Hardware Retailing August 2017

Serving Hardware, Home Center & Building Material Retailers

Dream Team How One Hawaii Retailer Has Cultivated a Strong Team Culture 40

Amazon Vs. Walmart: Who’s Buying What? 58 Smoke the Competition With Your Grilling Events 66 VOLUME 213 • ISSUE 2 • AUGUST 2017 • HARDWARERETAILING.COM

What to Do When Disaster Strikes 84

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Dream Tea How One Hawaii Retailer Has Cultivated a Strong Team Culture 40

VOLUME 213 • ISSUE 2 • AUGUST 2017 • HARDWARERETAILING.COM

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Amazon Vs. Walmart: Who’s Buying What? 58 Smoke the Competition With Your Grilling Events 66 VOLUME 213 • ISSUE 2 • AUGUST 2017 • HARDWARERETAILING.COM

What to Do When Disaster Strikes 84

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Managing Money and Mobile Living

F

rom discussing financial best practices, serving customers on the move to meeting the new North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) board chairman, the next issue covers a lot of ground.

In next month’s Hardware Retailing, learn about retail finance and how to manage your operation’s big-picture numbers to ensure it’s always running in peak condition.

Also in September, we show you the best ways to serve customers in the auto, RV and marine category. No matter which mode of transportation they choose, learn how your business can meet these mobile customers’ specific needs.

Finally, NRHA’s new board chairman, Megan Menzer, owner of Newton’s True Value in Cherryville, Kansas, takes the spotlight.

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August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

1

Headquarters Staff PUBLISHING EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER Dan Tratensek

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Whitney Daulton FEATURES EDITOR Liz Lichtenberger

136 N. Delaware St. #200 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 Phone: 317-275-9400 Fax: 317-275-9403 Email: nrha@nrha.org Website: nrha.org HEADQUARTERS STAFF PRESIDENT AND CEO Bill Lee COO Bob Cutter DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND BUSINESS SERVICES David Gowan

MEMBER SERVICES TRAINING MANAGER Jesse Carleton, 317-275-9418, jcarleton@nrha.org MEMBER SERVICES AND COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Hilary Welter, 317-275-9435, hwelter@nrha.org MEMBER SERVICES AND MEETING COORDINATOR Kamille Stokes, 317-275-9419, kstokes@nrha.org

ASSISTANT EDITORS Renee Changnon Kate Klein Melanie Moul Chad Husted Todd Taber SENIOR DESIGNER Lynnea Chom GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Graeme Haase Kelsey Truex WEB DEVELOPER Kevin Trehan

PRODUCTION SERVICES PRODUCTION MANAGER Nancy A. Vondersaar SALES AND PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Freda Creech

CIRCULATION CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Richard Jarrett

MEMBER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Marci Taschler, 317-275-9421, mtaschler@nrha.org

CIRCULATION/SUBSCRIPTION/ LIST RENTAL INQUIRIES

EVENT MANAGER AND RETAIL SUPPORT Katie McHone-Jones, 317-275-9426, kmchone-jones@nrha.org

PHONE 314-432-7511 FAX 314-432-7665

SALES/NRHA VENDOR PARTNER

RETAIL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Lowell Huffman

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-RETAIL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE Scott Wright, 317-275-9417, swright@nrha.org

MIDWEST REGION MANAGER Tony Sarantakis, 404 Afton Circle, Barrington, IL 60010; 847-934-9515, Fax: 847-934-2494, tonytakis@aol.com

DIRECTOR OF RECRUITMENT Tom Marcum, 317-275-9430, tmarcum@nrha.org

WEST/MIDWEST REGION MANAGER Chris Miller, 506 Citadel Circle, Westmont, IL 60559; 630-234-3272, Fax: 847-934-2494, cmiller7288@gmail.com

NRHA CANADA

WEST ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Tyler Norris, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, IN 46204; 317-275-9420, Fax: 317-275-9403, tnorris@nrha.org

NRHA CANADA Michael McLarney, 528 Queen St. E., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5A 1V2; +1 416-489-3396, mike@hardlines.ca

STATE AND REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS MIDWEST HARDWARE ASSOCIATION John Haka, 2301 Country Club Drive, Suite A, P.O. Box 8033, Stevens Point, WI 54481-8033; 715-341-7100; 800-888-1817; Fax: 715-341-4080

NORTHEAST REGION MANAGER Jason Harper, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, IN 46204; 317-275-9414, Fax: 317-275-9403, jharper@nrha.org GREAT LAKES REGION MANAGER Bill Mancuso, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, IN 46204; 317-275-9424, Fax: 317-275-9403, bmancuso@nrha.org

PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION Ronald F. Moore, 3857 Wolverine NE, Suite 20, Salem, OR 97305 (UPS, FedEx); P.O. Box 17819, Salem, OR 97305 (U.S. Mail); 503-375-9024; Fax: 503-375-7980; AK, ID, OR, WA

SOUTHEAST REGION MANAGER Nick O’Connor, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, IN 46204; 317-275-9409, Fax: 317-275-9403, noconnor@nrha.org

SOUTHWESTERN REGION Jeff Flora, 638 W. 39th St., Kansas City, MO 64111; P.O. Box 419264, Kansas City, MO 64141; 816-561-5323; Fax: 816-561-1249; AR, KS, LA, MO, NE, NM, TX

CANADA John Magner, 500 Queens Quay W., #101 W. Toronto, Ontario M5V 3K8; 416-598-0101 x220, Fax: 416-598-9191, jmagner@yorkmedia.net

Our Top 4 Most Downloaded Resources The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) and Hardware Retailing regularly release free downloadable resources at TheRedT.com to assist you in areas like marketing, operations, finances and more.

1 2 3 4

Home Sweet Home Toolkit TheRedT.com/shoplocal Do your customers know shopping locally puts twice as much money back into the community? Spread the word with this shop-local signage package.

Merchandising for Profit Study TheRedT.com/merch-for-profit In this 2016 study, NRHA worked with multiple retailers in various markets to test the effectiveness of different merchandising techniques.

Termination Checklist TheRedT.com/termination-checklist This checklist provides questions to ask yourself to help you determine if, when and how to terminate employees who are problematic.

Verbal Counseling TheRedT.com/verbal-record It’s important to check in regularly with problem employees, and this worksheet is designed to help you maintain records of conversations.

NRHA MISSION

The North American Retail Hardware Association’s (NRHA) mission is to help independent hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards, regardless of wholesale affiliation, become better and more profitable retailers.

NRHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Megan Menzer, Newton’s True Value, Cherryvale, Kansas EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN T.J. Comstock, Northwest Hardware, LLC, Billings, Montana DIRECTORS Greg Schlecht, Greg’s True Value, St. Francis, Wisconsin Daniel Harris, Palos Ace Hardware, Palos Heights, Illinois; Lemont Ace Hardware, Lemont, Illinois Will Aubuchon, Aubuchon Hardware, Westminster, Massachusetts Jared Smith, Jared’s Ace Hardware, Bishopville, South Carolina

Hardware Retailing (ISSN0889-2989) is published monthly by the North American Retail Hardware Association, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Subscription rates: Hardware Retailing (Payable in advance): U.S. & possessions $50.00 year. Canada $75.00 year. All other countries $100.00 year.

(Air Mail $60.00 year additional). Single copy $7.00. The Annual Report issue can be purchased for $30.00.

David Dishke, Grand River Home Hardware, Caledonia, Ontario

Periodical postage paid at Indianapolis, Indiana, and additional mailing offices.

Steve Fusek, Fusek’s True Value, Indianapolis

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hardware Retailing, P.O. Box 16709, St. Louis, MO 63105-1209.

All editorial contents copyrighted 2017 by the North American Retail Hardware Association.

No editorial may be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher.

REPRINTS: Contact the Editorial Department at 317-275-9400 for price quotations. Printed in the USA.

2

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

SECRETARY-TREASURER Bill Lee, NRHA President and CEO IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN James Cabirac, Kief Hardware, Cut Off, Louisiana

The QUIKRETE® app provides product searches, how-to videos, and a handy product quantity calculator to help make you and your sales staff more knowledgeable in just a few clicks. Download it today or visit quikrete.com to learn more.

Contents AUGUST 2017 | VOLUME 213 | ISSUE 2

84 RESEARCH

Are You Prepared?

What would you do if a flood destroyed your store or a riot tore through the streets outside your doors? Hardware Retailing spoke to four retailers whose businesses were met with disaster to discuss the aftermath and the rebuilding process.

We also developed an emergency preparedness checklist for you to share with your staff.

40

92 RETAILER PROFILE OPERATIONS

What Makes a Team?

Your staff is more than just individuals who work together. They are a group of people who should be working toward the same goals. Learn from three retailers who have made sharing goals and building teams an everyday commitment and not just an icebreaker at store meetings.

58 RESEARCH

Two Giants in the Industry As two of the largest retailers in the world, Amazon and Walmart frequently make headlines, and news about the companies’ latest actions has certainly stirred up chatter. Will Amazon gain a stronghold in brick and mortar, and can Walmart make a dent online?

66 CATEGORY SPOTLIGHT

Get Grilling Sponsored by Phifer Inc. ‘Tis the season for backyard barbecues and community cookouts.

We talked to the retailers whose grilling categories are always the life of the party. Learn how to show off your grilling expertise, whether it’s hosting a community fundraiser in your parking lot or livestreaming your cook-off on social media.

4

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

80 EXPERT COLUMN

Retail Is… Merchandising Retail consultant Dustin Kaehr discusses another crucial element of retailing in this column. From building endcaps to cutting inventory, Kaehr reviews merchandising basics to ensure your customers come in to see what’s new and walk out with something extra.

Achievement: Zero Efficiency is something every retailer can agree is a net positive for their operation, but what about energy efficiency with the goal of achieving net-zero? Brinkmann’s True Value committed to net-zero energy through renovations and upgrades and is now feeding energy back into the grid, for a payoff of thousands of dollars annually.

Departments 06 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On the Web 08 . . . . . . . . . Independent Thinking 10 . . . . . . . .Taking Care of Business 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NRHA News 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trends 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New Products 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Checkouts 98 . . . . . . . . .Newsmakers/Calendar 102 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Last Word

On the Cover The team at HPM Building Supply in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, leans on each other to help the business succeed .

NRHA photo by Whitney Daulton

Deep “V” Jaws Open wider for better grip on pipes and more Grip Zone – Non-Marring Gentle Grips Concave rubber grip area won’t mar chrome pipes Unique Tooth Design Angled teeth provide more torque with less effort Exposed Steel Handle Tips For reaming, prying, and tightening tub drains www.CrescentTool.com

© 2016 Apex Tool Group, LLC ATG-3532

Available as a 2-piece set: RT400SGSET2

More Innovative Tools From

Legacy™ Series Tape Measures A classic look with high performance features

• Titanium-coated spring-assisted blade • Full metal frame with reversible pocket clip ®

*1-inch blade width models

WKFP1

www.WissTool.com

L925

www.LufkinTool.com

On the Web

CHECKLIST

OPERATIONS

Team-Building Activities With HPM At HPM Building Supply in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, employees regularly participate in team-building activities. The benefits of these exercises and the time spent together include improved communication, boosted camaraderie among employees who don’t normally work together and increased respect for each other.

Video: Take a Closer Look Visit TheRedT.com/HPM to learn from Tracie White, talent development manager at HPM Building Supply, as she guides employees in a team building activity designed to encourage teamwork and improve group dynamics. The video includes play-by-play instructions so you can replicate the exercise.

This series of quick lessons on topics such as selling skills, merchandising, product knowledge and operations is geared toward all levels of employees.

Visit nrha.org/freetraining to download this month’s lesson, listed below.

CATEGORY TIPS

Ramping Up Your Grill Category In this issue, you’ll learn about various tactics that retailers who are masters in the grilling department use to attract customers.

With summer in full swing and tailgating heating up, get more tips on how to increase sales in this sizzling category by visiting TheRedT.com/grill-sales-tips.

6

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Prepare for the Unexpected Disasters can come from anywhere and can wreak havoc with little warning, so it’s important to be prepared well in advance. Check out the emergency preparedness tips and download the checklist at TheRedT.com/disaster-checklist to review your company’s policies and procedures for disasters.

PDF: Team Communication Exercise Learning to communicate effectively is an essential component of any team. This instruction sheet will help you guide your employees through a simple team-building activity designed to strengthen communication skills among your staff members.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

@hardwareretail facebook.com/HardwareRetailing

NORTH AMERICAN MADE

PERF RMANCE THE PREMIUM GRILL OF CHOICE

There’s a reason why you can get excited about selling Broil King®. You can finally offer an extensive lineup of premium North American made grills across all price points. When you show your customer a feature by feature comparison with other premium brands, you will be confident knowing that you are providing the best in quality, performance and durability. You simply get more with Broil King®.

Contact Ken Hempen khempen@omcbbq.com for more details.

Independent Thinking

A Voice in D.C.

A

“We now have

n important part of what the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) does is listen to you. So when Jeff Cardwell of Cardwell Do it Best Home Center in Indianapolis came to us with an idea, we listened.

Jeff suggested that he could support his industry by encouraging NRHA and his fellow retailers to voice their concerns in Washington. Jeff has been involved in local, state and national politics his entire career. He served as a senior staff member for former Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as well as during the Trump-Pence presidential campaign. He is well connected in Washington and believes his relationships could form the foundation of an advocacy effort for our industry’s independent businesses.

One of NRHA’s missions is to advocate for independent retailers. Until now, that has primarily meant advocating for you to the wholesalers and vendors you work with every day. With Jeff’s help, we now have an opportunity to give you a voice in Washington regarding the regulatory and legislative issues that most impact your business.

Here’s where we are in that process. We asked you to identify the national issues that are most important to you through an online survey. Next, we gathered a diverse group of independent retailers for the first NRHA Small Business and Government Roundtable at NRHA headquarters in Indianapolis. During the June roundtable, we discussed the results of the survey, identified the three issues that retailers identified as most important to them and decided on next steps NRHA might take. (Read additional roundtable coverage and see the survey results on Page 14.)

Here are the three issues that roundtable participants identified as most an opportunity to important to their businesses. give you a voice in Health Care. For a good number of our roundtable members and survey respondents, health insurance for their employees has become cost-prohibitive. But, Washington regarding providing they also agreed that offering health insurance improves their ability to hire and retain good employees. The group decided that finding legislative solutions that allow small the regulatory and businesses to provide affordable, flexible plans is the most important concern. legislative issues Internet Sales Tax Fairness. Competing against online retailers who do not charge that most impact or pay sales tax represents a competitive disadvantage for brick-and-mortar retailers.

The roundtable members favor federal legislation mandating that online retailers your business. charge sales tax and pay those taxes back to the states where the sales originate.

”

They support a level playing field for all retailers.

Corporate Tax Rates. Lower taxes leave more capital for reinvestment in the business. Our roundtable supports lower taxes and balancing the tax incentive disparities between large and small businesses.

The roundtable participants also discussed possible next steps. NRHA will create position papers on each issue and will look for coalition partners among other organizations that support small business. We will learn from each other and join them in voicing your concerns in Washington. The roundtable will welcome new members and plans to meet regularly. NRHA will communicate with you about these issues and this group on an ongoing basis.

If you would like to participate, please let me know. We’re stronger together.

Bill Lee, President and CEO

blee@nrha.org

8

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Beautiful products to inspire your customers.

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Visit go.strongtie.com/outdooraccents or call us at (800) 999-5099.

4' Display

3' Display © 2017 Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc. OADISP17

Taking Care of Business

A Team to Remember

I

“In many ways,

building a stronger team in the workplace is no different than building stronger relationships in any group you are a part of—a marriage, a family, a church.

”

was 9 years old the first time I ever heard an authority figure (other than my father) swear.

It was my Pop Warner football coach, and the team I was on was coming off winning the city championship the year before. While I was new to the team, some of the veterans (yes, 9-year-old grizzled veterans) thought their bragging rights and privileges extended into the current season and practice time.

After a less-than-full effort during practice, the coach addressed the entire team, and I still recall the exact words he said. “Men. I have just one word to describe your performance today…” Let’s just say that word rhymed with “witty” but wasn’t so complimentary.

There’s a reason I remember this little sideline speech nearly 40 years after the words were first spoken. At that moment, it impressed me that 1) he called us men, and 2) he treated us like men and gave us candid (albeit colorful) feedback about our performance. This was the first time I really felt like I was part of a team.

In this month’s issue, we look at the concept of team building, and we talk to some retailers who put a good deal of thought, effort and resources into the practice.

I don’t care if you are on the sidelines of a football field, on the salesfloor or in a newsroom, team building is so incredibly important to any organization’s overall success. And, like most worthwhile things, it’s not easy.

In fact, I would say building a strong, highly functioning team is one of the most difficult challenges for any group. The main reason it isn’t easy is that teams are, quite literally, living entities made up of people who all have their different communication styles, motivations, skillsets and challenges.

Despite what some might suggest, there is no single way to motivate a team that works in every scenario, and there is no way to force a group of people to come together as a team.

So, with so many challenges, how does one go about building a high-functioning team?

The first step has to be committing to continuous improvement with your team. The next steps are acknowledging team members’ strengths, making an effort to understand their communication styles and truly listening to their concerns and input.

Believe me, these are just some of the steps, and there is truly no end goal other than working toward improving your team’s performance, communication and overall satisfaction in the work they do.

