Issuu

Serving Hardware, Home Center & Building Material Retailers

Do the Time

Can the Government Be Your Next Big Customer? 54

Social Media Best Practices 40

VOLUME 210 • ISSUE 3 • MARCH 2016 • HARDWARERETAILING.COM

Kick Your Paint Department Up a Swatch 66

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What Would Walmart Do? Don’t miss this conference exclusive! Charles Fishman, investigative journalist and best-selling author of “The Wal-Mart Effect,” will speak about the world’s largest retailer and the opportunities independent home improvement retailers have to compete. Visit www.nrhaconference.com or call 800-772-4424 for more details!

2016 NRHA ALL-INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

May 4-6, 2016 Las Vegas Convention Center

FREE For All Retailers!

Presented By:

Sponsored By:

Te Industry Advantage.

Brought to you by

Serving Hardware, Home Center & Building Material Retailers

Do the Time

Can the Government Be Your Next Big Customer? 54

Social Media Best Practices 40

VOLUME 210 • ISSUE 3 • MARCH 2016 • HARDWARERETAILING.COM

Kick Your Paint Department Up a Swatch 66

NEXT MONTH

Moving Inventory From A to Z

n the April issue, we will examine the entire inventory management process, from receiving stock through closing out unproductive inventory, and all the steps in between. You’ll also want to read up on using inventory performance management metrics from the North American Retail Hardware Association’s (NRHA) Cost of Doing Business Study.

In addition, check out the latest trends in lumber and building materials, as highlighted in the model home from the National Association of Home Builders at the International Builders’ Show. Next month, you’ll also get a look ahead to the speakers and events slated for the NRHA All-Industry Conference and National Hardware® Show in May.

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March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

Headquarters Staff

136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 Phone: 317-275-9400 Fax: 317-275-9403 Email: nrha@nrha.org Website: www.nrha.org HEADQUARTERS STAFF PRESIDENT AND CEO Bill Lee CONTROLLER David Gowan

EDUCATION DIRECTOR OF MEMBER SERVICES Allison DeWitt, 317-275-9414, adewitt@nrha.org 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, 317-275-9435, kstokes@nrha.org

RETAIL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-RETAIL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE Scott Wright, 317-275-9430, swright@nrha.org DIRECTOR OF RETAIL OUTREACH Tom Marcum, 317-275-9430, tmarcum@nrha.org

PUBLISHING

NRHA MISSION

PUBLISHER, VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLISHING Dan Tratensek

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.

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Whitney Daulton ASSOCIATE EDITOR Liz Lichtenberger ASSISTANT EDITOR Renee Changnon ASSISTANT EDITOR Kate Klein LEAD GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lynnea Verville GRAPHIC DESIGNER Graeme Haase WEB DEVELOPER Kevin Trehan MARKET RESEARCH ANALYST Sara Logel

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

CIRCULATION CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Richard Jarrett

CIRCULATION/SUBSCRIPTION/ LIST RENTAL INQUIRIES PHONE 314-432-7511 FAX 314-432-7665

NRHA VENDOR PARTNER

SALES

VENDOR INTEGRATION MANAGER Marci Taschler, 317-275-9421, mtaschler@nrha.org

VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES Bob Cutter

NRHA CANADA NRHA CANADA Michael McLarney, 360 Dupont St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 1V9; 416-489-3396, mike@hardlines.ca

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

STATE AND REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

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

MICHIGAN RETAIL HARDWARE ASSOCIATION Patrick Harrington, 4414 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Lansing, MI 48910; 517-394-1710; FAX 517-394-6754

NORTHEST REGION MANAGER Brian Ziff, 17 Cutler Knoll, Watertown, Conn. 06795; 203-509-0125, Fax: 317-275-9406, bziff@nrha.org

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

GREAT LAKES REGION MANAGER Brad Lyons, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, Ind. 46204; 317-275-9424, Fax: 317-275-9403, blyons@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; Alaska, Idaho, Ore., Wash. 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; Ark., Kan., La., Mo., Neb., N.M., Texas

SOUTHEAST REGION MANAGER Nick O’Connor, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, Ind. 46204; 317-275-9409, Fax: 317-275-9403, noconnor@nrha.org CANADA John Magner, 500 Queens Quay W., #101 W. Toronto, ON M5V 3K8; 416-598-0101 x220, Fax: 416-598-9191, jmagner@yorkmedia.net

Hardware Retailing (ISSN0889-2989) is published monthly by the North American Retail Hardware Association, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, Ind. 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. Periodical postage paid at Indianapolis, Indiana, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hardware Retailing, P.O. Box 16709, St. Louis, MO 63105-1209. All editorial contents copyrighted 2016 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.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

FEATURED NRHA BOARD MEMBER

“My first memory of

NRHA is looking at the Hardware Retailing magazine in my dad’s office when I was a kid.

”

T.J. COMSTOCK SECOND VICE CHAIRMAN

Taylor (T.J.) Comstock, owner of Northwest Hardware, with five locations in Montana, was elected to the board of the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) in 2011. He began working at his dad’s store at age 12, graduated from the University of Montana in 2003 and returned to retail in 2006. WHAT IS THE FUNNIEST THING THAT HAPPENED WHILE WORKING IN YOUR DAD’S STORE AS A KID? I was 11 years old and I was stocking six packs of 7-Up in the store when I dropped a few. The cans exploded all over a customer, and I thought stomping on the cans would help stop the spraying, but it just drenched him even more. I was laughing so hard I had to run to the backroom. He wasn’t too happy, and neither was my dad.

