hardware store an experience on top of helping our customers with their needs.”

For more information, click here or contact Ray Sheehan at ray@upcomingevents.com. n

Behind the Numbers

14.1%

Percentage retail sales grew during the NovemberDecember 2021 holiday season to a record $886.7 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Building materials and garden supply stores were up 13.5%.

19%

Percentage of small business owners who report being negatively impacted by COVID-19 who also say the rise in cases is significantly impacting employee work attendance, according to research from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), with 23% saying it’s moderately impacting work attendance and 34% reporting a mild impact.

83%

Percentage of small business employers facing staffing shortages who increased wages, according to the NFIB, while 24% increased paid time off, 20% offered or enhanced hiring bonuses and 29% offered or enhanced health insurance benefits.

64%

Percentage of small business owners who have increased their average selling prices due to supply chain disruptions and/or increased compensation due to staffing shortages, according to the NFIB. Of those owners who raised prices, 41% have raised prices by 10% or more and 29% have raised prices 5-9.9%.

47%

Percentage of small business owners who reported supply chains had a significant impact on their business, while 27% reported it having a moderate impact and 18% said it had a mild impact, according to the NFIB. Eight percent reported supply chain disruptions not an issue.

17.9%

Percentage increase in TEU (20-foot container or its equivalent) in U.S. ports in 2021 to a record 25.9 million TEU, according to Global Port Tracker. January was forecast at 2.23 million TEU, up 8.6% from the prior year. n