This is a process that doesn’t end!

In many ways, building a stronger team in the workplace is no different than building stronger relationships in any group you are a part of—a marriage, a family, a church.

Healthy relationships in these areas start with respect and a mutual commitment to each other’s fulfillment and success. Oh, and the other thing that’s important to realize is that things don’t always go the way you planned. That’s why, when it comes to building a team, you have to be in it for the long haul, and you have to be patient in the process.

And if you were wondering, my Pop Warner team did not go on to repeat their championship season. While some might think this was a disappointment, the fact that I still look back fondly on my first real team is an even bigger win.

Dan M. Tratensek, Publisher

dant@nrha.org

10

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

DRIVEN TO BE THE BEST. EXPERIENCE OUR DRIVE FIRSTHAND AT THE 2017 DO IT BEST FALL MARKETSM At Do it Best Corp., we are Driven to Be the Best in every aspect of our business. That drive is delivering game-changing opportunities that challenge the industry head on. It’s a bold course of action and it works. And your business directly benefits.

The Do it Best Fall Market is your chance to discover firsthand how advancements like The Color Bar™, Retail Performance and Digital Marketing Services generate immediate sales and long-term profitability.

You’ll meet the experts—Do it Best Corp. leaders who are ready to share strategies and customizable tools that can be implemented in days. And don’t forget the thousands of jaw-dropping purchasing opportunities available only at this event.

Come see for yourself how Driven to Be the Best will drive your success, too.

2017 DO IT BEST FALL MARKETSM Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis October 13-16 For registration information, contact 888-DO IT BEST or memberservices@doitbest.com.

independentsdoitbest.com

NRHA News

NRHA Roundtable Reveals Retailer Concerns About Small Business and Government

A

s part of its mission to advocate for its members, the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) hosted a small business and government roundtable June 28-29 at its Indianapolis headquarters.

The event allowed independent home improvement retailers to discuss their legislative concerns and the regulatory challenges they face each day as small business owners.

Attendees met with government and policy experts who provided insight into the current U.S. political climate and gave advice on how retailers can help influence legislative change.

NRHA president and CEO Bill Lee detailed the top 10 government concerns retailers expressed in NRHA’s recent small business and government survey. The most pressing issue for survey respondents and attendants was the health care overhaul and how it may impact retailers’ bottom lines. Other concerns included internet sales tax laws, minimum wage and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.

Jeff Cardwell, owner of Cardwell Do it Best Home Center in Indianapolis, and former Indiana Republican Party chairman, helped lead the roundtable discussions. Ed Simcox of the Indiana Energy Association and Bill Smith, president and CEO of government relations firm Sextons Creek, also addressed attendees. U.S. Small Business Administration assistant director Holly Turner answered questions via conference call.

“Right, left, middle or indifferent, this is a powerful opportunity for someone to reach out on behalf of an issue, industry or community,” says Craig Miller, general manager of Miller Lumber Co. in Augusta, Kentucky, who attended the event.

For more information on upcoming NRHA roundtables, visit nrha.org/RLI.

14

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

A Closer Look at the Data Which government entity do you feel generally has the greatest impact on your business?

Federal Government 41% Local/Municipal Government 32% State Government 27%

Top Issues of Concern for Retailers Health Care Regulations

Minimum Wage Rules

Credit Card/Data Security Privacy Issues Social Security Instability Source: Small Business & Government Questionnaire, North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA)

NRHA News

NRHA Is a One-Stop Shop for Your Business

N

RHA represents all independent hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards regardless of wholesale affiliation. If your retail operation fits into one of those categories, NRHA offers you a wide variety of tools and resources. Are you taking advantage of all of these opportunities?

Your association provides educational resources, industry research, the ability to have your voice heard in the industry and opportunities to engage with other independent retailers and channel partners.

For more about NRHA, visit nrha.org/membership or contact Member Services at 800-772-4424 or nrha@nrha.org.

NRHA Offers Independent Retailers Tools for Success Employee Training NRHA provides all retailers access to multiple training resources, including its Train the Trainer Guide, Trainer’s Toolbox, in-depth online programs and many downloadable resources on topics like merchandising, selling skills, operations and more.

Industry Research NRHA is committed to conducting proprietary research to keep retailers informed on the state of the industry and provide the data they need to be successful. We firmly believe that retailer voices are most important, and we utilize our members to gather metrics and opinions.

Industry Events NRHA hosts several events throughout the year, and many of them are free for retailers to attend. Will you be joining us for the 2017 State of Independents Conference, 2018 NRHA All-Industry Conference or one of our many roundtable events?

Business Services NRHA partners with professional organizations to connect independent retailers to human resources, payroll processing, health insurance and other service providers. These business services programs are designed specifically with retailers’ needs in mind.

16

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

THE NEW STANDARD IN RETAIL MERCHANDISING Engage your customers and grow your structural connector sales with MiTek’s award-winning merchandising system.

Our flexible, contemporary, color-coded store sets improve way finding, easily lead customers to the solutions they are looking for, and help lift sales.

Winner of 2017 NRHA GOLD & SILVER Merchandising Awards

Color-Coded Headers | Packaging | Channel Strips Product Cards | Aisle Signs | Display Hardware

Call 800-328-5934 to learn more or visit USPconnectors.com/resources

NRHA News

Educational Opportunities

NRHA Supports Young Retailers With Educational and Networking Opportunities

N

RHA is committed to helping the independent home improvement industry welcome a new generation of leaders. The association has many programs tailored to develop young retailers in various stages of their careers, from entry-level sales associates to managers who are next-in-line owners. Here is an overview of the programs NRHA has developed specifically to prepare young leaders for their next steps and to celebrate their successes.

• • • •

18

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

The NRHA Retail Leadership Institute offers educational programming for new managers and for managers who are looking to strengthen their business management skills.

• NRHA Foundations of Leadership Program is a 16-week online leadership development course designed to teach young retailers key concepts of leadership and personal development. Eight learning modules are completed in two-week periods so students can fit the class around their schedules.

• NRHA Retail Management Certification Program is a six-month college-level course that is geared toward developing the business acumen of store managers, general managers and other next-generation leaders. Students complete a business improvement project and attend three-day classes three times over those six months at NRHA headquarters in Indianapolis.

Advocacy and Networking

Recognition in the Industry

NRHA is always looking for opportunities to bring groups of retailers together to discuss the state of the industry and how their specific group can make an impact.

NRHA recognizes the contributions young retailers make to the independent home improvement industry. Every year, the association highlights the successes of eight retailers who show what it means to be innovative, driven young leaders through their professional and personal achievements.

• Young Retailer Roundtable provides previous Young Retailers an opportunity to lend their voices to issues and trends in independent retailing. This year’s roundtable will be held Oct. 17-19 at NRHA headquarters in Indianapolis. For more information, visit TheRedT.com/young-retailer-roundtable.

• NRHA STIHL Foundations of Leadership Conference is a new event focused on bringing young retailers together with longstanding industry professionals.

It offers a chance for graduates of NRHA educational programs, current and former Young Retailers of the Year and other key industry representatives to come together for three days of networking and industry-relevant sessions.

• Young Retailer of the Year is an annual celebration of the industry’s exceptional young leaders.

For more than 21 years, the program has chosen honorees who are the future of the industry and who know what it takes to improve the independent channel. Visit TheRedT.com/yroty-2017 to see this year’s honorees.

For more information about these programs, visit nrha.org/RLI or contact Scott Wright, executive director of the NRHA Retail Leadership Institute, at swright@nrha.org or 317-275-9417.

Thousands of styles and finishes.

Everything you need, all in one place.

Jeske’s dedicated account management team delivers the service you deserve. Fast, efficient keying services save you time and money. Quick, same-day shipping from multiple distribution centers gets you what you need, when you need it. ®

THE

Delivering quality, service and reliability for almost 60 years.

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www.jeskecompany.com 800.677.3383 August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

19

Trends Promoting the Value of a First Job Finding quality employees who stay long term and have the potential to become a next-generation store leader is a concern independent home improvement retailers express to the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA).

Recruiting members of Generation Z—who are the current teens and early 20-somethings entering the workforce— may be challenging, because less than half of them work full- or part-time, according to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF). Many of them aren’t interested yet in finding work due to the low pay of first-time jobs, among other reasons, the retail trade association reports.

Yet first jobs are the initial building blocks for careers in a variety of trades. In an NRF study, most hiring managers say retail offers “foundational skills and experience that are transferable to other industries,” as well as “opportunities to start at the ground floor and work their way up.”

Applied to Retail When you are recruiting or hiring young employees who haven’t had jobs yet, you are offering opportunities for them to start building their work histories. Highlight that opportunity, and the skills they will acquire working for your business, in your job listings and in new-hire training.

NRF lists some of the skills successful workers develop in retail, such as good time management, working on teams, multitasking and treating people respectfully.

Flesh out that list for yourself and make it specific to your business. Then, discuss the list with new recruits, reinforcing the fact that you are offering them far more than just a paycheck. You are launching them into opportunities they will benefit from for the rest of their lives.

Where Generation Z Gets Its Spending Money

59%

Receive an allowance

24

%

Work part-time

22%

Earn money online

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

22%

Receive money as gifts

16%

Work for themselves

9%

Work full-time

Source: Uniquely Gen Z, National Retail Federation

s

Left to Right: Johnny Boyle III, Holly Boyle, Johnny Boyle and Milam Boyle

WHEN JOHNNY CALLS TO TALK, TRUE VALUE LISTENS ®

Johnny Boyle knows a thing or two about the retail business. After all, his grandfather opened the family’s first store in 1907. Proudly independent, with strong opinions of his own, Johnny knows when he calls, “True Value cares and will listen.”

“You have to be passionate and always do the best job you can,” says Johnny. “I know I can be pretty demanding. Operating a business and keeping my stores fresh means there are a lot of moving parts—there’s no time to rest. I focus on keeping strong departments growing and look for ways to improve those that are underperforming.”

Although three “big boys” are within a 25-mile radius of Johnny’s stores in Lakehills and Bandera, Texas, folks keep coming into town to shop his stores. “We hang our hat on customer service—for independents, price is secondary. Providing great customer service wins every time.”

“Today’s customers have more online and retail options for buying products than at any other time in history. So it’s important that I keep my businesses relevant by listening to my customers.”

True Value respects Johnny’s independence and offers sound business solutions and resources to ensure the future growth and profitability of his business. Talk to you soon, Johnny.

FREEDOM TO RUN THEIR COMPANY THEIR WAY WITHOUT INTERFERENCE

FIRST QUARTER 2017 RESULTS

+10% +17% +12% LAWN & GARDEN

PLUMBING

PAINT & SUNDRIES

+14% PROGRESSIVE GROWTH

Johnny Boyle proudly shares the business results Lakehills True Value achieved as a member of our co-op. (Your individual results may vary.)

IF YOU VALUE WHAT WE VALUE, GIVE US A CALL AT 1-888-291-7229 OR E-MAIL info @truevalue.com TrueValueCompany.com ©2017 True Value Company. All rights reserved. TVRD-13072

New Products

“The Hero Clean product line is

so cool because it gives back to our veterans. Plus, our customers like the quality. From hand soap to detergent, they are coming back to buy more.

”

—Matt Stafford, Pride Ag Ace Hardware

1 2 “Our customers love the

Piccadilly Picnic Basket.

It looks nice and comes with utensils and everything you’d need for a picnic.

—Therese Osborn, Page Hardware & Appliance Co.

1. Home Cleaning Products

2. Picnic Basket Kit

Hero Clean offers cleaning products with men in mind.

The product line includes laundry detergent, laundry pods, an all-purpose cleaner and an odor eliminator, as well as dish and hand soap. All Hero Clean products were formulated and fragranced for men's gear and homes. It has a patented Odor Defeater™ technology to target male sweat odor, and probiotic microbes attack bacterial odors. The product line is made in the U.S., and 7 percent of company profits are donated to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) organization.

The Piccadilly Picnic Basket is a fully lined red and white plaid willow basket that measures 16 inches long and has an easy-access double-lid design. The basket includes two white plates, two wine glasses, two stainless steel forks, knives and spoons and one stainless steel waiter-style corkscrew. It features a matching roll-up flatware pouch and premium leatherette accents.

Hero Clean 844-839-4376 or hero-clean.com

22

”

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Picnic Time Family of Brands 805-529-7400 or picnictime.com

RETAILER PICKS These four products were selected by retailers like you! Share your favorite products by contacting Renee Changnon at rchangnon@nrha.org.

“There are many health risks that come from metal bristle grill scrapers. We found The Great Scrape when searching for an alternative, and our customers love it.

4

”

—Steve Johnson, Mahoney’s Building Supply

3 “The Carolina Nut Company has the best nuts. We tried them at our co-op market and decided to bring them in. We offer samples at the checkout and people love them.

”

—Karen Thomas, Pahrump Rentals & Do it Best Hardware

3. Barbecue Cleaning Tool

4. Flavored Nuts

The Great Scrape is a wooden tool designed to clean the grill safely. Unlike plastic or metal wire bristle grill cleaners, The Great Scrape does not leave residue that could be ingested. Once purchased, the product is customized to fit the user's barbecue grill grate surfaces. Before its first cleaning, the user heats the grill and then works the paddle back and forth with a slow, firm pressure. It is available in three sizes: the Woody Shovel, the Woody Paddle and the Woody Nub.

The Carolina Nut Company specializes in making unique flavored nuts, peanuts, spicy nuts and candied nuts.

The snacks are completely covered with seasonings and are hand-crafted in Henderson, North Carolina. Flavors include Sea Salt and Pepper, Sriracha Ranch, Bacon Ranch, Dill Pickle, Butter Toffee and more.

The Carolina Nut Company 800-445-1404 or carolinanut.com

Thompson & Company 651-321-8220 or thegreatscrape.com

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

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6

New Products

5 5. Paint Shaker

6. Lockback Pocket Knife

Sponsored Product The S2650 5G automatic shaker is a quiet, sturdy and reliable unit designed for a variety of mixing environments.

The S2650 5G automatic shaker includes digital controls, a reversible door and a stainless steel tray for convenience and easy loading, along with an emergency stop button for enhanced security.

The Lockback Pocket Knife features a 3-inch stainless steel blade, which provides a sharp, long-lasting cutting edge.

An ergonomic, glass-filled nylon body provides superior durability. It also includes a reversible wire form clip for pocket storage and quick access, as well as a lanyard hole for easy tethering.

HERO Products Group 604-523-2460 or hero.ca

Milwaukee Tool 800-723-3878 or milwaukeetool.com

SAFE & EFFECTIVE

NEW!

• VOC Compliant Graffiti Removers • Great for Municipalities and Schools • Made with 100% American Grown Soybeans • Virtually No Odor • Environmentally Friendly

Made in the USA

24

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Call us today! 800.538.5069 Or visit us online: www.franmar.com

Available through:

7

8

7. Scraping Spoon

8. Clothing Folder

The Mini Supoon (meaning Sit Up Scraping Spoon) measures one teaspoon and scrapes product out of jars and tight containers. It has a flat, squeegee tip and flexible scraping sides. When a user puts it down, its head sits up, so it works for serving dips and tapas, too. The product has a nylon handle and a silicone head.

The MiracleFold™ is a tool that allows the user to fold a garment evenly and uniformly in seconds through five easy steps. The MiracleFold works on all kinds of shirts, pants and towels. It takes up very limited storage space, and can be tucked away or hung anywhere. The MiracleFold features a no-slip back, has dedicated hand slots to lift the panels and contains self-hanging slots. It is manufactured using polypropylene and is easy to clean.

Dreamfarm Inc. 415-626-3333 or dreamfarm.com

Above Edge 855-864-7225 or themiraclefold.com

New Products

463371316

9

463672016

9. Sleeping Pad

MORE FLAVOR Hotter temperatures vaporize and lock in juices for more flavorful meals.

MORE VERSATILITY Better heat control allows for temperature ranges unattainable by conventional grills.

MORE CONSISTENT Specialized grates separate the food from the flames distributing heat evenly.

The Insulated Double V is a doublewide pad that sleeps up to two people and provides four-season insulation and comfort. The body-mapped V chamber design limits air movement. The Klymalite™ insulation isolates the top and bottom halves of the pad, keeping the cold air on the bottom and warm air next to the body.

The pad fits in a two-person tent and is rugged enough to use on the ground.

The Insulated Double V weighs 52 ounces.

Klymit 888-559-6481 or klymit.com

American Made & Profitable For Over 80 Years

EXPERIENCE TRU-INFRARED GRILLING Char-Broil® TRU-Infrared Grills cook food evenly throughout, locking in natural juices and delivering unrivaled taste.

TM

With a variety of clearly marked spring assortments, Ajax offers your customers ease of selection for their specific needs. Each assortment comes in their own unique case. Our storage cabinets and kits, provide assortments of Steel Lock, Brass Lock, Music Wire, Stainless Steel, Extension, Compression and more, each making dispensing efficient and economical.

Ask for our Product Catalog which provides product descriptions and size specifications.

Toll Free: 855-966-AJAX (2529) www.ajaxwire.com ajaxwire@aol.com 119 Bloomingdale Road, Hicksville, NY 11801

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

NEW!