Contents MARCH 2016 | VOLUME 210 | ISSUE 3

Features

40 SOCIAL MEDIA

Best Practices for Driving Engagement Your customers are on social media and you probably are, too. But what value are your social media accounts providing to your customers and your business? This article offers suggestions for assessing and improving the value of your online engagement with customers.

54 OPERATIONS

Bidding on Government Projects Retailers across the country find lucrative work in selling to government agencies. In this story, three experienced retailers share their strategies for bidding on government projects and working with those customers.

66 CATEGORY SPOTLIGHT

Paint & Paint Sundries Three retailers who have mastered the art of selling paint talk about changing consumer demands and fashion. In addition, a representative of color authority Pantone discusses trending hues and designs.

54 Departments 06 08 10 12 18 22 32 76 82

On the Web Independent Thinking Taking Care of Business NRHA News Trends New Products Checkouts Newsmakers/Calendar The Last Word

On the Cover

40 66 4

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Ron Moran, owner of Avenal Lumber & Hardware in Avenal, California, does substantial business with government agencies, including the nearby state prison NRHA photo by Lynnea Verville.

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hardwareretailing.com SOCIAL MEDIA

Getting Your Social Media On Track Most retailers are already engaged with social media in one way or another. This month’s feature story, “Room for Improvement,” on Page 40, discusses how you can evaluate your social media presence and develop an effective plan for growth. To get the process started, head to TheRedT.com/SMKit to download a social media toolkit, complete with the following:

Scheduling Template

Q&A

We know how busy you are! Use this social media scheduling template to plan your social media content.

Advice from a Color Consultant

Analytic Tracking Template This tool allows you to plug in analytics and easily track your platform’s performance.

Social Media Best Practices If you are new to social media or are looking for ways to improve, these are the top 10 things to consider.

In order to have a successful paint department, it’s important to understand color and the role it plays in a home. Hardware Retailing spoke with Amy Krane, a professional color consultant, who shares her tips for helping your customers in the paint department. Read her full Q&A at TheRedT.com/color-expert.

Facebook Page Guide This helpful guide points out the most important elements of setting up or completing a Facebook page.

Q&A

Social Media Expert Struggling to master Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? We’ve got you covered. Social media expert Crystal Vilkaitis answers some of the most-asked questions from retailers at TheRedT.com/SMExpert.

ROAD TRIP! Celebrate your independence with us March 14-18 as NRHA joins Independent We Stand on The Great American Route 66 Road Trip, from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles. Support us on social media by using #AmericasMainStreets and #GreatAmericanRt66. Don’t miss daily posts on hardwareretailing.com from assistant editor Renee Changnon.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

@hardwareretail facebook.com/HardwareRetailing Hardware Retailing Magazine

Website links can get long and wordy, so Hardware Retailing is making it easier to find our online content. Simply type in TheRedT.com/ followed by the unique code for each link. Why “The Red T?” Check out our logo!

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

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Independent Thinking

Plan to Grow

our association’s 2015 Cost of Doing Business Study (CODB) is a gold mine of ideas to improve your store’s financial performance. The CODB compares the top quartile of hardware stores in profitability against the median to shed light on what it takes to be a top performer. My guess is you want to increase sales, right? It all boils down to ringing the cash register more often and/or increasing your average ticket. Sounds simple, but some retailers are doing a better job than others. Comparing typical hardware stores to top quartile, high-profit stores, we see a big gap in annual transactions: 79,500 vs. 97,361. We also see a 10-percent difference in the average ticket: $20 vs. $22. These advantages for high-profit retailers mean they have over a half-million dollars more revenue to put to work in their operations. So, what’s your strategy for growing sales in the coming 12 months?

Increase Transactions

“What’s your

strategy for growing sales in the coming 12 months?

”

Growing store traffic is one way to increase transactions, but you may find you are constrained somewhat in your ability to build footsteps. High-profit stores are spending about $2 more per square foot for rent, so better location may be a factor in their almost-18,000 edge in customer transactions. If you’re doing well with advertising and marketing, you may be capturing most of the available footsteps. Take a hard look at your conversion rate. How many people leave your store empty-handed each day and why? Are you out of stock on the basics? Have you run out of a sale item? Was there no one there to help? Here’s a little math. The typical hardware store does 79,500 transactions annually. Increase transactions by 5 percent this year, and this will result in 3,975 more transactions, or a little over 12 transactions each day. Do more than 12 people leave your store emptyhanded? If so, find out why and fix it—3,975 additional transactions at $20 each adds $79,000 to your top line.

Ticket Size According to the 2015 CODB, high-profit stores have a $22 average ticket vs. $20 for typical stores. This is huge. If you’re a typical hardware store and add $2 to your average ticket, you just grew your top line by $159,000. How do you do it? Are you priced right? Be sure you know where you stand on low-visibility items and take advantage of this opportunity to raise prices. Are you merchandising to build basket size? Take a close look at product adjacencies. Be sure you have plenty of clip strips in your aisles and wing panels on endcaps. Train employees to make sure customers don’t leave without everything they need to complete their projects. Your customers will thank you, and you’ll love the results. And evaluate your checkout area. Pack it with impulse items, snacks and drinks. So, what happens when you increase transactions by 5 percent and average ticket by $2? For the typical hardware store, transactions increase to 83,475, ticket size goes to $22, sales increase by a whopping $166,950 and net operating profit goes from 1.6 percent to 5.4 percent. Sounds like a fun goal for the next 12 months, doesn’t it? Later this month, the 2016 CODB survey will be available, and we’d love for you to participate. To get a copy, check your mailbox or visit nrha.org.

Bill Lee, President and CEO

blee@nrha.org

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

THE VALUE OF KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY This table has played host to everything from Christmas dinners to grandma’s bridge tournaments and arguments about politics and sports. When you sit at our table as a True Value® Member, you are family. You not only plug into the buying power of a successful co-op, but you have your choice of solid programs with our support every step of the way. Here at True Value the word value isn’t only in our name, it inspires everything we do. There are many reasons why more than 600 new stores have joined our co-op during the past three years. If you value what we value, give us a call at

1-888-291-7229. TrueValueCompany.com

Taking Care of Business

Real Political Action

“If you are looking

for a meaningful way to drive your local economy or create a more level playing field for your business— think local first.

”

n the rare case you might have been rescued from a deserted island or awakened from a deep, three-year slumber—I’d like to inform you that there is an election going on in America. As part of this process, you’ve likely already heard terms bandied about like “social welfare,” “job creator” or “Main Street” or something about “making America great.” Over the next several months, you’ll continue to hear rhetoric from all sides concerning each candidate’s unique commitment to small businesses. In November, cast your vote for the candidate you feel will best represent your interests (for your business and personal life). But as small business owners, don’t get swept up in jingoistic bumper sticker platitudes candidates will be spewing. It’s not that I don’t feel governmental action at the federal level can have an impact on local businesses; I just feel there are better ways to channel your energies. Take this recent study from the Institute for Local Self Reliance that supported the concept that when individual communities rally around their small businesses, the impact can be meaningful. The study, conducted in partnership with Advocates for Independent Business (AIB), revealed that two-thirds of “respondents in cities with an active Local First, or ‘buy local,’ campaign felt the initiative was having a noticeable positive impact on their business, citing benefits such as new customers and increased loyalty among existing customers.” The study also showed “about one-third of businesses in Local First cities also reported that the initiative had led them to become more engaged in advocating on public policy issues, and 44 percent said that the campaign had made elected officials more aware and supportive of independent businesses.” These findings illustrate how important it is to join locally and advocate for one another. If you are looking for a meaningful way to drive your local economy or create a more level playing field for your business—think local first. Start a local-first movement. Encourage your chamber of commerce to launch a small business initiative. Talk to your city council, county supervisor, mayor or economic development director about forming a small business alliance and advocacy group. This action will have a greater impact on your business and the health of small business in your community than anything else you can do. Why? Because the impact created by these groups is tangible in YOUR community. These groups advocate for shop-local initiatives with YOUR customers. They help lobby LOCAL officials when it comes to issues like tax subsidies for large corporations. They help provide YOUR business with a VOICE. I also encourage you to get more involved with the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA), YOUR association. In the coming months, NRHA will continue to focus on advocacy for independent home improvement retailers. We will reach out to you, listen to your concerns and share these concerns with members of the channel and beyond. NRHA will also continue to make sure your interests are represented with organizations such as AIB. So as the endless debates, news clips, smear ads and political “discourse” continues in the coming months, don’t let it distract you from the ways you can rally together with your fellow business owners and citizens to make an impact in YOUR communities—it could be YUGE!

Dan M. Tratensek, Publisher

dant@nrha.org

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

NRHA News

Trained Employees Sell More!

ny store owner knows the benefits of a good training program are numerous: increased sales, better customer service, less employee turnover—the list goes on. To help you start or improve your employee training program, NRHA is dedicated to providing new training resources throughout 2016. Below are descriptions of each program. For more information or to download these resources, visit www.nrha.org or contact NRHA at 800-772-4424.

Train the Trainer • Designed for trainers to start or improve a formal training program. • Step-by-step instructions and practical tips for program implementation. • Real-life retailer examples of training program development. • Appendix of additional resources, including downloadable tools. • FREE to all retailers.

Cost of Doing Business Resources • A breakdown of data points presented in NRHA’s annual Cost of Doing Business Study. • Best practices and case studies from retailers. • Videos to be shared with employees to teach the financial side of the business. • Packages on three topics will be released throughout the year, with Improving Average Transaction Size currently available. • FREE to all retailers.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Trainer’s Toolbox • Series of quick lessons on topics including selling skills, merchandising, product knowledge and operations. • Lessons may include a video, presentation, slideshow, worksheet or other resource. • Easy to use and to the point; perfect for company meetings. • Intended for all levels of employees. • New lessons released monthly. • FREE to all retailers.