10

11 10. Inflatable Hammock ™

The WindPouch GO Inflatable Hammock inflates in seconds. The product has a wedge pillow headrest, includes reinforced seams and triple stitching to support up to 550 pounds of weight, and has an integrated hanging mesh pocket for water bottles, books, phones and tablets. The product is made of Hex-RS™ hexagonal nylon ripstop shell with a durable water repellent coating.

WindLock™ technology keeps air in for six to eight hours of inflation time.

WindPouch 678-428-5805 or windpouch.com

11. Water Filter The compact Travel Berkey water filter is designed for small homes and apartments, for use during travel or for outdoor activities or an unexpected emergency. The Travel Berkey is made of a highly polished 304 stainless steel, including two Black Berkey purification elements, two chambers, a lid, spigot and a rubber gasket to protect the base. This system is designed for one to three people and for those with a small amount of counter space.

Big Berkey Water Filters 877-992-3753 or bigberkeywaterfilters.com

Ask about our comprehensive line of SCENT CONTROL PRODUCTS CALL TODAY:

1-800-247-5102

Ext. 262

WHINK PRODUCTS COMPANY www.whink.com

New Products

12 13 12. Ergonomic Shears

13. Finger Guard

The PowerArc™ Easy Action™ Shears are designed with curved blades that alter the angle between blades to offer 30 percent more power during a cut. The spring-assisted handle features an open-top look so more power can be brought to each cut.

The large bottom loop means even gloved hands can use the shears in comfort.

The Tip Tough finger guard protects a hand up to the second knuckle, the most likely area to be nicked when using a kitchen knife to chop ingredients. The Tip Tough is available in home and professional grades, for retail and commercial distribution worldwide.

Fiskars Brands 866-348-5661 or fiskars.com

O

EW

N

M

Picklehead 410-726-4051 or tiptough.com

Leading Technology at the Best Value

S L E

D

In response to users’ demand and market trends for more efficient POS paint equipment, HERO Products Group has added the A300 Series Automatic Colorant Dispenser and the S2650 5G Automatic Platform Shaker

Accuracy Repeatability Reliability A

CC

URAC

Y

PCP

Technology

28

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

MIXING TECHNOLOGY

Self - Service Model

Multi-size Capabilities

15 minutes Pump Replacement

Quiet, Sturdy, Reliable

Up to 80 oz/min. Max Dispense

Reversible Door

Small Footprint

Small Footprint

A300 Series Enhanced, smoother, and robust new frame for improved performance and self-maintenance capabilities

TECHNICAL SUPPORT NETWORK THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA

ELLIPTICAL

S2650 5G Automatic Platform Shaker

Full line of paint equipment

www.hero.ca

14

15

14. Scented Stuffed Animals

15. Self-Cleaning Toilet

Sweet Scented Pillow Pets are toys that deliver the smell of sweet treats in a pillow a child can hug. The subtle scent patches come in flavors like cotton candy, gummy bears, cookies and more. Sweet Scented Pillow Pets are surface washable and feature long-lasting scents. The scents are created in the U.S. and are made from sustainably harvested trees or cotton. Each scent has certification from the International Fragrance Association and complies with toy regulations, including stuffed animals.

ActiClean is a toilet that cleans itself, removing dirt and stains with the press of a button. It combines the power of the exclusive VorMax flushing technology with an integrated, user-activated cleaning system. ActiClean scours the bowl with cleaning fluid, using a powerful jet of water to deliver a clean bowl. All cleaning components and batteries are discreetly hidden and easily accessible.

CJ Products 760-724-7225 or mypillowpets.com

American Standard 800-442-1902 or americanstandard-us.com

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

29

17

New Products

16 NEW

16. Retractable Lint Rollers The Flint retractable lint roller removes sweater pill, lint and pet hair from clothing and other materials like tabletops, chairs and lampshades in one easy motion. Flint is made using the highest-quality tape to be extra sticky. The core is made from recycled plastic. To use the Flint, the user just twists the base and the lint roller extends. It's easy to take on the go, and a roll contains 30 reusable sheets.

Refill packs are sold separately.

Think Products Lab orders@thinkproductlab.com or meetflint.com

ONE TON

TWO TON

FOUR TON

3/4 -Ton Rope Puller

1-Ton Strap Puller

Fence Pliers

1/2-Ton Wire Grip

Woven Wire Stretcher

Fencing Wire Stretcher

Contact Ancra Consumer / Industrial Customer Service at 800-626-8353 www.ancra.com 30

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

17. Portable Tea Infuser The activiTEA travel infuser from Adagio Teas allows the user to brew and drink loose leaf tea on the go. It has a stainless-steel infuser, borosilicate glass inside and out, a flexible strap and double-wall construction to maintain temperature.

The tumbler holds 10 ounces of liquid and has a cap that fits both the glass container and the plastic infuser.

Adagio Teas 973-253-7400 or adagioxl.com

TM

18

19 18. Shower Made with a durable PVC body, the 5-Gallon Camp Shower keeps users clean in remote locations. It comes with a screw-cap opening for filling and an on/off spray nozzle for showering. It also has a rigid hanging bar and carry handle. The shower provides 11 minutes and 45 seconds of continuous water flow.

Full Line of Pest Control Products.

Since 1924, we have been committed to producing reliable, reusable pest control solutions. Whether you are looking for snap traps or live capture devices, our trusted product lineup will help you attract, trap, and eliminate the problem. Period.

Seattle Sports 800-632-6163 or seattlesportsco.com

19. Home Health Monitor Netatmo’s Healthy Home Coach shows users how to have the healthiest home. The Healthy Home Coach has four precise sensors, which monitor humidity, air quality, noise and temperature. The product is sleek, so it can blend into any home. It has an easy Wi-Fi setup, requires no subscription or fees and can be controlled through the product’s app to access the home’s indoor climate and stats from anywhere. For a more in-depth analysis, multiple Home Health Monitors can be set up in rooms throughout the home and synced to the app.

Netatmo affiliate-eu@netatmo.com or netatmo.com

1-year warranty

Simple to use

Hand tested products

Built to perform

High-quality materials

Less than 1% return rate

Kness Mfg. Co., Inc. · PO Box 70 · Albia, IA 52531  800 247 5062  kness.com | August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

31

“A large factor in our decision to join Midwest was the area rep’s great service reputation. The department facelift was an added bonus!”

Emily & John DeWeese, Owners, DeWeese Hardware, Traverse City, MI.

Pictured: Chris Tassone, Midwest Fastener Representative Derek Ekins, Store Manager

For your very own fastener destination, contact Glen @ 800-444-7313 x 120

800.444.7313

fastenerconnection.com

Checkouts UNIQUE DISPLAY

Finding Just the Place for a Metter Mural

F

or a long time, the building behind Trapnell-Tomlinson Co. in Metter, Georgia, had just a blank wall on the east end that could easily be seen from a major thoroughfare for the community. Owner Pernal Franklin has long envisioned having a mural on the wall that drew attention not just to his store, but to the community as a whole. He was just unsure of how to proceed.

“I could not come up with someone to do it, nor did I know what to include in the painting,” he says.

Metter Middle School art teacher Kelly Brockway had a vision in mind for such a project. Once Franklin shared his thoughts, Brockway began developing the idea. “Using an old post card as a reference, we wanted to use our local slogan, ‘Everything’s Better in Metter,’ to tell a story about our wonderful little town that God has blessed us with,” Franklin says.

Once Brockway established a design for the project, she laid the mural off in squares and had some of her art students assist her in laying out and painting the mural.

The stages of completion for the mural at Trapnell-Tomlinson Co. in Metter, Georgia, are pictured. Owner Pernal Franklin had wanted to put a mural on his warehouse, but it wasn’t until he partnered with a local teacher that he was able to put thought into action.

Looking for creative ways to engage customers? Whether it’s promotions, merchandising, special events or unique advertising, we cover it here. Have an idea? Contact Liz Lichtenberger, llichtenberger@nrha.org, to have your story considered for publication.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Join Us in Chicago!

ACE HARDWARE 2017 FALL CONVENTION

YOU’RE

INVITED!

AUGUST 16–19, 2017

To register, call us at (630) 990-3614.

Service. Convenience. Quality.

Free Initial Inventory* 5% gross profit improvement in year one Lowest cost of goods – We can prove it!** Access to the Best Brands

myace.com 630.990.6900 TXT

*Incentive varies by store. Format/size are based on Discovery recommended products and quantities. Incentive given as a credit, not as cash or a loan. **Ace 2015 Retail Financial Report, Profit Planning Group. Based on comparison to competitive suppliers.

Checkouts

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Helping Eagles Earn Their Wings

L

arry and Chris Drennen both achieved the rank of Eagle Scout when they were teenagers. Now, as owners of two stores in Pennsylvania—Oxford Feed & Lumber in Oxford and Brandywine Ace, Pet & Farm in West Chester—they want to help others accomplish that same milestone.

To become an Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts must complete a service project, often involving some type of construction. The Drennen brothers set up a program where they offer to donate 20 percent of the cost of each Scout’s project and then sell the remainder of the materials to the Scout at cost. They also help Scouts design the project and compile an appropriate list of materials for the job. They’ve worked with nearly 18 different Boy Scout troops between their two stores, and estimate they’ve helped hundreds of Scouts over the past 15 years.

“We do quite a bit of community support; that’s one of the key tenents of our business,” Larry says.

“Scouting is strong in our area,” Chris says, “and we feel it’s a very worthwhile program to support.”

Eagle Scout Garland Neil Hamilton (center) presented Larry (left) and Chris Drennen (right) a token of thanks for supporting his project.

UNIQUE DISPLAY

Stepping Into the Past

W

This manual register is just one of several items on display at the in-store museum at Schauer’s Hardware.

36

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

hen customers walk in to Schauer’s Hardware, one unexpected turn can lead them to learning about the store’s history.

The Forest Park, Illinois, business has a second floor of wooden balconies overlooking the downstairs area, which owner Richard Schauer says “makes it very interesting to try and merchandise things.” The balcony on one side contains the store’s selection of grills. On the other is the employee kitchen and office—and an in-store museum showcasing the history of the business, which has been in the Schauer family since 1998 but has been a hardware store in that location since 1920.

That second balcony was originally a storage space, but was converted into a museum at the urging of some customers, Schauer says. “Over time, we started organizing and displaying everything we’d collected. We have some old tools, original boxes of Borax—all kinds of things. We use the older bins and racks to showcase everything.”

Now, parents bring their kids upstairs to see manual registers, old filing cabinets and much more. “After 70-plus years of collecting, we have some cool stuff to show off,” Schauer says.

“We even have customers who bring us things to display.”

It’s all part of having a hardware store that’s a mix of original and modern, one of Schauer’s goals. “We’ve done our best to keep it as original as possible. We have an unfinished concrete floor and the old-timey store smell. These are things that can be tough to recreate.”

No Rustpassing

®

with Aidant Brands™

Prevent Rust • Lubricate • Penetrate

The Missing Link

For more information and a FREE sample, visit

rustpatrol.com/august

Checkouts

MERCHANDISING

No Weight Too Small

T

ucked away in the back of Snodderley Lumber in Clearmont, Missouri, is a trip into the past. Running along the wall are bins containing every kind of bolt, washer and nut imaginable, and on a counter right next to them sits a scale ready to portion out each order.

Office manager Brooke Kinsella says the store does a lot of business with its small hardware items, especially with the local farming community.

“Out on the farm, there’s always something that needs fixing,” she says. The scale is also used to measure nails and screws.

On top of its continued usefulness for the Snodderley Lumber business interests, the scale and bin section keeps ties close to the family’s roots in the store.

Snodderley Lumber was started by Kinsella’s grandfather in 1964; today, the lumberyard and hardware store remains a focal point of the Clearmont community. A local group of community members still gathers at the store each day for coffee, Kinsella says.

A classic scale still sits on a counter at Snodderley Lumber in Clearmont, Missouri.

UNIQUE NICHE

Helping Create a Floral Memorial

A

few years ago, Jill and Jeremy Post, owners of Post’s Hardware Hank, noticed that around Memorial Day, it was difficult to find a place in town to buy flowers or ornaments to decorate the graves of veterans.

The small town of Hankinson, North Dakota, has five cemeteries, so that meant a lot of residents who wanted to honor their loved ones had to drive out of town for a purchase as simple as a bouquet of flowers.

To help their customers, the Posts began stocking a variety of artificial flower arrangements and wreaths in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day. The section has grown to an 8-foot gondola run that includes flowers, LED candles and other ornaments.

“We bring in the flowers and ornaments early in May and usually sell everything out by the time Memorial Day arrives,” says Jill. “It’s something nice we can offer our customers who want a way to honor their veterans over that weekend.”

Retailers who want to follow the Posts’ lead and sell memorial decorations as a convenience to their customers can stock them around not only Memorial Day, but also the other patriotic holidays of the year, including Veteran’s Day and Patriot Day (Sept. 11).

During the time leading up to Memorial Day, Post’s Hardware Hank sells a variety of flowers and wreaths so it’s easy for local residents to find something to honor the grave sites of friends and family.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Teams

That Work How to Build, and Maintain, a Positive Business Culture

D

espite an enviable location in Hawaii, HPM has survived its share of hard times. Established in 1921 during the Great Depression, it survived a temporary takeover by the U.S. Navy Seabees in World War II and, in 1946 and 1960, was rebuilt after being destroyed by tsunamis. But ask someone in company leadership, and they’ll likely tell you that nothing can destroy a business faster than lack of unity on the team.

That’s why the company takes team building seriously.

To maintain its position as a leading hardware and building material retailer, HPM has invested time and resources in its biggest asset—its staff. But for HPM, team building isn’t just a nice, feel-good activity that’s an add-on to the company picnic. Teamwork is any way they can help employees learn to work together and respect each other. It’s the foundation for everything else that happens in the store.

If you want your store to live up to its full potential, turn first to your staff. On the following pages, we’ll show you how HPM keeps its employees engaged and how retailers at HomCo Lumber & Hardware in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Livingston Ace Hardware in Livingston, Montana, found success after correcting the problem of disunity in the staff.

We also talk to Rob Mathews, director of the John H. Schnatter Institute at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, who has advice for retailers who want to find a way to make team building work for them.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

41

Building a Company Culture

A

sense of the importance of working together runs deep at HPM, which has eight retail locations as well as distribution and building material production facilities in Hawaii. The company is 100-percent employee owned, which means everyone has a vested interest in maintaining a business that runs smoothly and profitably. For Tracie White, talent development manager at the company, the purpose for team-building is simple: Employees who learn to work together are more productive. They deliver better customer service and sell more.

Team building is the culmination of a process that starts with teaching people to get along, says White. The more she gets employees engaged in team-building exercises, the more she’s able to see its effects.

Team building reduces the number of groups that don’t communicate much with each other.

When they don’t communicate, or help each other out, they slow down the efficiency of the store and make it more difficult to deliver good customer service.

One of White’s roles at the store is to encourage team building whenever and wherever she can, across all of HPM’s facilities. In staff meetings, she mixes employees from different departments so they feel more comfortable talking with each other when they’re on the job. “When they start building their own networks in the company, instead of always going to management with their questions, they can go to their peers first,” she says. That helps them solve problems faster.

HPM operates eight retail locations in Hawaii, as well as building material production and distribution facilities. It serves a mix of homeowner and contractor customers.

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Employees with a team mentality are also willing to help wherever needed, even if it means working outside their job descriptions.

That improves overall employee morale, which has a ripple effect everywhere in the operation.

Employees will also be able to take better care of customers, because they’re working together to find answers to questions and meet needs.

By promoting a spirit of team building in your business, you are also showing you want to invest in your employees. You are demonstrating you want employees to have a great work environment, you care about their needs and prioritize making their jobs more productive. That can reduce turnover and help employees feel more invested in the company.

“Many times we, as retailers, focus first on our facilities and on the products we are selling, and tend to put the most investment on those items,” White says. “But you can’t do anything without the people and without the team. When something starts to go wrong with your business, it’s because employees are isolated from each other. Customers can feel that, and employees don’t want to stay somewhere like that. Focusing on team building will improve your business from both a morale and profitability standpoint.”

How Team Building Works at HPM White encourages employees throughout the company to work together, both formally and informally. There’s no single best way to make it happen, but here are a few of her strategies.

Overcome the ‘Too Busy’ Excuse Ask the typical retailer if they are promoting teamwork among their staff, and the first excuse you will hear, White says, is “I’m too busy.” “I think we as retailers understand that the more we learn to work together, the better for our customers and the better for us,” she says. “But we get so caught up in the day-to-day tasks that we forget the bigger picture of the importance of working together as a team.”

To forego time spent in simple team-building exercises is nearsighted, she says. However, getting buy-in from all of her managers and staff requires work on her part. White talks to each team leader on staff, face to face, to explain what she’s hoping to accomplish through her team-building activity and asks for their feedback. Then, she talks to individuals on the team and tells them that while she understands they have a lot to do that day, if they will just

“You’re looking for that aha! moment when they finally understand what it means to work together.

”

—Tracie White, HPM

you don’t need a lot of resources,” she says. “If you make it too fancy, people will focus on the fanciness and not on the team building. You’re looking for that aha! moment when they finally understand what it means to work together.”

HPM’s location in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, was recently remodeled to be more appealing to the consumer.

give her an hour of their time, it will be worth it in the long run. Generally, she finds employees are enthusiastic about participating; they just need their minds put at ease that pulling away for a team-building session is just as important as the list of tasks they have to do.