NRHA Training Courses • Online training with knowledge checks and testing. • Most popular program: The Basic Training Series, with hardlines and building materials product knowledge. • Upselling techniques, customer FAQs and more. • Other programs available: Project PRO, Selling Skills and Customer Relations, Retail Merchandising, Our Three Pennies of Profit and Loss Prevention Series. • Available through NRHA membership. Contact Member Services at nrha@nrha.org or 800-772-4424 for pricing.

Easy-to-use, affordable POS solution for hardware dealers

YOU BUILT IT! Your business is proof of your hard work. Don’t trust it to just any business management software. ECi RockSolid can help you build on your success by automating and streamlining your entire business from point-of-sale through inventory order placement and tracking to accounts receivable. All of this efficiency comes in one package at one value-driven price point. Let us manage the software while you keep building an even better business.

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NRHA News

NRHA Is On The Road Again

RHA has been traveling across the country in 2016 visiting distributor buying markets, industry trade shows and independent retailers. Check out the dots on the map below to see where NRHA representatives have been this year, and where NRHA staffers are heading in the coming months. If we will be in your area, let’s meet up! We’d love to see your store. Get in touch with us at nrha@nrha.org or 800-772-4424.

Where We’ve Been

Where We’re Headed

January • United Hardware Buying Market, Minneapolis, Minnesota

March • Retailer visits in the Boston area

• NAHB International Builder’s Show, Las Vegas

• International Home + Housewares Show, Chicago

• Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, Las Vegas

• Blish-Mize Spring Buying Market, Overland Park, Kansas

• Ace Hardware Spring Convention & Exhibits, Las Vegas

• World and Main, Houston, Texas • Avenal Lumber & Hardware, Avenal, California • Fresno Ag Hardware, Fresno, California • PAC Lumber & Hardware, Waverly, Tennessee

April • Home Hardware Spring Market, St. Jacobs, Ontario

• Pilot Lumber, Bellevue, Kentucky

May • National Hardware Show®/ NRHA All-Industry Conference, Las Vegas

• Meades Do it Center, Irvine, Kentucky

• Do it Best May Market, Indianapolis

• PC Lumber and Hardware, Sellersburg, Indiana February • True Value Spring Reunion, Houston, Texas

Road Trip!

• Orgill Spring Dealer Market, Orlando, Florida • New Albany Ace Hardware, New Albany, Ohio • Mayer Paint & Hardware, Rochester, New York

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

March 14-18 • The Great American Route 66 Road Trip: More info on Page 17!

Matt

is a hardware store owner like you. The diﬀerence is that he converted his stores to Ace so that his business can proﬁt from a nationally recognized brand and never-ending support. Learn more about Matt’s experience at youtube.com/myacehardware.

Hear more about Matt’s conversion by visiting our YouTube page below. Explore all the opportunities and beneﬁts of converting your store to an Ace.

Visit myace.com or call (630) 990-6900. www.YouTube.com/MyAceHardware

These results are speciﬁc to Matt and the operation of his Ace stores. Other retailers’ results may vary.

NRHA News

Making Your Mondays Matter

very Monday, retailers across the country get the latest industry news, new products, how-to management stories and more, delivered straight to their email inboxes. Hardware Retailing’s weekly electronic newsletter helps thousands of retailers stay informed on need-to-know industry information. Recently, NRHA conducted a survey among retailers to get a better understanding of how Hardware Retailing‘s weekly newsletter could better suit your needs. We hear you! In February, retailers started receiving a new, fresh version of the Monday newsletter that is simplified in design and provides news, retailer stories, new products and management and category-specific advice. If you don’t receive the newsletter and would like to, head to hardwareretailing.com/subscribe to sign up today.

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Spreading Main Street Love on Route 66

ater this month, NRHA will team up once again with Independent We Stand to bring attention to the importance of America’s Main Streets and celebrate the independent businesses that call them home. NRHA assistant editor Renee Changnon and the Independent We Stand team will embark on The Great American Route 66 Road Trip. They will travel on “America’s Main Street” March 14-18. The trip kicks off in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and will continue through Amarillo, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona; and end at the Santa Monica pier in California. The goal of the trip is to visit at least five cities in five states within the five days. They will shop, stay, play and eat local the entire trip. The road trip will also help Independent We Stand promote its first annual “America’s Main Streets” contest, says Bill Brunelle, co-founder of Independent We Stand. “The goal of the first annual Independent We Stand ‘America’s Main Streets’ contest is to promote the importance and strong economic benefits of Main Streets and the small businesses that help them thrive,” Brunelle says. “We expect to see communities rallying for their Main Streets simply by going online and encouraging others to do the same.” The online contest begins March 1, and voting begins immediately. Nominations and quarter-finalist voting runs

March 1-April 24. The winning Main Street will receive $25,000 in cash and related prizes for revitalization. To vote for or nominate your Main Street, go to www.mainstreetcontest.com. To follow along with NRHA and Independent We Stand, stay tuned to Hardware Retailing’s website and social media. “We are very excited to have NRHA join us for a second road trip, and we look forward to the stories they help us tell along the way,” Brunelle says. “A big part of the appeal of Route 66 is that it offered Americans a road to success, and NRHA has been doing the same for its members for over 100 years.”

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Trends Making Social Media Matter Applied to Retail: Social media is as big a part of consumers’ daily lives as TV or radio, and according to a North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) poll of 1,000 consumers, 30 percent of shoppers follow local businesses on social media.

Consumers use social media for more than connecting with friends and family; they’re also engaging with brands and businesses. If you haven’t already, use in-store or online surveys to analyze what platforms your customers are using. Then, create accounts on those platforms and provide lively and useful content. To read about retailers who create engaging social media content for their businesses, turn to Page 40.

Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram offer retailers direct online avenues to engage and have conversations with customers. Further survey data shows that nearly 50 percent of consumers who follow businesses on social media are looking for new products and special deals, suggesting that the platforms can be used to entice customers to buy. Below is additional data from the NRHA consumer poll, outlining the most popular social media platforms consumers use and why they follow businesses on those platforms.

Where do you follow businesses on social media?

12.2% Twitter

40.4%

10.8% Instagram

7.7% LinkedIn

Facebook

5.4% Pinterest

4.8% Yelp

Top Reasons Consumers Follow Businesses on Social Media

To Find New Products

To Find Deals

To Stay Up to Date on Store Events

SAL E

Source: 2016 Social Media Consumer Poll, North American Retail Hardware Association

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

? 4

?? To Ask Questions and Interact With the Store

Picture Perfect Outdoor Projects

Fences Planter Boxes

Porch Posts Help customers accomplish their outdoor projects with Simpson Strong-Tie ® connectors and fasteners. Our new two-part RPBZ retroft post base easily repairs deck and porch posts, Strong-Drive ® SDWS Timber screws can be used to build planter boxes, raised beds and pergolas, and our E-Z Mender™ fence products strengthen rotted or damaged wood posts. Contact your local sales representative about our DIY product mix at (800) 999-5099 and visit strongtie.com/diydoneright.

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“We h radi ave 12 os-b 0 RD e serv U ice t st custo 4100 had ool m er w . the In 44 ye e’ve ev #1 t a rs, t er hi for c usto ng we’v his is You mer e do c on t annot p service ne . his.” ut a pric e Do I

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• Accelerate training of new employees • Eliminate unscheduled meetings • Improve security and reduce shrink

Free 6 unit charger for every 6 radios purchased between March 1st and June 30th, 2016. (mail-in offer)

Motorola radios and accessories are stocked in the ACE, Do it Best and True Value warehouses.

800-248-5391 • www.acsradios.com

New Products

“This serving platter

is very versatile. Users can place cheese on the cutting board with crackers surrounding it or remove the board and fill the center with dips and salsas.

”

—Dianne McArthur, Alamo Hardware

“Our customers love the

S’well bottles because they can keep water cold for a really long time and they look good. They’re selling off the shelves.

”

—Jaylene Rice, Fort McMurray Home Hardware Building Centre

1. SERVING PLATTER AND CUTTING BOARD

2. REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE

The Le Creuset Round Platter with Cutting Board is ideal for entertaining guests. Users can place hard or soft cheeses on the center beech wood cutting board and surround it with crackers or bread slices. The cutting board can be removed to pour dips or salsas into the center well. The impermeable exterior enamel resists stains and scratches from metal utensils. The platter is dishwashersafe, but the cutting board should be hand-washed.

The S’well bottle keeps drinks cold for 24 hours or hot for 12 hours. The bottles are double-walled, made of 18 /8 stainless steel BPA and are vacuum-sealed, keeping carbonation in and leaving the bottle condensation-free. The reusable bottle is currently sold in 35 countries, including the U.S. and Canada. S’well bottles can be purchased in many unique patterns or styles.

LE CREUSET OF AMERICA 212-268-5078 or www.lecreuset.com

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

S’WELL BOTTLE 844-607-9355 or www.swellbottle.com

Retailer Picks The products featured on Pages 22-23 are selected by retailers like you. Share your favorite products by contacting Renee Changnon at rchangnon@nrha.org.

“Our customers love the

zero carbon emission of these broadforks. They almost sell themselves to the serious organic home gardener. —Jeff Bean, Olympia Supply Co.

”

“The Emile Henry pizza

stone gives pizza a crisp crust thanks to its ridges. The stone is great for entertaining and it is beautiful, from the oven to the table.

”

—Dianne McArthur, Alamo Hardware

3 3. GARDEN BROADFORK

4. DECORATIVE PIZZA STONE

Meadow Creature’s Broadforks are made of high-strength alloy steel welded into an unbreakable unit. Designed to be easy to use, with excellent balance and gently curved tines, Meadow Creature broadforks are available in three sizes. The People’s broadfork digs 12 inches deep and is ideal for most gardeners. The Tall broadfork digs 14 inches deep and the Farmer’s broadfork digs 16 inches deep.

The Emile Henry Pizza Stone keeps pizza from sticking or sliding. The stone features glazed ridges to prevent stickiness. It is designed to make brick-oven style pizzas in home ovens and on backyard grills. The ceramic round stone absorbs moisture from the pizza dough while distributing heat evenly throughout the pizza. Since it’s glazed, the stone won’t stain or trap odors. The pizza stone is lightweight, features handles and comes in three sizes: 10 inches, 12 inches and 14.5 inches.