Keep It Simple When it comes to planning a team-building activity for the staff, don’t think you have to create elaborate exercises. Less is more. And it should be fun. The best activities are simple, and the more complicated they are, the more likely you are to run into trouble.

It’s good to have a plan, but don’t let your plan hijack the natural flow of the meeting or stifle what might start to happen naturally as your employees get together. “I always over plan the activity in my head, and then just let it go naturally,” White says. “During the activity, the real idea is for me to be quiet and just roll with it, and let the people team build.”

Activities don’t need a lot of expensive resources. White usually just gathers items from around the store. “People react a lot better when

Determine Your Objective If you are planning a formal team-building activity, first determine what you want to get out of it. Some activities might promote trust, while others focus more on communication.

White talks to managers at each location about their teams’ strengths and weaknesses. She asks what results they would like to see from a team-building activity, and then starts planning appropriate activities from there.

For example, if it seems different teams in a particular store distrust each other, she will look for an activity centered on trust. That could involve putting a blindfold on one person and then having another lead them through an obstacle course.

Let Employees Job Shadow One of the best ways to establish stronger teams is to make sure everyone on staff has a sense of what everyone else is doing. White wants to help each employee know as much about the company as possible, especially if they are considering transitioning into a new role in the company.

To help, employees have the opportunity to shadow someone working in their desired position and make sure they want to take on all the responsibilities that new job entails.

Sometimes employees are still eager to take on the new role; other times they decide the new job is not for them. In either case, it’s a win for the employee and the company. What’s important is how the employee was able to see the company from another viewpoint.

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“The best team building happens from job shadowing someone else and seeing the world from their point of view,” she says. “That builds the connection, understanding and empathy for other employees.”

Promote Activities Outside of Work Some of the most effective team building happens outside of planned activities, and even outside of work. Finding ways to get employees to eat together, such as a pitch-in meal, is a simple but powerful way to build a team.

“The best events are those that just sprout up, those that the employees plan on their own and that happen outside of work,” White says. It might be a group going to the beach together, or a movie.

“That’s when they can let their true personalities come out and get to know each other and enjoy being with each other. Get your employees to feel comfortable being together, and you’ll start to build a team.”

By building better teams, Tracie White at HPM hopes employees across all departments of the company will have better communication with each other.

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When promoting activities outside of normal working hours, make sure you are paying employees for any mandatory function. And make sure they don’t feel pressured to be a part of an after-work function if it’s an informal gathering where they are not getting paid.

Beware of Team Killers As you work on building a team, be on the lookout for those attitudes that can sabotage your efforts. Ego is a primary culprit. There may be those who feel they are self-sufficient and have all the answers, so they don’t need a team.

The antidote is to encourage them to see the bigger picture.

Just as harmful are the naysayers—those who are always criticizing the company, other team members or company activities. Stop negative attitudes early before they permeate the entire group, which can happen quickly.

When White hears a naysayer, she doesn’t call them out in front of the entire group.

Rather, she will talk to them privately and ask them to tell her more about what is bothering them. “It could be that they just need to talk through the situation and don’t know how to express how they’re feeling about it,” she says.

“I don’t put the person on the spot, as that might drive them further into their negative attitude, but I don’t ignore it, as it might influence other people.”

Model From the Top Teams are stronger when employees realize that everyone, even the leadership, will help out when needed. HPM is a family business that dates back five generations. Michael Fujimoto is the current CEO and his son, Jason, is president.

Michael’s father, Robert—Bobby—is retired but is still a visible presence at the company.

Each of those family members is never far removed from the day-to-day operations and the people who make it happen. “There are several occasions where I’ve spotted Bobby Fujimoto (now in his 90s) outside in the parking lot, picking up trash and putting away shopping carts,” says White. “During the big tool sale we recently had at the store, Jason Fujimoto stood at the front and greeted every customer who walked in the door. If your team can see their president wants to be a part of the team, that’s the biggest impact they can make.”

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Play-by-Play Look at HPM’s Team-Building Activity

1. Explain the Agenda

2. Start the Activity

It’s 9 a.m. on Tuesday, and employees gather in a conference room at HPM in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Tracie White, HPM’s energetic talent development manager, succinctly explains the agenda. “We’re here to build a more united us.” The meeting is all about getting employees to work together and connecting to those in other departments.

White divides the group into several teams, each with a similar goal: Build a tower with a bucket of supplied items found around the store. The team with the tallest tower wins. Before the building begins, they have a few minutes to plan. White encourages everyone to contribute to the plan and to listen to their co-workers’ ideas.

3. Let Groups Work Together

4. Find Key Takeaways Everyone enjoys the bout of friendly competition, but it doesn’t take long for them to start discussing what they learned from the activity. Common themes emerge, including accountability, communication, respect and healthy relationships. For White, it’s been a successful meeting.

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The timer starts, and each team starts building their tower. Everyone contributes. Most towers follow a similar pattern: The bucket is the base with masking tape as the fastener that holds everything together. But eventually, as the timer stops, one tower inches a bit taller than the rest, and a winner is declared.

To watch a video of this activity and hear more about what team building means at HPM, go to TheRedT.com/HPM.

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Starting From the Ground Up

N

ot every business has their team-building program figured out. No fear, we’re here to help. What happens when you realize that your team isn’t as strong, as close-knit or as steady as you would like? We talked to two retailers to see how they turned things around.

Identify the Problem A positive, supportive, and yes, effective work environment doesn’t appear out of a vacuum. It requires time, effort and a longterm approach to team building that can foster the attitude and gather the personnel a store needs to provide the greatest level of service to its customers.

Beginning a team-building program often starts with a realization that there is a problem in the current situation. Is employee morale low? Are top employees and future management candidates leaving for other businesses rather than staying with the business? All of these signs

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and more can be indicators that your workforce needs a restart.

For Livingston Ace Hardware in Livingston, Montana, and its two sister stores, the call came in the form of new ownership seeing the workforce with fresh eyes. Owner Matt Dowdell and his partner Tom Shellenberg bought the group in 2006 and quickly realized that the employees felt little to no ownership in the store.

“It was really evident to me that our employees were underpaid and underappreciated. Morale and engagement were low because they didn’t have much information. They didn’t know what was happening in the business or why decisions were being made,” Dowdell says. “We wanted to demonstrate we were coming in with a different approach. We set out to better understand how we could build a business with the best pay, benefits and professional development possible in the area.”

It doesn’t always take a new owner group coming in to see that a new approach is warranted.

Mike Brackin, owner of HomCo Lumber & Hardware in Flagstaff, Arizona, has been in the industry since childhood. Beginning when his father started a store called “Odds-N-Ends” in 1975, Brackin has built one of the largest lumber supply stores and retail businesses in the city.

However, the store’s growth hasn’t come without hurdles. About four years ago, Brackin and general manager Todd Callan received customer and employee engagement surveys that showed scores far lower than they had seen previously.

HomCo is different than most other hardware stores, Brackin says, as it operates as more of a lumberyard with hardware departments. The separation of the store departments led to different divisions of employees not communicating constructively, with only 5 percent of employees responding on the survey that the workforce offered good service to customers.

Livingston Ace Hardware, in Livingston, Montana, and its sister stores had their workforces revitalized by a recommitment by management to team building.

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“When you get that response from your employees, you have a problem,” Brackin says. “We started working on our employee engagement, because that mirrors and reflects our customer engagement.”

Building a Foundation Once you realize there’s a problem, the next step is determining the path to a solution. For HomCo and Livingston Ace, that meant going back to the very basics of team dynamics and employee fulfillment.

Dowdell says his and his partner’s first thought was to build a reputation around each of their stores for their positive relationship with employees. That attitude, he says, would then pay off in reactions from customers who engage with employees.

“We went line item by line item on the stores for ways to move money around,” Dowdell says.

“We investigated market pay. Whatever it is, we want to be at the top. Those initial steps were all about building from the ground floor. Better benefits, better pay, more personal leave time, those are things that aren’t often seen in retail.”

Team-Building Activities

“Employees know we

are investing in them because we want them to be invested in us.

—Todd Callan, HomCo Lumber & Hardware

”

HomCo also put an emphasis on developing employees and building a reputation for satisfaction in its employees. The store’s unique interview process involves a full panel of employees, from management to cashiers and floor staff, introducing job candidates to a diverse employee base. These panels show candidates that this is a place to build a career if you’re willing to buy in, he says.

“We want people to know that a career in this industry, here at HomCo, is a possibility,” Callan says. “We have 401(k) program and an aggressive paid time off program, and we put

Scavenger Hunt As part of HomCo’s “Get Active” campaign, employees are given a crossword-style puzzle that reveals clues to the location of a cardboard cutout of owner Mike Brackin in a store T-shirt. The cutout is hidden in the plentiful wilderness around Flagstaff, Arizona, and employees are encouraged to group together and take on the hikes to the cutout once the clues are compiled.

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DiSC Owner Matt Dowdell and his team at Livingston Ace believe so much in the DiSC training program, which is designed to identify each team member’s best team attributes and how they work together with others, that they got their general manager certified as a trainer in the program.

a lot of effort into our training. Employees know we are investing in them because we want them to be invested in us.”

While making pay and benefits a priority can certainly help employee morale, a team culture goes beyond just numbers. Brackin, Callan and Dowdell all cite values and vision statements as the building blocks for turning around an employee base and forming a stronger unit in the workplace.

Better communication is often a building block for resetting the team dynamic in a retail business.

HomCo’s core values are listed as integrity, innovative thinking, maturity and judgment, people-focused behavior, accountability, communication and team leadership.

Tying each employee-to-employee interaction, as well as customer interaction, back to these vision statements and values is the beginning of remaking a culture, Callan says. For HomCo, having a busy lumberyard, along with its retail salesfloor, had developed divisions between employees that were hampering customer service. The initial stages of the new focus on values and vision statements had several hurdles, as entrenched attitudes and behaviors were still evident even as the store was gaining momentum in its team-building model.

That didn’t deter Callan’s team, he says. The end goal would be a benefit for the employees, the business and its customers, and he kept his sights on that.

“When we said, ‘This is how we’re going to move forward,’ we had a lot of fallout and turnover during about a two-year period. Total buy-in wasn’t there,” Callan says. “A lot of what we’re trying to do is get people working together. Internal customer service is the key. We’re not building walls up between the salesfloor to the lumberyard to the administration. We’re tearing those walls down.”

Egg Dropping

Panel Interviews First-round interviews with new hire candidates at HomCo are conducted in a group setting, with all interview subjects together in a room with about seven employees. The employees foster a fun atmosphere by cheering and welcoming each interview subject individually as they enter the room. Afterward, the group convenes to discuss candidate answers and reactions.

Designed with problem solving and collaboration in mind, the egg drop exercise at HomCo challenges several teams of employees to build devices that shelter an egg from harm during progressively higher falls.

Materials include balloons, rubber bands, ice pop sticks, newspaper, straws and tape. Employees must work together and cannot use any outside tools to aid their designs.

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Not Just Activities While both retailers dedicate time to activities like employee outings, communication activities and exercise programs, those aren’t the foundations of their team-building endeavors.

Those things are byproducts of a solid team working together, Dowdell says, not the first step to building a team.

“The trainer has to

be well-versed in everything on the floor.

It might be a luxury to have a full-time trainer, but we’re putting a lot into our training.

”

—Todd Callan, HomCo Lumber & Hardware

For Dowdell, it begins with a profile sheet asking each employee to identify which core values mean the most to them and why. It asks how interactions between employees and customers can be related back to these values and what an employee feels their role is in the culture.

HomCo maintains a full-time trainer on staff as part of its onboarding process for new hires that is an integral part of its team-building environment, Callan says. Investing in a dedicated trainer not only helps a new hire learn the necessary job-specific skills, but it also immerses the new hire in the company’s culture, attitude and dedication to its values.

Not surprisingly, the trainer position is key for HomCo’s success in team building. Staying consistent on the store’s training philosophy has helped foster the communal environment they were seeking from the beginning, Callan says.

“The position has really evolved from when we started,” Callan says. “The trainer has to be well-versed in everything on the floor. It might be a luxury to have a full-time trainer, but we’re putting a lot into our training.”

Outside Help

The establishment of a strong company culture can help foster a better working relationship for all employees, from management to floor staff.

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Contractors and team-building experts can be great resources for retailers looking to revamp their culture and team dynamics, and both Livingston Ace and HomCo looked to outside sources for help in their own efforts.

Having an outside perspective was key to identifying exactly what was causing the low engagement scores, Brackin says, but the more important benefit is the kind of crossing of ideas, methods and practices that can be difficult for a smaller retailer to achieve.

“We are in a group of other retailers who work with the same contractor, and it’s important due to one fact: You don’t know what you don’t know. Everyone thinks they’re doing the right things, but this gets you out of your own tunnel and engaging with other people working through the same issues that you are,” Brackin says.

While budgeting the cost of an outside consultant can be a daunting task, Brackin says it is more about an attitude of listening to outside ideas.

“Small retailers think they can’t get that help, but they can. Maybe not always on the same level, but there are a lot of things out there to learn.

Even if resources are thin, you can determine your goals and go from there,” Brackin says.

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Making a Team Successful

Rob Mathews, who has past hardware retailing experience, now works with the Schnatter Institute at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He knows firsthand the importance of a strong sense of teamwork among employees.

Mathews served as assistant director of the entrepreneurship center for six years prior to becoming the director of entrepreneurial leadership at the university level. He has previously been part owner in Marco True Value Hardware in Marco Island, Florida, and owner of Mathews True Value Home Center in Pendleton, Indiana.

and do something that maybe isn’t your bread and butter or part of your go-to skill set. If you’re asked to do those other things repetitively, you won’t be happy in your job. If that’s happening with multiple people, you won’t have a very good team dynamic, because you could have several unhappy people on your team.

It’s important to know where each person fits best in each team, so you can ensure you are using each employee to his or her greatest potential or make sure you have satisfied, fulfilled employees.

Hardware Retailing (HR): What’s the importance of having a good sense of teamwork among your employees?

Rob Mathews (RM): It’s definitely very important. It helps when employees are aware of each other’s quirks, abilities and preferences.

They may not always agree, but they can better understand where the other is coming from.

I think sports are a good analogy. There are defined roles, as well as certain measures of accountability. Each person has a responsibility, or several. Occasionally you’ll have to step up

HR: What are some of the ways you can implement that sense of teamwork among your staff?

RM: It’s helpful to have a common goal. That should be your starting point. It includes knowing a business’ vision, values and mission statement.

The next step is to bring awareness to who everyone is on the team. What does each person bring to the table? How do they tend to operate?

What they like to do? What don’t they like to do?

There’s a program called StrengthsFinder that includes an assessment to help employees identify their strongest strengths and talents. It also includes

Rob Mathews Director John H. Schnatter Institute Ball State University

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

an exercise called “The Best of Me.” You ask each person to finish these sentences: “You get the best of me when ...” and “You get the worst of me when ...” It helps people identify how they work best in their workplace.

Next comes responsibility and accountability.

Let’s go back to the sports analogy. If you put a wide receiver at quarterback for a game, you’re putting them in a role that they aren’t most comfortable with. Maybe all three of your quarterbacks are hurt and it’s what you have to do, but it’s not ideal.

HR: Do you think personality assessments play a helpful role?

RM: I’m a big fan of assessments. I tend to think of personality or temperament profiles as being like the air we breathe. Personality is always present and generally doesn’t change much.

These personality assessments, such as Myers-Briggs or DiSC, provide some great information. If you look at these results, you can see where there might be personality conflicts or where people might work exceptionally well together, and it certainly helps to be aware of those.

But you have to go beyond that. The next step is to look at functionality. You’ll be working to look at each employee’s expectations and performance.

I think the StrengthsFinder program does a good job of showing how people are wired. If you know that, you know what makes each person more engaged and more productive. With a collection of engaged employees, you have good team dynamics and good teamwork.

For example, an extroverted person could do an exceptional job on the salesfloor, but if they’re dealing with an introverted customer, there might be a problem. An introverted and deliberative employee might do a better job working with that particular customer, who will want some time to think and process things.

I think assessments often involve just the first step, the personality profile. The functionality side—what to do with this information and how it helps figure out where someone fits best on a team—is really important.

Once you know what each person’s personality is like, you have to look at how it can affect which job would be best for them. You have to get in to the psychology of what drives people, what sandbox they like to play in.

“If you know more about the people you already have, you can see where there are missing holes, and you can look to hire people with those specific skill sets.

”

HR: What about team-building activities?

RM: When I think of the phrase “team building,” I think of two very different definitions. One would be to look at how you build a team as a leader or manager. The other is what most people probably think of when they hear “team-building exercise,” and that’s something like a bowling night or ropes course.

The first type would involve an exercise you might find through StrengthsFinder or DiSC. Those can be extremely helpful. People can talk about what they like and how they work best.

You can draw in some personal things, but it’s really a good way to get to know someone professionally. This helps ensure you have staff members in the right positions on the team, or if you don’t, that you can look at possibly reorganizing to ensure you have everyone in the best place possible.

It’s also helpful information to have if you’re looking to hire someone else for your team. If you know more about the people you already have, you can see where there are missing holes, and you can look to hire people with those specific skill sets.

Other team-building exercises, such as a ropes course or some sort of trust exercise, can be good, but the results are temporary. I had a mentor who told me once that you have to be careful doing these exercises after work hours, as employees may think you are getting in to their personal time and may resent that.

It’s not saying you can’t do them then, but it’s something to think about.

Also keep in mind that some people might not like a particular activity. They may not enjoy bowling or may be embarrassed. If you take

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55

them too far out of their comfort zone, it can have a damaging effect. You have to make sure you pick an activity that is “safe” and that may not make anyone feel uncomfortable.

HR: Do you think regular meetings or group huddles are helpful?

RM: They are good if they are purposeful.

If it’s a feel-good exercise, you’ll have a small

“Good communication is a

very important part of having a strong sense of team among your employees.

”

percentage of employees who love it, but the rest might not. If it’s to communicate key information or ask a couple of questions or catch up quickly on a certain project, that’s fine, but don’t have a meeting without any real reason.

Otherwise, those who are most social may enjoy the meeting, but the rest are going to wonder why everyone is attending meetings that seemingly have no purpose.

It’s probably better to have meetings as needed, rather than schedule them every week or every month, unless there’s a set purpose.

For example, a monthly meeting might allow everyone a time to give updates on what they are working on, but a good team is already doing that perpetually. Regular meetings may become something you’re doing because you feel it’s your duty to have them.

Now, if you’re all working on a big project and five people are participating, each with a different responsibility, then yes, it’s important

to meet and make sure everyone is on pace, no one is having issues and the project is coming together as planned.

HR: What are some steps retailers can take to help instill a sense of teamwork among their employees?

RM: Retailers should know their vision, values and purpose first.

Look at these big-picture items for your business, and make sure your employees know them, too. Share your mission statement and values with your employees, too, if you haven’t already.

Next, everyone should know everyone else’s roles and responsibilities.

The different assessments allow every member of the team to learn about everyone’s personalities and working styles, and it helps ensure you have all your employees in the right positions.

It’s also a good time to do any reorganizing or talk about the possibility of moving any employees to new positions.

Then, there’s the importance of using a common language—it could be from Myers-Briggs, or DiSC, or StrengthsFinder or somewhere else—to ensure everyone is communicating well and is on the same page. Good communication is a very important part of having a strong sense of team among your employees.

You need to make sure people mesh well professionally to do their jobs well. They may not be best friends, but if they work well together, understand everyone’s roles on the team, know all responsibilities and can hold each other accountable, then you can have a good team dynamic.

Hardware Retailing staffers Jesse Carleton, Chad Husted and Liz Lichtenberger contributed to this article.

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The Switch Amazon Buys Stores; Walmart Buys Websites

W

almart, the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, has been playing catch up online with Amazon for years—and that competitive relationship just got more interesting.

Amazon’s recent acquisition of high-end grocer Whole Foods inserts the online retailer into a retail space that it had seemed for years to be trying to make obsolete: physical stores. The company’s membership service, Amazon Prime, has made buying everything from books to toothpaste as easy as a few clicks. Its rapid delivery services can make the process of navigating a store and finding a product before buying seem like an inconvenient task.

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Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition comes after Walmart bought several online retailers in rapid succession and challenges Walmart in the grocery sector, which is an area that contributes more than 50 percent to Walmart’s net sales, according to the retailer’s 2017 annual report.

The seeming switch in focus for both retailers is intriguing.

Walmart’s efforts to improve in e-commerce look like natural steps to modernizing and expanding. However, Amazon’s foray into brick and mortar is more surprising because it looks like a reverse in the company’s business model. The digital innovator seems to be jumping abruptly into a marketplace it doesn’t know well and that other retailers dominate. Read on for more about both companies’ acquisitions and competition.

Amazon

Amazon’s Growing Empire In the 23 years since Amazon started, the online retailer has evolved from a bookselling website to an e-commerce giant that sells everything from AA batteries to Zyrtec. Much of its success is due to the company’s intense focus on offering new, innovative technology and a vast array of products.

Strong sales without a brick-and-mortar presence have always helped set Amazon apart.

Yet in June 2017, Amazon did the unexpected.

The company announced it would acquire Whole Foods, which includes about 450 physical stores, for $13.7 billion, initiating the largest acquisition in the online retailer’s history.

The deal follows years of Amazon building up its online product offerings and bolstering its business through acquisitions that have primarily been technology related.

Because Amazon started out as a book retailer, its 2008 purchase of Audible, the large audio book producer, could be considered a natural extension of its initial model.

Some of Amazon’s subsequent acquisitions diversified that model. In 2012, Amazon purchased robotics business Kiva Systems for $775 million, which allowed the online retailer to use robots to automate order picking and packing. As of 2015, the retailer had as many as 30,000 warehouse robots.

In 2014, Amazon purchased the video-streaming site Twitch for $970 million and entered the markets of video streaming and esports (a form of multiplayer online gaming).

The retailer also added a video-processing company called Elemental Technologies to its ranks in 2015, as well as Annapurna Labs, which has been used to aid Amazon’s cloud computing unit Amazon Web Services. The web services are the backbone of many internet businesses.

Amazon’s purchase of Quidsi, a company that hosted websites such as Diapers.com, was a $500 million deal. Amazon bought Quidsi in 2010 in a price war with Walmart.

Quidsi co-founder Marc Lore ended up working for Amazon for over two years following the acquisition. He left in 2014 to help start an e-commerce company called Jet.com, which Walmart bought in 2016. Lore began working for Walmart as part of the Jet.com deal.

Earlier this year, Amazon shut down Quidsi, saying the website wasn’t profitable.

However, analysts speculate the decision boiled down to a rivalry between Lore and Jeff Bezos, Amazon co-founder and CEO, according to an article by CNBC. The CNBC article suggests Amazon wanted to focus its efforts on its own website, rather than on other sites, like Diapers.com.

“They didn’t buy service with Quidsi, they bought domain names and customer lists,” analyst Michael Pachter says in the article.

A New Strategy Amazon’s most recent and expensive purchase of Whole Foods may be how the e-commerce giant will compete in brick and mortar against Walmart, according to an article by The Atlantic.

“Amazon is trying to become Walmart—not just an online megalith, but also a physical retail powerhouse with dynamic pricing and stocking strategies—faster than Walmart can become Amazon,” the article says.

Amazon has been successfully adding to its service and product offerings through investments in areas such as entertainment and smart home technology. Grocery, enhanced by Whole Foods, adds another dynamic layer to those offerings. Customers can stream a movie from their couches, while ordering food that is running low in their pantries.

With the acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon now has brick-and-mortar locations that may act as additional fullfillment centers for products.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

59

Walmart

Taking on the Web Giants

Beyond Acquisitions

In contrast, Walmart is transitioning away from growing its brick-and-mortar presence, and instead will focus on developing its e-commerce, according to the company’s 2017 annual report.

To anyone who has been paying attention to Walmart’s acquisition activity over the past two years, this transition is not new.

In July 2015, the massive retailer bought the remaining shares of Chinese e-commerce company Yihaodian for an unspecified sum. Walmart had already owned half of Yihaodian, and said it intended to invest up to $1.5 billion in global e-commerce development, which included the rest of Yihaodian,The Wall Street Journal reports.

In August 2016, Walmart announced its acquisition of Jet.com for $3 billion in cash and $300 million in Walmart shares. At that point, Jet was “among the fastest growing and most innovative e-commerce companies in the U.S.,” according to Walmart.

Walmart’s purchases didn’t stop there. During the first half of 2017, the retailer announced acquisitions of three online apparel retailers for a combined sum of about $436 million: Moosejaw, an outdoor clothing retailer with a “large web presence” and 10 retail stores (February 2017); ModCloth, a women’s apparel and accessories online retailer (March 2017); and Bonobos, an online menswear seller (June 2017).

The acquisitions do not represent a complete transition in focus to e-commerce, but Walmart’s other activities show that the retailer is cognizant of the multilevel competition Amazon poses.

In 2015, Walmart launched an online membership program called ShippingPass, which was comparable to Amazon Prime, according to Business Insider.

For an annual fee, customers could order products online and have them shipped to their homes for no additional shipping charge. At $49, Walmart’s program was about the half the annual cost of Amazon Prime. In mid-2016, Walmart announced ShippingPass customers would receive two-day shipping instead of three to further compete with Amazon’s similar service.

In early 2017, Walmart canceled ShippingPass in favor of extending free two-day shipping to all customers whose purchases total $35 or more.

“It no longer makes sense to charge for [two-day shipping],” says Marc Lore in a press release from Walmart. The co-founder of Jet.com is president and CEO of Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce business. He joined Walmart when the retailer acquired Jet.com, which he developed after he left Amazon.

Walmart continues to innovate and grow its fulfillment, delivery and in-store pickup operations.

The retailer increased its number of large distribution centers dedicated to online orders from five to 10 in 2016, according to a Reuters report.

The retailer has 100 smaller e-commerce centers dedicated to packaging and shipping online orders, and also uses about 80 retail stores as fulfillment and shipping centers, Business Insider says. In comparison, Amazon has about 180 fulfillment centers in the U.S., Business Insider reports.

Walmart recently announced that store associates can choose to deliver online orders for extra pay, providing another method for customers to get their Walmart purchases quickly.

Walmart’s 4,672 stores in the U.S. give the retailer an advantage when offering in-store pickup.

The retailer recently introduced pickup towers, or kiosks, inside stores. To get online orders, customers scan receipts on their smartphones, and a pickup tower delivers the order within 45 seconds. According to Business Insider, the towers’ compartments adjust to accommodate various package sizes, which make them more versatile than the order pickup lockers that Walmart and Amazon have both used.

According to Walmart, 90 percent of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a Walmart store, making online order pickup a viable solution for many.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

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The Financials

Amazon Fiscal years end Dec. 31

Operating Facilities Throughout the World (in thousands)

Office Space Leased Square Footage Owned Square Footage

Fulfillment, Data Centers, Other

15,768 156,390

3,643 3,494

19,411 159,884

Total 10

30

50

70

90

120

140

160

Net Products and Services* Sales (in millions) *Service sales include Amazon Web Services sales, certain digital content subscriptions, co-branded credit card agreements and other services.

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Percent Growth (From 2012 to 2016)

Net Product Sales

$51,733

$60,903

$70,080

$79,268

$94,665

+83%

Net Service Sales

$9,360

$13,549

$18,908

$27,738

$41,322

+341.5%

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Percent Growth (From 2012 to 2016)

Electronics and Other General Merchandise

$23,273

$29,985

$38,517

$50,401

$64,887

+178.8%

Media

$9,189

$10,809

$11,567

$12,483

$13,580

+47.8%

Other (nonretail sales, including branded credit cards)

$2,351

$3,723

$750

$824

$1,318

-43.9%

North American Net Sales (in millions, broken out by product segment)

Sources: Amazon annual reports

62

HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

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SMALL STORE IN CANTON, GA SELLS OVER $167,000 OF COLE’S BIRD SEED EVERY YEAR! That’s an amazing amount of bird seed. Even more amazing, the whole store is only 2,000 square feet and the Cole’s products use a mere 40 square feet. Do the math. That’s over $4,000 per square foot of retail space. Is this one lucky store owner? No, luck has nothing to do with it.

IS THIS STORE THE TOP COLE’S RETAILER? NO, NOT EVEN SECOND OR THIRD! — BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE — Not only is this store selling Cole’s at an unbelievable rate, but - are you ready for this it rarely, if ever, puts Cole’s on sale!

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The Financials Walmart Fiscal years end Jan. 31

Percentage of Total Net Sales, by Merchandise Division

Grocery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56% Health and Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11% General Merchandise* . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33% *General merchandise includes entertainment, hardlines, apparel and home and seasonal products.

Sources: Walmart annual reports

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

U .S . and International Net Sales (in millions)

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Growth (From 2013 to 2017)

U .S . Net Sales

$274,433 $279,406 $288,049 $298,378 $307,833

+12 .2%

Walmart International Net Sales

$134,748 $136,513 $136,160 $123,408 $116,119

-13 .8%

Sam’s Club Net Sales

$56,423

$57,157

$58,020

$56,828

$57,365

+1 .7

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Percent Growth (From 2012 to 2017)

U .S . Stores

4005

4203

4516

4574

4672

+16 .7%

International Stores

5783

6107

6290

6299

6363

+10%

Walmart Store Count (including Sam’s Club and other store formats)

Sources: Walmart annual reports

By Renee Changnon, rchangnon@nrha.org

Smoke the Competition Cook Up Interest in the Grilling Category Through Events and Demos This month’s Category Spotlight is sponsored by Phifer Inc.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

W

hether it’s showing his customers how to whip up a delicious meal on the grill or welcoming hundreds from the community to an annual cookoff competition in the parking lot, Bill Murff uses his passion for grilling to attract customers to his store.

When Murff and his wife Susan, who together own Cypress Ace Hardware & Feed in Houston, decided to expand their business a few years ago, they invested heavily in the grilling category.

“We followed our passions with the remodel.

One area we wanted to grow was our grilling category, so we added a large grill center inside a portion of the store addition,” Murff says. “We believed adding a dedicated grill center would grow the category by using it to offer in-store demos and cooking classes, and even allow our customers to try a grill before they buy it.”

Murff has become an expert at using grilling events to keep his customers coming back all year long, and his strategy offers lessons other retailers can learn from.

To give you a better idea of how to either start or improve events in your grilling and outdoor cooking department, Hardware Retailing sought out insight and advice from three retailers, including Murff, Joe Wannemaker of Wannemaker’s Home and Garden in Downers Grove, Illinois, and Gerrod Brasseux of Brasseux True Value Hardware in Abbeville, Louisiana. Each has established their business as go-to locations for customers to not only buy grills and accessories, but to find both information and fun.

In the following pages, learn about specific ways these retailers promote their grilling category, and also strengthen relationships with their communities.

Then, head to TheRedT.com/grill-sales-tips for advice on how to best sell products in the category.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

67

Grilling for Good

Grilling and barbecue vendors come to Cypress Ace Hardware for the store’s annual Grill Your Ace Off event. When customers aren’t trying food from the competition, they’re walking through vendor booths, talking and learning more about the products showcased.

C

ypress Ace Hardware & Feed has made a name in the community with its annual charity event, Grill Your Ace Off. Not only does the sight of a packed parking lot and the scent of mouthwatering food draw people in, but the meaning behind the event warms hearts as well as stomachs. And while the Grill Your Ace Off event is something many retailers in the co-op host across the country, each store, like Cypress Ace, leaves its own impression.

“We host our big event in the fall, usually the third weekend in October,” Murff says.

“Through this event, we raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®, which all ends up back here in the community at the Texas Children’s Hospital.”

Murff says the event has become a well-attended community gathering every fall since it started

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

seven years ago. It is a cookoff competition, with 20 teams of four people each signing up to participate.

“Each team has to pay $125 to compete against other teams,” Murff says. “They have to cook on one of our grills, and they can cook anything they want. The meat has to be raw before they start at 8 a.m.”

At the end of the day, the teams submit their meals to a panel of four judges, who name the first-, second- and third-place recipes, Murff says.

The winners each receive a grill from the store.

Everyone from the community is invited to come and taste test.

“We have a people’s choice award, and throughout the day, people can come sample all of the food from the various teams,” Murff says.

“They pay $10 for a plate and vote for their favorites, which is a lot of fun.”

JUST PLUG-IT

“Last year, we had 1,200 people in

and out of the parking lot throughout the day. We have had people come from all over. Last year, someone even flew in from Hawaii to attend.

—Bill Murff, Cypress Ace Hardware & Feed

”

During Cypress Ace Hardware’s 2016 Grill Your Ace Off competition, three teams walked away with bragging rights and new grills.

In order to have a good turnout, the store spreads the word by partnering with a local TV and radio station, sending emails to their customers and sharing on social media. Word of mouth and passersby who see the action in the parking lot and stop in are also big contributors to the turnout.

“Last year, we had 1,200 people in and out of the parking lot throughout the day,” he says. “We have had people come from all over.

Last year, someone even flew in from Hawaii to attend.”

On top of the tasty treats in the parking lot, attendees can also pop in the store and get a good deal on merchandise, he says. During the day, the store has a blue bucket sale. Customers can donate $5 or more for a bucket to receive 20 percent off items that fit in the bucket.

At last year’s event, the store was able to raise $66,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, plus donations from other local companies helped the store to raise those funds to total more than $100,000. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a nonprofit organization that raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada.

With this major event, and the grilling demos, cooking classes and customized service, customers turn to the store for much more than products on the shelves.

Education, Entertainment and Mouth-Watering Food Grill Center Takes Category to Next Level When a customer stops by Cypress Ace Hardware & Feed for the first time, they may be surprised at what they find.

A few years ago, co-owner Bill Murff says he and his wife decided to implement a 12,000-square-foot expansion to the store, and with that space they wanted to focus on four categories: gifts, animal health care, a homemade fudge bar (with fresh fudge made and sold daily) and a grill center (pictured at right).

A Place for Food Enthusiasts to Gather The grill center is very unique, with a restaurant-grade vent to make grilling indoors easy and safe. To allow more people to engage with the grilling demos without crowding, the store has two flat-screen TVs that show the chef in action. The department also features a display of a wide range of grills from various brands.