MEADOW CREATURE LLC 360-329-2250 or www.meadowcreature.com

EMILE HENRY USA 302-326-4800 or www.emilehenryusa.com

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

New Products Project Tip

ILLUMINATE THE KITCHEN For many homeowners, the kitchen is more than just a room to prepare meals but rather the central meeting point for the family. One way to enhance the kitchen is to add lighting. To help your customers brighten this space, share photos and examples with them. Here are some product trends in kitchen lighting your customers should know about: • Brighten the Cabinets and Drawers—Many kitchens today feature under-cabinet lights to brighten up countertops. This works well in glass-paned cabinets to highlight the interior as well. Lighting inside drawers is also gaining popularity among consumers. • Recessed Fixtures Add Warmth—Installing recessed fixtures in the ceiling gives the kitchen a soft, ambient light throughout the space. • Bring Your Own Style—Adding light fixtures above the island is a great way to bring in personal style. Your customers have many options, from chandeliers to standard ceiling lights to pendant lights and more. If you have a showroom for your lighting, lead them there to explore their options.

The problem your customers are having right now.

Visit bit.ly/dustHRM to see the Dust Deputy® in action

New Products How-to Sell

THE AT-HOME BEVERAGE STATION Whether it's coffee or tea, it’s no secret people love a nice hot drink at just about any time of the day. While many consumers make frequent trips to coffee shops, single-serve beverage stations for the home have surged in popularity in recent years. If you sell these single-serve units, you can set one up in the store as a way to offer free drinks to your customers and encourage them to buy a unit for themselves. • Brew the Coffee—If you sell single-serve beverage machines, set up one for customers to use. Use the refillable coffee pods to make this more cost-effective. Your customers will smell the aroma and gravitate towards the display. • Decorate the Space—Use your merchandising skills to impress your customers by adding items from the housewares department, like a decorative cake stand to set up coffee creamers and sugar packets, and have a unique container for trash. Create a chalkboard sign to customize it. • Give the Full Picture—To really get customers excited about this product, explain that it can go outside the kitchen. This would make a great addition in the master bathroom or in the living room.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DUST COLLECTION

The product that will make you their hero. The patented Dust Deputy® attaches to any wet/dry vacuum to put an end to clogged ﬁlters and suction loss.

and learn why it’s a MUST for your store!

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Available in your warehouse now! 2408706 302734 Stop by booth #2551 at the ACE Spring Show to see our demo and get a free gift!

The Leader In Dust Collection oneida-air.com

New Products

5 6 5. PORTABLE WORKSTATION

6. DECORATIVE MEASURING CUPS

The Sjöbergs Smart Workstation Pro Vise Workbench Top offers portability and versatility for woodworking projects. It can be easily added or attached with clamps to any work surface, shop stand or tabletop, and it brings the versatility of a tail vise to almost any setting. Sjöbergs products are distributed in North America by Affinity Tool Works.

This unique set of measuring cups is made of smooth, white earthenware with embossed and debossed details. The cups nest inside the elephant, which also serves as the 1 cup measurement, for easy storage. The set includes 1 cup, ½ cup, 1/3 cup and ¼ cup and comes tied together with jute rope. The clean and simple design of the measuring cups matches any kitchen decor and is dishwasher-safe.

AFFINITY TOOL WORKS, LLC. 866-588-0395 or www.affinitytool.com

TAG 800-621-8350 or www.tagltd.com

Help your customers avoid repeated repairs with the one & only

• Sticks, even to diffcult surfaces • Stays soft & elastic over time for a long-lasting seal • Easy to use & cleans up with water • Paintable

• Interior/exterior use - Great for windows, doors, siding & moulding • Available in 12 colors plus Clear

Get more product info at: www.sashco.com/big-stretch

www.sashco.com • 800-767-5656

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Follow SashcoInc on:

Won’t Crack. . .It Just Stretches

• Backed by a full marketing campaign to drive customers to your store. • Available in 12 colors plus clear.

The One & Only O l

• Clear waterproof p sealant • Repels water wate w er immediately Come visit us at the following shows: Ace • Can bee applied app plied- Booth in cold#1433,1532 temperatures Blish Mize - Booth #325 • Highly elas elastic sticit-Best will -not crack Do Booth #49 914 • Expan Expands ds & contracts with temperature ture changes

www.sashco.com www.sashco.com

Follow SashcoInc at:

New Products

7 Touch2O® Technology

Your customers want both beauty and brains. Give them both. From touch faucets that make daily tasks easier to our diamond-coated valve that provides years of trouble-free performance, innovation comes standard with every Delta® product. Which, we think, your customers will ™

DIAMOND Seal Technology

fnd very attractive. Another way Delta is more than just a faucet. Visit deltafaucet.com

7. METAL LEVEL MagnaTite® Docking Technology

The True Blue® I-Beam Levels by Empire Level are now available in magnetic and non-magnetic models. The high-contrast vial includes patented blue-bands to maximize bubble meniscus visibility and are accurate within .0005 inches in all working positions. The all-metal frame guarantees long-life accuracy.