Also in this section is a wall of seasonings, salts and rubs that customers can browse as they walk through or up to the grill station.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Uniting Vendors and Customers

W

Photo Courtesy of WGN Radio For Wannemaker’s second annual Grill Extravaganza, the company paired up with Operation BBQ Relief, an organization that raises funds for those facing disasters in the United States. The store raffled prizes to donate to the group.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

annemaker’s Home and Garden has evolved over the years from a hardware store to a high-end lawn, garden and home decor

retail location.

The store has held a widely attended annual garden show for the past 25 years, establishing the business as a place to find experts in outdoor living and all the category encompasses, says Joe Wannemaker, co-owner of the business.

Through this event, customers come to the store and meet vendors face-to-face. These interactions help all parties involved: Customers learn about new product lines from the companies producing them, those companies get feedback and opinions directly from consumers about their products and Wannemaker’s is able to introduce the two and interact with both.

The event features around 30 to 40 vendors in the lawn and garden category, and recently, it has grown to include vendors representing the grilling category. The event’s success encouraged the team to take its knowledge of planning and hosting a massive annual event for outdoor living and apply it to their grilling category, Wannemaker says.

Serving Customers What They Want A Place to Find Outdoor Living Must-Haves About 20 years ago, Wannemaker’s Home and Garden shifted its focus from a traditional hardware store to its current niche of a high-end home and garden store.

According to co-owner Joe Wannemaker, the store’s goal is to offer customers the complete package in outdoor living, and grilling completes it. While the grilling category makes up about 8 percent of sales, the store has built a strong following of barbecue enthusiasts who come in to buy the latest grills, seasonings and accessories.

Consulting With Community Grill Masters One of the ways the store has taken its grilling category to new heights is by partnering with competition grillers, Wannemaker says. He talks to those involved in the barbecue industry, asking them what they would recommend the store carry. However, Wannemaker and his grill department manager, Steve Kras, are both passionate about the category, which is key to success.

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“We also raffled Photo Courtesy of WGN Radio Wannemaker’s had 14 grill and barbecue vendors on hand to showcase new products at booths in their parking lot. Customers could learn from vendors and taste-test products.

off five different grills and grill gift basket sets. In total, we raised about $5,000 for the organization.

—Joe Wannemaker, Wannemaker’s Home and Garden

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”

“The popularity of our garden show snowballed, and our manager in the grill department, Steve Kras, suggested we do a similar grilling show,” Wannemaker says. “Hundreds of people have been in attendance in the past two years.”

In June, Wannemaker’s Home and Garden welcomed community members to attend its second annual Grill Extravaganza. The store invited 14 different vendors, including grill manufacturers, as well those offering grilling accessories, like sauces and rubs.

The vendor booths were set up in the parking lot, with the smells of sizzling food wafting to browsing customers. Not only could attendees taste test the food being prepared, but they could also learn and see products in action to get a better idea of what they might want when grilling in their own backyards.

Planning with vendors was a fairly simple task, Wannemaker says. “Since we’ve done our garden show for so many years, our vendors have a good understanding of how these types of events work. We give them the date and the setup they’ll need.”

To generate even more attention for the event, Kras suggested inviting Lou Manfredini of WGN Radio’s Mr. Fix-It to host

his radio show during the Grill Extravaganza, Wannemaker says.

A popular radio show host in the Chicago area, Manfredini also owns two Ace Hardware stores and is active with the national hardware co-op.

Manfredini often hosts his DIY-centered radio show at businesses that request his presence during sales events. Since Manfredini is known for his entertaining, practical and useful home improvement advice on his show, he was able to give Wannemaker’s event both an educational and fun twist.

As an added bonus, Wannemaker also invited Operation BBQ Relief, an organization that raises funds for those in the United States who have been affected by disasters, to come cook food and spread the word about the organization. The event was able to bring awareness and raise money.

“Grill masters cooked barbecue that customers could purchase for a donation to Operation BBQ Relief,” Wannemaker says.

“We also raffled off five different grills and grill gift basket sets. In total, we raised about $5,000 for the organization.”

Photo Courtesy of WGN Radio Customers who stopped by Wannemaker’s Home and Garden for the Grill Extravaganza were able to listen to WGN Radio’s Mr. Fix-It show live and ask questions about different home improvement projects.

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Cooking Demos on Demand

W

hen Gerrod Brasseux decided to trade in his hat as an English teacher to become a hardware retailer, he knew he wanted to take his interest in home improvement and his expertise in cooking and share them with the community.

Today, Brasseux True Value Hardware and its employees have become known for offering helpful advice and delicious samples of food customers can enjoy when stopping in the store.

Brasseux has filmed several grilling demonstrations for his Facebook fans.

“Food is such an important family tradition in Louisiana that most events revolve around it,” Brasseux says. “Some of my customers get overwhelmed when cooking. I decided I wanted our store to educate them on how to make a variety of recipes and show them how easy it really is.”

Initially, sales associates would start up the grills outside the front of the store. Then people would come by and ask what they were cooking, he says. This interest from those in the area was a simple way to advertise to customers without requiring anything but a grill. To keep up the momentum, Brasseux decided the next step would be to throw meat on the grill to sample.

He partnered with his local grocery store to get deals on chicken and started offering cooking demonstrations for customers to watch and taste.

Then after attending one of his co-op’s buying shows, he was ready to bring his demos to a wider audience. Brasseux spoke with a friend about how he wanted to spread the word on cool new products the store was getting in stock, and his friend suggested he try Facebook Live videos.

“In most of the videos, I’m in front of the camera doing a demo or talking about an item, while the store manager films me,” Brasseux says. “Through our Facebook videos, I’m trying

Outdoor Grilling Brings Community Together Trying Recipes, Educating Customers When Gerrod Brasseux started cooking on the grills he sells at his store, those passing by the business would often stop in their tracks. Community members were drawn to the smell of food cooking, making them a great audience to sell to. After seeing how well this went, Brasseux has shown customers how to make many recipes that can be achieved with everything from the store (minus the meat). He says just like any product in a store, the better a retailer knows the grill and what it can do, the better they can sell it.

For Louisiana Natives, Cooking Is an Art Form In Louisiana, food is more than finding time to eat three square meals, but is a way to show love for others, Brasseux says. Whether cooking for their immediate family or for a large family reunion, people want to have the best products on the market. Sampling food is a great way to give back to customers and spark up a conversation, leading to loyal returning customers, Brasseux says.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

to educate our customers on how to cook different meals.”

The videos, which are streamed online in real time and then can be replayed later, run from two to five minutes and give viewers a peek at different recipes and items they can make with products found at the store.

To learn more about Facebook Live videos, head to Page 102 for a closer look at the free tool from the popular social media platform.

“We want to keep our customers excited and like to show off new products we find, new recipes we’re trying,” Brasseux says. “We try to mix it up, because we don’t want our videos to be stale. We want to keep people excited, and we are always on the hunt for the next big thing.”

Whether he’s filming or not, he tries to grill something at the store on as many Fridays as he can.

“For us, Facebook has been a very successful avenue to spreading the word about our business and our grill offerings,” Brasseux says. “It’s probably our best form of marketing, and we’ve had a lot of success boosting our posts and getting our ad dollars to stretch to many more people than if we hadn’t spent a couple bucks for it. It’s a great way to generate interest and get customers excited, even when they’re away from the store.”

Gerrod Brasseux of Brasseux True Value makes sure his customers walk away from a grill purchase with a positive impression of the store. Associates assemble the grill ahead of time, and in certain cases, they deliver it, carry it and set it up for free.

On top of any grill purchase, Brasseux says the store also throws in a free bag of charcoal or pellets. This gesture goes a long way, since customers are more likely to return for more charcoal or pellets from the store when they run out.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

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Category Q&A Sponsored by Phifer Inc. | phifer.com

Phifer Offers Screening Solutions for Outdoor Living amily owned and operated for over 65 years, Phifer Incorporated, headquartered in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is the only “Made in the USA” screening manufacturer. Products for the independent retailer include window and door replacement screen, pet resistant and sun control mesh, plus screening tools and materials, which help hardware retailers expand and maintain their customers’ outdoor living spaces.

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According to NRHA research, more than 61 percent of independent home improvement business owners planned to add or expand categories in their stores this year. The No. 1 expansion category was outdoor living, with 45 percent of respondents stating this was at the top of their list.

Hardware Retailing spoke with Ron Hughston, Phifer’s Director of Sales, about how retailers can best capitalize on outdoor living trends with their store’s screening products.

Why are Phifer’s screening products a good fit for the hardware retailer?

Ron Hughston (RH): Screening offers consumers a solution to their problems and are highly profitable for the retailer.

Our research has shown that it is not a price sensitive item and is usually only offered in one brand at the retail level.

Mosquitoes are the most deadly creatures on earth and all of our screening products stop them. Pets and children are rough on screens, so we have specially designed options to minimize damage they can cause. Phifer’s sun control screening stops up to 90 percent of the sun’s heat before it reaches the window or door, creating a more comfortable living space and lower utility bills.

What products does Phifer offer that fit the current trends?

RH: Phifer offers a screening product for almost any situation. Our UltraVue® and BetterVue® options deliver premium viewing clarity. PetScreen® and TuffScreen® are perfect solutions as durable replacement material for porches, screen doors or window screens where pets or high traffic tend to cause damage. Tightly woven No-See-Um screening and our new Aluminum Screen for Tiny Insects are designed to stop even the tiniest of insects and are popular in screened porch applications.

What Phifer products offer sell-up opportunities?

RH: A good understanding of Phifer’s screening products gives retailers a sell-up opportunity as a solution to their customers’ problem or when offered as a “back room” service. “Screen Repair” can offer as much as a 70 percent margin opportunity for the retailer when offered as a drop off and pick up service, bringing the customer to your store twice, thus doubling the opportunity to sell them more products.

How can Phifer help retailers educate customers about screening products in their businesses?

RH: Phifer offers a variety of digital and printed materials to help educate retailers and consumers on our screening product line. We have plan-o-gram support, display racks, header signage and banners to promote screen or screen repair services at the retail level. More importantly, consumers contact us on a regular basis, so we understand their screening needs. We are constantly directing them to their local retailer to purchase their materials.

For more information on Phifer, call 800-841-9473 or visit phifer.com.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

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By Dustin Kaehr, dk@dustinkaehr.com

Expert Perspective: Retail Is...

Merchandising I

had a boss who used to say, “When it rains, merchants open the doors and say, ‘I bet I sell some umbrellas today.’ Retailers open the doors and say, ‘It’s raining. Move the umbrellas to the front of the store so people buy them.’”

Are you a merchant or a retailer?

Your merchandise and inventory are your biggest investment every year. According to the North American Retail Hardware Association’s (NRHA) Cost of Doing Business Study, 59.2 percent of sales at a high-performing hardware store go to pay for the goods sold. With that much of your top line spent on keeping shelves and pegs full, you should be paying attention to that merchandise.

Sure, you spend time every week looking at new products and reordering, but how much time do you really spend evaluating merchandise and all that goes into it? While I’m not suggesting the percentage of your time match the percentage of your cost of goods, I would argue you need to spend quality time regularly evaluating your merchandise.

Here are five ways you can better spend your time as it relates to your merchandise.

1. Endcap Shuffle Do you have a strategy for your endcaps, or do you just find something to display and then a month later realize it’s probably time to change it?

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When I talk with retailers, I consistently give two pieces of endcap advice. First, track sales by endcap location. You should be able to easily and quickly identify which endcaps perform best. Set up location codes for them and track the sales of the items on the endcaps each month. Once you know which endcaps customers are more likely to see, you can be more strategic about what you put there.

Second, have a plan for your endcaps. Get an accordion folder, label each section by month, and inside each month, have a file folder with the location code for that endcap and the week of the month it’s scheduled to be changed. So, if your store has 14 endcaps, you will have an accordion folder with 12 sections and 14 file folders in each section. Then, as you see products, have ideas, or go to buying shows, you can plan all your endcaps.

Ideally, you will have your endcaps planned at least 90 days out.

2. Don’t Reorder for Reordering’s Sake Just because you sold something does not necessarily mean you need to reorder it. If you have a point-of-sale, use its monthly sales data as a starting point for your reorder, but don’t simply restock the exact items you sold the month prior.

Five Merchandising Tips Be strategic with endcaps

Reorder your best-sellers

Remove nonturning inventory

Refresh products constantly

Keep shelving clean and tidy

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

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The bigger opportunity when it comes to reordering is asking yourself this question: “Before I reorder this widget, is this the right widget to stock?” For example, there are dozens of different kinds of 25-foot tape measures.

Do you carry the best-sellers, and do you really need to carry 10 different kinds? This is where a velocity index report from your supplier will help. You can see which tape measures are the best-sellers, and then you can reorder smarter.

3. Don’t Fall in Love It’s just inventory, not your prized possession, so don’t become too attached to it. You have to evaluate slow and nonturning inventory monthly. Yes, some items do turn slowly. When you realize it’s time to get rid of products that aren’t selling, take a deep breath, close your eyes and sing out loud, “Let it go.”

Remember, you can’t buy anything with gross margin percentage, only dollars. While you wish you could get more margin from that one item, be smarter about how you invest those dollars. If you are in retailing long enough, you will make some bad purchasing decisions and make a buy that “just can’t lose.” If you have never made those decisions, just keep buying; it will happen. Just remember when it’s time to get rid of something and move on.

“Don’t take for granted

how important having faced and fronted product can be.

”

4. Refresh. Reset. Repeat.

Merchandising your store well is a never-ending process. Each year, you need to refresh your merchandise, evaluate your mix, add new products, dump turn-killers and spend time with the sales data, especially when it comes to seasonal categories.

Do the hard work to create the best mix possible.

Refreshing your inventory never ends. Every five years, plan to do a complete reset. If you don’t do a major reset of the whole store at once (which has many benefits), you should rethink each department every five years. The value of resetting your store is time; it will force you to honestly and candidly evaluate your mix.

Plus, when you reset your store, you usually have some outside help, which provides a fresh perspective you won’t have by being in the store every day.

5. Do You Think I’m Pretty?

Fronting and facing merchandise is as basic as it gets. But, like so many areas of life, when things get busy, we let the basics slip. Don’t take for granted how important having faced and fronted product can be. Keep product, shelving and bin tags clean. (Soapbox: Please, when you put a new bin tag up, do not place it over the top of the existing bin tag. It looks terrible and makes you and your staff look lazy.)

There are plenty of time-consuming store maintenance tasks that you might not be able to undertake as often as you want, including weekly velocity reports or total inventory overhauls, but staying on top of minor things like regular cleaning, fronting and facing product can make a substantial impact.

Think how hard you work to achieve your sales. Keep in mind that nearly 60 percent of sales dollars goes into your inventory. With that kind of investment in mind, remind yourself that the time, energy and effort you spend on your inventory are worth it.

Dustin Kaehr is a retail consultant with over 17 years of experience working with independent retailers, national retail chains and small businesses. He frequently presents seminars and training sessions throughout North America on a range of topics including marketing, sales growth, employee retention and the customer experience. Learn more about him at dustinkaehr.com.

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By Todd Taber, ttaber@nrha.org

When Disaster Strikes Retailers Share Tips to Rebound After Calamity

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hen was the last time you reviewed your operation’s disaster preparedness plan?

More importantly, does your business even have a disaster plan?

As a retailer, the day-to-day tasks of running your business can quickly fill up your calendar. In an instant, however, catastrophic weather, vandalism and other emergencies can upend your company and leave you struggling to recover.

Add to these concerns the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warns that as the global climate changes, natural disasters could become more common and destructive, so it’s more important than

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ever to ensure you, your employees and your finances are protected from catastrophe. Whether that means cleaning debris and repairing your store immediately after a disaster or dealing with your insurance company to find a solution for your business, the road to recovery is a challenge for any operation that gets hit.

In the following pages, Hardware Retailing highlights four retailers from across the country that have faced disasters of their own. You’ll learn about the difficult days that changed their businesses forever, and each one provides recovery tips so all retailers can be prepared if they find themselves reeling after a disaster.

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Emergency Checklist Consider these tips as your business establishes its disaster preparedness plan. For more information on safeguarding your operation and to download this checklist, visit TheRedT.com/disaster-checklist.

Back Up Your Data

Review Your Insurance

Physical data backups in a second location can keep important documents safe from severe weather. Also, research cloud data storage options; they’re inexpensive and easy to manage.

Annual insurance audits are critical.

Research replacement cost coverage, business interruption coverage and employee compensation to keep your finances in order following a disaster.

Take Photos Taking photos of damage your store withstands can streamline your insurance claims and be a powerful way to keep your community updated via social media.

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Identify a Shelter Clearly mark disaster shelter areas.

Make sure all employees know their location and are able to guide customers there if necessary.

Stay Informed

Be Flexible

Monitor severe weather in your area and keep tabs on any protests that could imperil your operation. Consider letting employees leave early to get home safely.

Scout temporary locations to sell undamaged items and invest in mobile credit card readers to keep sales steady and retain your customer base after an emergency.

Store Supplies

Keep in Touch

Have bottled water, nonperishable food, first-aid kits and a weather radio close at hand to keep you and your employees safe and with access to the latest news.

Whether you’re informing your suppliers or telling customers about temporary locations, social media updates can engage customers and stimulate sales after an emergency.

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Flash Flood Wilson Carter Supply Co. Denton, North Carolina

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nne Carter Bean, manager of Wilson Carter Supply Co., has seen firsthand how flash floods can quickly devastate small businesses.

A few days after Christmas 2015, she and her employees struggled to clear rapidly rising water from the store her family has owned since 1965.

They were soon overwhelmed as 16 inches of water swept through the store, covering lower electric outlets, waterlogging inventory left on lower shelves and warping ledgers her family had kept throughout the store’s history.

As the floodwaters receded, Bean was overwhelmed by the damage and the amount of work her store faced in the storm’s aftermath.

Half an inch of water remained, bringing with it a coating of mud, silt and debris. The flood had displaced inventory and seeped through wall paneling, which would need to be removed to prevent mold. Despite the wreckage, Bean and her team set to work to restore the business.

Contact the Community “It was yucky and rainy, and when the rain kept coming down, I just started snapping photos,” Bean says.

She posted pictures to Facebook as soon as the store began to flood. Continuing to make social media updates turned out to be a vital part of keeping her customers informed about the store’s status and inspired volunteers to visit and help with the cleanup. Customers kept shopping because they knew the business was still open, and volunteers knew the staff needed fans, generators and manpower to run the store and salvage any inventory they could.

Photos like the ones Bean uploaded are also useful for insurance claims and provide a way for your community to connect with ongoing cleanup efforts.

Bean planned to close the store temporarily, but didn’t have to. Steady support from volunteers allowed the staff to keep the business operational, and customers who were looking for items to aid their own flood recovery continued to spend money at the store.

“We actually had customers that came in to buy stuff even as we were cleaning up,” she says. “We had about 60 people who came to help in some way, shape or form, and it just blew my mind.”

Bean decided to display sales bins of heavily discounted items that had slight flood damage, but were still usable. The bins included an assortment of paint sundries, safety gloves and electrical items that didn’t include internal wiring.

“We got something out of them instead of just tossing them in the dumpster,” she says.

Inform Your Suppliers

Wilson Carter Supply Co. in Denton, North Carolina, survived a flood in 2015 with the help of store employees and devoted community members.

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Bean recommends that other retailers contact their suppliers immediately after a disaster strikes.

“I sent out a letter to all of my suppliers letting them know what had happened,” she says. “They were extremely supportive in terms of giving us a little more leeway than we normally would have.”

Bean says it was about three months before her family’s hardware store truly felt back to business as usual, and she credits her community’s response for helping the store bounce back.

“For me, making people aware of the situation went further than I ever could have imagined,” she says.

Tornado Sagona’s Hardware Paincourtville, Louisiana

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avid Sagona, owner of Sagona’s Hardware, remembers the exact moment a tornado destroyed his hardware store in 2016.

“3:24 p.m. That’s when all hell broke loose,” Sagona says.

Shortly after, 140-mph winds from a 300-yardwide tornado demolished his employees’ cars, peeled off the store’s metal roof and toppled its front wall. Tree limbs crashed through his store, and inventory became dangerous projectiles as he and his employees scrambled for safety.

“They say you hear a freight train, but I heard 10 freight trains that day,” he says. When the tornado passed, Sagona and his employees emerged to a hardware store in ruins.

Put Safety First Sagona recommends that all business owners designate an emergency weather shelter before a disaster. He led his employees to an interior office on the building’s first floor, but wishes he had made employees aware of severe weather protocol before it was necessary.

His local weather forecasters suggested severe weather was a possibility that day, but Sagona says he didn’t take the forecast seriously because tornadoes aren’t common in Louisiana. In hindsight, he says he should have considered letting employees leave early, but feels lucky that no one at his store was injured.

A tornado tore through Sagona’s Hardware of Paincourtville, Louisiana, in 2016, destroying the store and starting its owner on a long road to recovery.

Take Your Policy to a Pro Sagona’s insurance covered most of his property and merchandise loss, which amounted to roughly $1 million, but he recommends carefully evaluating your policies and even having a lawyer or trusted advisor review your policy before you sign.

“With owning a business, I was getting pulled in a million different directions,” he says. “I took the insurance for granted.”

Specifically, Sagona recommends making sure your business has replacement cost coverage as opposed to actual cash value protection.

Replacement cost insurance calculates what your damaged items would cost to replace at current prices, whereas actual cash value insurance pays business owners the cost of what they paid for specific items, minus their depreciated value, which often results in a lower payout.

His business insurance only covered certain employees’ wages and only for a 90-day period, which forced Sagona to lay off all his employees as he began the long road to rebuilding the store. He hopes to rehire some of his 15 former employees when he reopens later this fall.

Seize Opportunities Before the tornado, Sagona’s Hardware also sold firearms and held concealed carry classes behind the store. In the months since the tornado, Sagona has leased an abandoned grocery store and decided to temporarily focus on selling firearms to keep sales flowing as he restocks hardware inventory.

This fall, he and his team hope to reintroduce a full selection of hardware supplies and firearms and lease their new location to save money.

As he restocks his hardware inventory, sales are “nowhere near” where they were before the tornado, but he’s making the most of his new space.

He’s taking the opportunity to design a hardware store from the ground up and will be able to stock items he didn’t have room for at his former location.

“I bought this store from somebody, so now I can design it how I want to see it,” Sagona says.

He says that he thought about closing the store for good after the tornado, but is forging ahead.

“I’m still young enough to get the business back up and rolling again,” Sagona says.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

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Rioters Belle Hardware Baltimore

M

ickey Fried says that for a moment, the historic Bolton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, where his family has owned Belle Hardware since 1978, was filled with “raw emotion.”

In April 2015, protestors took to the streets after Baltimore resident Freddie Gray fell into a coma while in police custody and later died.

Rioters took advantage of a volatile situation, ransacking more than 280 businesses and causing an estimated $9 million in property damage, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Take Every Precaution Following a weekend of mounting tension, police encouraged business owners to close their stores early in the afternoon on April 27. Fried was out of state, so it fell to his mother, co-owner Janice McCulley, to heed the police’s warnings, lock the shop, activate security alarms and keep tabs on its condition as best she could.

After a security alarm sounded later that night, McCulley returned with friends and neighbors in a final effort to safeguard the store, boarding up the glass windows rioters had already broken.

Soon, she left Belle Hardware as more looters prowled the shopping center.

Survey the Damage Fried sped back to Baltimore early the next morning, fearing the worst, but was surprised by what he discovered.

“I came in, expecting to pick up glass and debris all day, but it was already done. There was a volunteer army cleaning up our shop,” he says.

Local residents and shopkeepers were helping one another recover, doing what they could to reverse the violence of the previous night. This allowed his staff to focus on providing supplies to assist in other local cleanup efforts. They did sell items during the recovery, but also donated materials to help their neighborhood bounce back.

“We’ve got shovels, we’ve got brooms, let’s just get stuff in people’s hands and we’ll figure it all out later,” Fried says. He says there was some debate over whether to charge for these items, but “the only way you can worry about next month is by being open next month.”

As he inspected the store, Fried noted the damage to the property was costlier than the items taken.

Looters stole a few pieces of high-priced power equipment as well as inexpensive items like cigarette lighters and mousetraps, but had bored a hole through an adjacent laundromat to access his store and broken every window throughout the night.

Take Charge of Minor Repairs

After rioters broke the front window of Belle Hardware in Baltimore, students from a local school decorated the temporary plywood.

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In the following days, insurance companies were overwhelmed by claims, and glass companies were reluctant to replace windows, fearing other riots might flare up and destroy their work. Fried recommends store owners remain patient and take charge of any minor repairs they may need.

Students from a nearby school volunteered to decorate the plywood that temporarily covered Belle Hardware’s windows, a small act that helped unite volunteers and business owners.

“Except for the glass, I didn’t have to rely on anyone to come out and service anything. I did a lot of the repairs myself,” Fried says.

Sales were sluggish in the days following the riots, as Baltimore residents were hesitant to venture out of their homes, but returned to normal levels within three months, he says.

Fried is proud his hardware store was able to recover quickly and provide supplies to other merchants for their cleanup efforts. He recommends hardware retailers not lose sight of what truly matters following a catastrophe.

“There’s nothing in this building that’s worth the life of my employees or anyone I know,” Fried says.

Fire Frager’s Hardware Washington, D.C.

N

ick Kaplanis, general manager and 20-year employee of Frager’s Hardware, calls Washington, D.C., “a big city, but a small community.”

When a four-alarm fire engulfed the store in June 2013, Kaplanis and his team vowed not to let the hardware store, which had served the Capitol Hill area since 1920, close on their watch.

Make Every Minute Count Immediately following the fire, the staff scouted locations for a temporary space to sell any undamaged merchandise and stay close to their longtime clientele.

“I have a tremendous staff,” Kaplanis says.

“It’s like we’re one big brain and do what we have to do to keep things moving.”

Blocks away from their location was Eastern Market, a well-known destination for tourists and residents in the area. Following a 2007 fire, Eastern Market’s owners built their own temporary retail space on the property, which they allowed Frager’s Hardware to use during its recovery.

Frager’s began “Survivor Sales” on plants and outdoor items that hadn’t been harmed in the blaze and sold T-shirts to help raise funds.

By November 2013, additional locations near the store’s former site had been secured to house the paint and hardware departments, allowing Frager’s to operate out of three temporary locations.

Be Adaptive and Flexible Managing three separate spaces proved challenging, but was a critical step in the store’s recovery. Kaplanis says one side of Frager’s Hardware was mostly undamaged and could still receive inventory, which he and his team then hauled to the store’s temporary locations.

In the year after the fire, Kaplanis estimates sales were around 60 percent of normal levels, but have risen each year, thanks to his team’s resourcefulness. Online donations from longtime customers helped offset costs, and sales steadily rose as customers learned of the new locations.

“We couldn’t carry as much inventory as we did when we had the store, but we didn’t fade from existence. That’s the important thing,” Kaplanis says.

Store Your Data Off-Site Frager’s Hardware had been an early adopter of cloud storage options, which kept important information like inventory details and financial data safe from the flames.

A fire engulfed Washington, D.C., institution Frager’s Hardware in 2013.

The store kept selling by opening multiple temporary locations as they rebuilt.

Kaplanis credits his store’s annual inventory audits and regular cloud data backups for allowing the team to open at Eastern Market just days after the fire. The frequent inventory checks greatly simplified the insurance claims process, which he says the store navigated with minimal trouble.

“That’s the No. 1 thing: Nobody thinks a major disaster is going to happen to them, but if it does, you’ve got to have all that stuff ready to go and fall back on so you don’t skip a beat,” Kaplanis says.

Coming Home The store eventually consolidated its temporary locations around the site they found for the hardware department. Frager’s will continue operating there until construction ends at its original location in early 2019.

Frager’s Hardware was recently sold to A Few Cool Hardware Stores, an 11-store independent chain in the area, but Kaplanis says the sale was unrelated to the fire and will not impact plans to rebuild at the original location. He says it was always his team’s intention to return to their old home.

“It’s taken a long time, but we’re patient,” Kaplanis says.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

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By Jesse Carleton, jcarleton@nrha.org

Nothing But Net (Zero) New York Retailer Produces Power, Eliminates Its Utility Bill

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or the past couple of years, the electric meter has been spinning backwards at Brinkmann’s True Value. In 2015, the company’s location in Miller Place, New York, achieved net-zero energy status, which means it produces more energy than it consumes.

According to Ben Brinkmann, who along with his brother Hank and sister Mary own the five-store business, their Miller Place location is the first retail store in the United States to achieve net-zero status. Their decision to go green was practical; the investment into a more energyefficient operation will pay for itself in about four years and after that save thousands of dollars on energy costs. But going green also has a lot to do with setting an example for operating a business in a way that’s healthy for the environment and committing to excellence.

“We have always looked to do things the best way possible, in whatever we do,” Ben says. “Once we learned about the possibilities of going net-zero, we wanted to be the ones to reach it.”

Investing in the Future At its core, Brinkmann’s True Value is a traditional hardware operation serving homeowners, contractors and commercial customers, with an emphasis on paint, lawn and garden and outdoor living.

“We’re fairly traditional in our product mix, but we separate ourselves by striving to be the best,” Ben says. “Nothing at Brinkmann’s is just good enough. We believe in constantly reinvesting in our business.”

That’s a set of values instilled by his parents, Tony and Pat. They opened their first 2,000-square-foot hardware store in 1976 in Sayville, New York, on a loan from Ben’s grandmother, Oma. Growth in the business came steadily. Over the next three decades, they increased square footage and added locations, including several standalone paint stores.

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Achieving net-zero energy consumption was a lot more complicated than swapping out the lighting system for LED fixtures.

As the business was growing, the Brinkmanns were always close to the cutting edge of the industry. Ben was barely old enough to see over the edge of the counter when his parents added what was then the latest trend in the retail industry—a computer system.

“That was 1989, and computerization was still new. They were ahead of their time and one of the first in the industry to do that,” he says.

Their paint store also had the first color-matching machine on Long Island.

In 2007, Ben and his siblings stepped in as the next generation of owners and continued their parents’ forward-thinking attitude. That included looking for ways to optimize the operational performance and customer service at each of their stores, whether that means an extensive remodel

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or relocating to a better site in town. For example, they decided to move their Sayville store to triple the store’s square footage and offer a more modern retail experience. They are also integrating design features that make for a better overall customer shopping experience, such as automatic doors, open floor plans, large windows to let in natural light and curbs that are flush to the parking lot.

They also integrated the standalone paint stores into full-line hardware stores for a total of five locations in New York, including Miller Place, Blue Point, Holbrook, Jamesport and Sayville.

Aiming for Zero So when it came to seeking out a way to make the store energy efficient, Ben’s drive for excellence didn’t slow down. Achieving net-zero energy consumption was a lot more complicated than swapping out the lighting system for LED fixtures. It required some major changes to their store’s physical structure. In fact, the Brinkmanns created their own construction company, Brinkmann Construction, to work on the project so they would have complete control over the building process and more freedom to make their own decisions. They also worked closely with PSEG Long Island, the local utility company,

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and GreenLogic Energy, a solar power panel contractor serving the Long Island area, to develop a plan that would result in a building that was efficient enough to have zero net-energy consumption.

Since the Miller Place location was due to be remodeled, the Brinkmanns decided to start there with their project. During an extensive renovation, they stripped the building down to its studs and began sealing up the structure with insulation. Large windows lend natural light to the inside, and LED lights only require a small amount of energy. The roof has a layer of insulation 1 foot thick, and is covered by a white thermoplastic membrane that reflects heat.

Covering the membrane are solar panels, which provide the power the building needs for its minimal electricity needs.

The largest investment was a geothermal heating and cooling system. This system reaches 120 feet into the earth and uses the constant ground temperature to heat and cool the store. While it’s expensive to install, on average this type of system is 40 percent more efficient than traditional heating and cooling systems. It also requires no natural fuel to operate, and it receives all of the electrical power needed to run it from the solar panels.

Making the upgrades required a large up-front initial investment, but Ben expects to recoup the costs quickly. He received a variety of rebates from the federal and local governments, and PSEG, which reduced the installation cost by nearly 40 percent. With savings of nearly $35,000 per year in energy, his investment should pay for itself in less than four years.

Getting to net-zero means the building needs to generate as much, if not more, energy as it consumes. Miller Place arrived at that point in its first year after renovation.

To keep track of his progress, Ben uses a net meter, which is a type of meter designed specifically for energy customers who use solar panels to produce energy. When the building is producing more power than it needs, the meter runs backwards, indicating power is going back into the power grid. When that happens, the power company pays him for the excess power he generates. The first year, Ben received $18,000.

Leading the Industry Brinkmann’s has already received accolades from PSEG as the first net-zero energy retail location in the state of New York. And in an article on its

A placard posted inside the store shows customers how the different systems around the building save energy.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

member website, membersonline.com, True Value recognized Brinkmann’s as the first net-zero retailer in its co-op. But Ben says achieving net-zero energy consumption is a milestone for the entire retailing industry, despite others who have claimed that spot.

In 2013, Walgreens made national headlines when it announced plans to build what it claimed would be the first net-zero energy store in the United States in Evanston, Illinois. The building design included new technologies, and store officials hoped it would be a model for retailers elsewhere. But in order to achieve net zero, a building must generate more energy than it consumes. A year later, in 2014, data showed the Walgreens facility had fallen short of that goal when averaging energy consumption over a year’s span of time, according to a report in the CIBSE Journal, a monthly magazine for building services and related professionals, in January 2015.

“We achieved net zero in our first year,” Ben says.

“No other retailer that I know of can prove that, so I like to think that we are the first. We just didn’t get all of the national attention Walgreens did.”

Regardless of the absence of national fame, Ben and his family are forging ahead with a plan to be a completely net-zero energy company by 2025. They recently completed construction of their Sayville store, which will replace their existing operation in town. That 22,000-square-foot building includes office space for the company’s headquarters and should also generate more energy than it uses.

Ben promotes the unique energy-efficient features of the store to customers with his “Running on Sunshine” marketing campaign to explain to customers how the building is run completely on solar power. One piece of that campaign is an in-store diagram of the building showing how each of the systems work together to save energy. The program has been well received by his customers, and he hopes it will encourage others to consider what they can do to reduce their own environmental impact.

He also hopes his company becomes an example for other retailers who want to be not only more fiscally responsible and save money, but also show their care for the environment.

Adding a geothermal HVAC system or installing solar panels may not be an option for everyone, but making the switch to LED lighting or upgrading insulation on the roof can offer big savings for low up-front costs.