Multi-Flow™ Technology

EMPIRE LEVEL 800-558-0722 or www.empirelevel.com

8. BRIGHT DIGITAL BLENDER Touch-Clean® Technology

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

The Bright Digital Immersion Blender from OXO provides control for those in the kitchen. The Immersion Blender features a silicone stem and a nylon head, protecting bowls and cookware from dents and scratches while blending and mixing. It has six digital speeds, from a delicate blend to a powerful puree. It has a soft-touch power button, a comfortable grip, and a soft-glow LED headlight. The headlight illuminates as the user blends, allowing them to monitor consistency. The blend beaker allows the user to blend up to three cups to serve or store for later. OXO 800-545-4411 or www.oxo.com

10 0 9 10

9. SHOCK-CONTROL HAMMER The IsoCore™ Shock Control System is great for common on-the-job tasks. This hammer allows users to take on a wide variety of jobs while helping reduce muscle fatigue and joint pain. The IsoCore™ Shock Control System absorbs strike shock and vibration. A magnetic nail starter allows users to start nails with one hand, a rip claw pulls nails quickly and easily and a sound-dampening insert helps reduce high-frequency ringing. The milled face grips nail grids to prevent the hammer from sliding off the nail head when striking. The Softgrip® handle features a sculpted profile to fit the natural shape of your hand. FISKARS BRANDS, INC. 866-348-5661 or www.fiskars.com

10. WI-FI LIGHTING SYSTEM The Adorne Wi-Fi Lighting System works with the Hub, which acts as a control center to communicate with all of the home’s Wi-Fi-enabled light switches and lamps. The upgraded system makes installation and operation of wireless lighting technology easier and more convenient than ever. Homeowners can download the Legrand Lighting Control App and manage the lights from anywhere in the home. Both the Hub and Lighting Control App are compatible with select light switches, meaning homeowners can use the latest wireless automation and take advantage of new design statements in switches and wall plates. LEGRAND www.legrand.com

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

NEW PRODUCTS

11. DIGITAL SCALE MEASURING CUP

12. COVERED BIRD FEEDER

The Digital Scale with Measuring Cup by Taylor Digital Scale combines the 2-in-1 convenience of a precise digital scale with a handy measuring cup. It has a tare function, which allows the scale to account for the weight of the container and show only the weight of what it holds. It also has an auto shutoff, runs on one long-life lithium battery, which is included, and converts ounces into cup measurements.

The Covered Platform Bird Feeder is a fly-through bird feeder that is great for attracting ground-feeding birds like cardinals. The adjustable cover protects the seed from weather and allows for management of desired bird sizes. Drainage holes in the 13-inch tray prevent water from collecting. The UV-stabilized polycarbonate feeder tray and cover won’t yellow with age. The feeder is made in the USA and has a lifetime warranty against squirrel damage.

TAYLOR PRECISION PRODUCTS 630-954-1250 or www.taylorusa.com

DROLL YANKEES INC. 860-779-8980 or www.drollyankees.com

THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT FOR ALL OUTDOOR STRUCTURAL FRAMING APPLICATIONS TO BE TREATED TO GROUND CONTACT RETENTION LEVELS,

BECAUSE IT’S NOT NECESSARY. Products treated to above ground retention levels are still recognized by the IBC ® and IRC ®building codes for Deck Joists and Support Beams.

Visit treatedwood.com/options to learn more.

14 13. CORDLESS TRIMMER The FSA 90 R trimmer from STIHL combines the low maintenance and cost-effective benefits of STIHL lithium-ion battery technology with the renowned power of STIHL. This cordless trimmer is great for professionals landscaping in noise-sensitive or exhaust emission-sensitive areas. The ergonomic loop handle makes it comfortable to operate and easy to maneuver. It has a built-in hanging slot for easy storage. STIHL INC 800-467-8445 or www.stihlusa.com

14. FOOT CONTROL FAUCET The LadyLux3 Cafe kitchen faucet by Grohe features foot control technology, allowing the user to switch the water flow on and off with a tap of the foot on the activation plate installed in the toe space of the cabinet. This frees both hands for added maneuverability in the kitchen. Since hands don't touch the faucet, it remains clean and bacteria-free. GROHE AMERICA, INC. 800-444-7648 or www.grohe.com

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

Checkouts COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Field Trip Inspires Future Builders

etting more young people interested in a career in hardware retailing is critical to the future of the industry. And for Luke Wiesen, general manager at Millard Lumber’s Spring Hill, Kansas, location, it’s equally important to get students interested in the building trades.

Helping Student Explore Opportunities This past fall, Wiesen partnered with one of his builder customers, Inspired Homes, to host 75 students from a local high school in a half-day tour that included his company’s lumberyard, its component manufacturing facility and a building site. While the event provided a good opportunity for students to learn all about how a house is constructed, from start to finish, he hopes it also inspires a few of them to consider the building trades as a future career. “Going to college is great, but it’s not for everyone,” he says. “There’s a whole other world of opportunities that most kids don’t know about in the trades industry. It’s not all hard labor, either, since the construction industry is becoming more automated in the way building components are put together.” He also says that after the slowdown in home building in the early 2000s, a lot of workers left the construction industry and never returned. But with current growth in the housing market, there’s a need for more workers in the trades.