“This initiative was really born from our love of the outdoors and our desire to be on the cutting edge of what’s happening,” he says. “This is something that will serve our family business well past the next generation.”

Energy Savings by the Numbers The Brinkmanns now have two net-zero energy retail buildings, in New York—Sayville and Miller Place. Using solar panels, they produce more energy than they consume, which means they have eliminated their carbon footprint. Here are numbers from the Miller Place location, which has been in operation long enough to show historical data of energy savings at the building.

Miller Place will produce

126,402 kilowatt hours of energy annually.

$35,000 The amount Miller Place will save annually on utilities.

40 The equivalent number of trees Brinkmann’s will be planting due to its reduction of CO2 emissions.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

97

Newsmakers

International Garden Fair to Highlight Outdoor Trends

Upcoming Events August 15-17 Independent Garden Center Show Chicago

17-19 Ace Hardware Fall 2017 Convention & Exhibits Chicago

24-26 Orgill Inc. Fall Dealer Market Boston

September 3-5 Spoga+gafa Cologne, Germany

8-10 Horizon Distribution Annual Conference & Trade Show Yakima, Washington The international garden fair, spoga+gafa, is the world’s largest event of its kind.

The show annually attracts exhibitors and attendees from around the globe.

S

poga+gafa, the annual international garden fair, will be showcasing the latest in modern lawn and garden trends, such as stylish multifunctional furniture and new technology.

The event, which is scheduled for Sept. 3-5 in Cologne, Germany, will be spread across about 2.4 million square feet of show floor space.

At the garden fair, more than 2,000 exhibitors from 59 countries will showcase innovations and trends from around the world.

Products will be divided into exhibits, including Garden Living, Garden Unique, Garden Creation & Care and Garden BBQ. “Spoga+gafa unites the entire diversity of garden products,” Katharina C. Hamma, chief operating officer for event organizer Koelnmesse GmbH, says in a statement.

“In the garden furniture, grill and outdoor sections, it has the world’s largest coherent [offering].”

Space-saving, modern and multipurpose outdoor furniture will be a dominant focus at the show, according to information from Koelnmesse.

In addition, pots that double as planters and outdoor storage, patio umbrellas that have lights and heaters and convertible furniture are among the trends being highlighted.

Spoga+gafa 2017 will also showcase high-tech gardening tools, such as autonomous lawn mowers, as well as trends and new technology in outdoor lighting, lawn care, pools, garden irrigation and smart grilling devices.

Manufacturers will present and demonstrate their products, and international experts will offer lectures in the technology area.

For more information about the event, visit spogagafa.com.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

8-10 HDW 2017 Fall Dealer Market Shreveport, Louisiana

15-16 Blish-Mize Fall Buying Market Overland Park, Kansas

21-23 The Bostwick-Braun Co. 2017 Fall Dealer Market Toledo, Ohio

23-26 Home Hardware Fall Dealer Market St. Jacobs, Ontario

25-27 True Value Fall Reunion Chicago Find more details about these events and others online at TheRedT.com/calendar.

To have your event added, contact Kate Klein at kklein@nrha.org.

Lend your voice to industry research.

If you value fresh, pertinent research on best practices and trends in the home improvement retail sector, this panel is for you. Join today to give your input in monthly industry-specific surveys.

Research Panel What’s in it for you?

For your participation, you receive free access to study results, entry in a quarterly $250 gift card drawing and the opportunity to be part of leading industry research presented at North American Retail Hardware Association events and in Hardware Retailing magazine.

“By being part of the research, I’m able to share my knowledge to help others.

In this industry, we all help each other, and this is one way to do that.”

Dave Umber | CEO | Umber’s Do it Best Hardware MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD TODAY AT THEREDT.COM/JOIN-THE-PANEL

Newsmakers

True Value Responds to Bloomberg Report Regarding Possible Sale

Lowe’s Lays Off About 125 Tech Employees

Hardware Retailing spoke to True Value to learn more about claims that the co-op is considering selling.

TheRedT.com/true-value-bloomberg

Lowe’s has laid off approximately 125 of its corporate technology employees and will move many of their positions to Bangalore, India.

TheRedT.com/lowes-tech

Former Home Depot Exec Takes VP Post at Ace Hardware

Sears Cuts 400 Jobs, Loses 3 Executives

Ace Hardware Corp. has hired former Home Depot executive John Sommers Jr. to serve as the co-op’s vice president of merchandising.

TheRedT.com/ace-vp-merchandising

As part of its restructuring plan to cut $1.25 billion from its expenditures in fiscal year 2017, Sears Holdings Corp. is cutting 400 positions from its headquarters and field operations.

Three executives also announced that they are leaving the company.

TheRedT.com/more-sears-cuts

Ace Hardware Names New Board Member Ace Hardware Corp. has named Karen May as a new member of the cooperative’s board of directors.

TheRedT.com/ace-board

Walmart Uses Virtual Reality Walmart has introduced virtual reality headsets into its training

program, allowing new employees to practice customer service skills prior to encountering shoppers on salesfloors.

TheRedT.com/WMT-virtual

Past NRHA Chairman Not Reopening Scorched Store Two men were convicted of burglary and arson charges connected with the fire that destroyed the store. They were both sentenced in April to 20 years in prison.

TheRedT.com/arson

PRO Group Hosts Merchandising Conference PRO Group member distributors had the opportunity to meet with more than 95 manufacturers at the recent Group Merchandising Conference in Chicago.

TheRedT.com/pro-group-merchandising

AD INDEX Ace Hardware.......................................................... 35 www.acehardware.com; 630-990-3614

Hy-Ko ....................................................................... 39 www.hy-ko.com; 800-292-0550

Quikrete..................................................................... 3 www.quikrete.com; 404-634-9100

Ajax Wire Specialty Co.......................................... 26 www.ajaxwire.com; 855-966-2529

IPG................................................................Bellyband www.itape.com; 888-898-7834

Reckitt Benckiser/d-Con ..................................... 12-13 630-434-1350

Amteco Inc. ............................................................. 64 www.usetwp.com; 800-969-4811

Jeske Company Inc. ................................................ 19 www.jeskecompany.com; 800-677-3383

Red Lion .................................................................. 57 www.redlionproducts.com; 844-250-4981

Apex Tool Group ..................................................... 5 www.apextoolgroup.com; 410-773-7800

Kness Mfg. Co. Inc.................................................. 31 www.kness.com; 800-247-5062

Rust Patrol ............................................................ 37 www.rustpatrol.com; 713-400-3100

Benjamin Moore..................................................... BC www.benjaminmoore.com; 855-724-6802

Legacy ..................................................................... 25 www.flexzilla.com; 800-645-8258

S-Line by Ancra International ................................ 30 www.ancra.com; 800-626-8353

Big Green Egg ......................................................... 72 www.biggreenegg.com; 800-793-2292

Lifetime ................................................................... 71 www.lifetime.com; 800-424-3865

Safety Works Inc. .................................................... 45 www.safetyworks.com; 800-969-7562

Bonide ..................................................................... 75 www.bonide.com; 315-736-8231

Magna Industries Inc............................................... 65 www.magna-insto.com; 800-969-3334

Sakrete .................................................................... 47 www.sakrete.com; 866-725-7383

Channellock Inc....................................................... 1 www.channellock.com; 800-724-3018

Master Magnetics Inc. .......................................... 94 www.magnetsource.com; 888-293-9190

Sashco ................................................................. IFC www.sashco.com; 800-767-5656

Char-Broil ................................................................. 26 www.charbroil.com; 866-239-6777

Midwest Fastener............................................ 32-33 www.fastenerconnection.com; 800-444-7313

Sears Hometown Hardware.................................. 48 www.ownasearsstore.com

Cole’s Wild Bird .................................................... 63 www.coleswildbird.com; 877-426-8882

Milestones............................................................... 74 www.milestonesproducts.com; 203-438-6577

Simon Rack........................................................... 18 www.simonrackusa.com; +1 585 5687904

Do it Best Corp. .................................................... 11 www.independentsdoitbest.com; 888-364-8237

MiTek....................................................................... 17 www.uspconnectors.com; 800-328-5934

Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc........................... 9 www.go.strongtie.com; 800-999-5099

Dynatrap ............................................................... 69 www.dynatrap.com; 877-403-8727

NRHA Research Panel..................................................... 99 www.theredt.com/join-the-panel

SKM Industries Inc. ............................................ 101 www.skmproducts.com; 800-851-8464

ECI RockSolid ....................................................... 83 www.ecirocksolid.com; 800-588-5128

NRHA Membership.................................................103 www.nrha.org/membership

SoftSeal Masks..................................................... 38 www.softsealmask.com; 800-513-9337

Fiskars Brands Inc................................................. 15 www.fiskars.com; 866-348-5661

Hardware Retailing Newsletter...............................101 www.hardwareretailing.com/subscribe

Stihl....................................................................... 85 www.stihlusa.com; 757-486-9100

Franmar................................................................. 24 www.franmar.com; 800-538-5069

Old Masters .......................................................... 95 www.myoldmasters.com; 800-747-3436

Sun Gro Horticulture ............................................. 56 www.blackgold.bz; 800-732-8667

Hero Products Group ............................................ 28 www.hero.ca; 604-522-6543

Onward Mfg. Co. .................................................... 7 www.omcbbq.com; 800-265-2150

Sunnyside Corporation ............................................ 49 www.sunnysidecorp.com; 800-323-8611

HSI........................................................................ 87 www.hardwaresuppliers.com; 800-334-5625

Orgill Inc. ......................................................104-IBC www.orgill.com; 800-347-2860

True Value............................................................. 21 www.truevaluecompany.com; 888-291-7229

Hillman..................................................................... 61 www.hillmangroup.com; 800-800-4900

Paladin Data Corporation ......................................... 53 www.paladinpointofsale.com; 541-803-6060

TRUSOLV a Div. of The Plastics Group Inc. .................... 29 www.trusolvproducts.com; 888-449-3326

Howard Products..................................................... 73 www.howardproducts.com; 800-266-9545

Phifer Inc. ........................................................... 78-79 www.phifer.com; 800-841-9473

Whink Products Company....................................... 27 www.whink.com; 800-247-5102

*This index is provided for the convenience of our advertisers and readers. The Publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Former Home Depot CEO: Don’t Get Complacent

CANADA

Home Hardware Looks for New Members, Builds Larger Stores

Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli recently spoke about how Home Depot has found success in both traditional and online retailing.

TheRedT.com/nardelli

BMR’s Renovation Part of Wider Initiative

Home Hardware is seeking new members and is supporting existing ones who are interested in expanding.

“Our growth strategy is multipronged and focuses on banner conversions, store expansions, market consolidations, greenfield opportunities and store acquisition,” Dunc Wilson, national director of business development, says.

Sears Canada Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Potvin & Bouchard recently inaugurated its new store in Chicoutimi, Quebec.

The CA$3.1 million investment included a complete renovation of the 50,000-squarefoot store. The project is part of an effort to improve store design for all 15 Groupe BMR corporate stores.

Sears Canada has filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to continue operations.

TheRedT.com/sears-canada-bankruptcy

First RONA Conversion to Lowe’s Brand Opens in Alberta

Ace Hardware Acquires Another Big-Box Executive Ace Hardware has announced a second big-box executive hire, recruiting Lisa Doyle from Lowe’s to serve as its new head of retail training.

TheRedT.com/lowes-exec-ace

Lowe’s Canada opened the first of its new model stores in June in Edmonton, Alberta. With DNA from both RONA and Lowe’s, the new store features a more locally oriented product offering than Lowe’s has typically carried and continues RONA’s contractor expertise.

Lowe’s trademark categories, such as appliances and outdoor furniture, figure prominently in the new store.

Kenroc Celebrates 50 Years In the mid-1960s, the way houses were being built in North America changed dramatically. Drywall was becoming the norm, but it was prone to breakage, making it difficult to handle and ship. Ken Sexton started Kenroc Building Supplies as a drywall supplier in 1967.

For the full story of each of these briefs, visit hardlines.ca/hardwareretailing.

Make Mondays Matter

Industry News

Operational Tips

New Products

Start your week off right with the Hardware Retailing newsletter, which is packed with the latest industry news, retailer stories and association updates. Sign up now to get the newsletter delivered to your inbox every Monday.

To subscribe to the newsletter, visit hardwareretailing.com/subscribe.

August 2017 | HARDWARE RETAILING

101

Last Word

Facebook Live Videos Leave Consumers Hungry for More

W

hen Gerrod Brasseux decided to own and operate a hardware store, he knew he wanted to offer a well-developed grilling category. As a former educator, Brasseux naturally took to teaching customers best practices and recipes to try on the grill when they visited Brasseux True Value Hardware.

However, he was searching for ways to expand his reach beyond his loyal customers and foot traffic.

“I have friends who participate in CrossFit in town, and they would film Facebook Live videos from the gym of their workouts,” he says. “My friends encouraged me to try Facebook Live videos at my store, either a quick video of new products or showing our followers how to cook something with products from the store.”

Brasseux paid for Facebook advertising to help grow his audience online and share the videos with more people.

The following eight tips give an overview of how to use Facebook Live videos to your advantage.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | August 2017

Share a tip...

Facebook suggests broadcasting for at least 10 minutes if you want a greater chance of others discovering your video and sharing it with friends.

1 2

Before going live, however, a strong signal is necessary.

According to Facebook, Wi-Fi tends to be the best option. If that isn’t available, a 4G data connection is needed. Signals weaker than 4G won’t be able to film live.

3

To keep an audience for future videos, ask Facebook fans to follow the page, so they receive a notification when a video goes live.

4

To start filming, go to the top of the News Feed on the Facebook app and select “What’s on your mind.”

Then select “Live Video” from the dropdown menu. Add a description and choose your audience before hitting “Go Live.” There will be a three-second countdown before the broadcast begins.

Interact with your audience live.

If someone asks a question, you can respond in real time.

5 6

To get more people excited about your video and tuned in live, consider sharing in advance on your Facebook page information about the topic, as well as the day and time you’ll be live. According to Facebook, one day’s notice is usually a good standard to follow.

Brasseux recommends having someone who is naturally comfortable speaking in front of the camera to do the video. A second person can act as the videographer. Or, you can simply greet your viewers and then film what you’re doing.

7

8

Have a closing line when you’re ready to sign off. Then tap the “Finish” button to end the broadcast.

The video can be posted to Facebook or downloaded to a phone.

WE’RE STRONGER TOGETHER

No matter who you are, you are one of us.

NRHA brings together 35,000 independent home improvement retailers.

35,000 INDEPENDENT RETAILERS

238 ONLINE TRAINING MODULES

Educate yourself and your staff. NRHA has everything you need to provide industry-focused training, including seven online courses, 238 modules, 40+ Trainer’s Toolbox sessions, two college-level management courses and more!

From entry-level to owner-level, NRHA has you covered.

Invest in your team, your business and your future.

100% INDEPENDENT NRHA WELCOMES ALL RETAILERS REGARDLESS OF AFFILIATION

JOIN US TODAY AT NRHA.ORG/MEMBERSHIP

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At Hyde Tools, quality is non-negotiable, same as it has been since 1875.

That’s why our line of Black & Silver® tools are made with full-tang, high-carbon steel blades that are .055" thick before grinding. And with a durable nylon handle and chisel edge, our scrapers are ready to dig under stubborn paint and debris. These are time-tested tools for your pro and serious DIY customers — and we guarantee them forever.

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Trainer’s Toolbox

This quick-start guide gives trainers the knowledge they need to start a formal training program, or make their existing program better.

This library of resources will help retailers and employees better understand and use the data from NRHA’s Cost of Doing Business Study.

This series of short videos, worksheets and PowerPoint presentations gives trainers easy-to-use lessons on a variety of valuable topics.

Visit www.nrha.org/freetraining to download your free training resources today!

Susan Elmore Buzick Lumber & Home Center Kentucky

“Orgill has always been very supportive of us.

You’re more independent when you’re dealing with Orgill.”

Independence and Growth “Orgill Allows Us to Customize our Business.”

Freedom

Expansion

“Orgill helps us adapt to our market and they don’t

“Orgill was instrumental in getting us into rental.

require us to post their signs or run their circulars if we

We worked with Orgill about 10 years ago to launch

don’t want to. The freedom Orgill provides allows us to

the rental program, which now contributes about

customize our product mix and advertise specifically for

one-third of our profits.”

our town and the surrounding communities.”

Cutting Costs, Growing Profits Reliability

“Orgill’s recent Market Driven Retailing study will help

“I know I can count on my Orgill deliveries to be on time and

with updating our pricing to improve profit margins.

accurate, so we are better able to manage our inventory.

They looked at our competitors, and will help us earn

They also don’t charge any hidden service fees.”

more margin and be more competitive at the same time.”

For more information about how Orgill can help you grow your business, contact us today!

1-800-347-2860 ext. 373 • information@orgill.com • www.orgill.com • Orgill, Inc. P.O. Box 140, Memphis TN 38101-0140

©2017 Benjamin Moore & Co. Benjamin Moore, Paint like no other, and the triangle “M” symbol are registered trademarks licensed to Benjamin Moore & Co.

When you join the Benjamin Moore retailer network, it’s your store, not a franchise. Which means no franchise fee, and 100% of your investment goes into your own store.

Go to benjaminmoore.com/newdealers to learn more.