As an independent, locally owned building materials dealer that has been in operation since 1948, Millard Lumber is dedicated to the communities it serves. Wiesen, who got a job at Millard Lumber right out of high school and has since become a general manager, sees the tour as an investment both in the students’ futures and the future of the local economy. “In the end, there might be four or five students that actually get into the industry,” he says, “and that’s worth it. We’re trying to generate excitement back around the building industry.”

“There’s a whole other world of opportunities that most kids don’t know about in the trades industry.

”

—Luke Wiesen, Millard Lumber

The Building Process, Start to Finish The tour started in the lumberyard at Millard Lumber with Wiesen and a local architect giving an overview of the housing industry and the role Millard Lumber plays in supporting it. Next, Wiesen took the students to Millard Lumber’s component manufacturing facility, where they could watch designers create trusses and wall panels using CAD software, and then see the machines cut the pieces for those components. The final stop was an Inspired Homes jobsite to see the final product. “We talked about all of the science that goes into building a home and about how building a home is about a lot more than framers at a jobsite. There’s a lot of work that’s done sitting behind a computer,” he says.

Future Plans Wiesen plans to continue working with the Kansas City Youth Development Board (a part of the area’s homebuilder’s association) to approach more area high schools about bringing students to Millard Lumber for tours. In addition to Spring Hill, Kansas, Millard Lumber also has locations in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, where these initiatives may expand. Wiesen also wants to start an internship program for students who want to learn more about house design.

During the tour, students were able to see how building components such as trusses are designed, cut and assembled at Millard Lumber’s component manufacturing facility.

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

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

And then I said, “My body is a temple and I refuse to put anything synthetic or unnatural in it.” I mean, I want to live to see my eggs hatch, am I right? Half those ingredients in the big-box brands I can’t even pronounce! Thank goodness the feeder over on Cherry Avenue is filled with wholesome Cole’s birdseed am I right? I’m right, right?

NO Added Synthetics • NO Added Chemicals • NO Artificial Flavors Just All Natural Bird Seed for Your Feathered Friends. Remember...

If you can’t read it, Don’t feed it!™

NO BIG-BOX COMPETITION!

1-877-426-8882 • coleswildbird.com

Checkouts

UNIQUE NICHE

Puzzled? Create a Library!

uzzles, like books, are items many consumers use just once before putting them in boxes or on shelves to collect dust. But six years ago, Valley Hardware & Supply in Halstad, Minnesota, created a solution to this one-time-use conundrum. Customers can buy puzzles at the store, so the idea for the library began when those customers would come in the store and talk about the extra puzzles they had sitting at home. This inspired employees to create a puzzle-lending library, where customers can borrow puzzles to try at home and bring back once they’ve finished them. “We have quite a few people who buy puzzles every year because they want first-run puzzles, so they always have some to donate to the library,” says John Hinkley, owner. “Puzzles are a good activity during the winter months, when people are cooped up in their houses.” The library became so popular that what started out as a 4-foot section doubled in size over the years (although Hinkley

Valley Hardware & Supply dedicates a 4-foot section to its puzzle library, where customers can pick out a used puzzle to take home.

recently scaled back to the original 4-foot area to ensure the library doesn’t take up valuable retail space). He says the only drawback of the library is that the store can have too many puzzles. He does swap puzzles out with ones stored in the back room, throws away damaged puzzles, and occasionally donates extra puzzles to a local thrift store. Hinkley says some touching stories have come from this puzzle library. “Two women would come in every other week and leave with three or four puzzles,” he says. “However, during the spring we didn’t see them for some time. They finally returned with a folder that included pictures of all the puzzles, which they had completed with their father at the nursing home. The women said the puzzles entertained them, and their father participated every once in a while.”

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Angled

Side

Side, Down

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www.korky.com/levers

Checkouts

UNIQUE PRODUCT

The Scent of Hardware

With input from customers and a trial-and-error process, Kim Folchi and a local candlemaker created a scented candle called “The Hardware Store.”

NNING PROD WI

-WI

UCT

• AW

S•

TS UC

SAFE & EFFECTIVE

AWARD -

here are some scents just about everyone likes, like the smell of coffee or freshly cut grass. But what about the smell of a hardware store? It seems to be a favorite for customers at Sierra Valley Home Center in Loyalton, California. “People have been coming into our 114-year-old store for years and love the old hardware store scent we have,” says owner Kim Folchi. She wanted to put that scent into a candle for her customers to burn in their homes, so she worked with a local candlemaker to create the candle that’s now known as “The Hardware Store.” “It’s the perfect combination of freshly cut lumber, a faint hint of oil and the earthy aroma from our gardening section,” Folchi says. She also likes that it’s locally made, something that’s important to the community of 1,000 people. “We’ve been carrying local items before ‘local’ became trendy,” she says. “The best part of being able to sell this unique product is that it was handmade only a few miles away. In our small community, we are very connected, and that extends to business partnerships as well.”

N NIN G P

Carry the products they need for their renovation plans.

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See Our Full Line of Products Become a Dealer! Visit: www.franmar.com or Call: 800.538.5069

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Made in the USA

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 - FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2016 | LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER | LAS VEGAS, NV

2016 NATIONAL HARDWARE SHOW

New Products. Big Brands. Essential Connections.

In one trip discover the newest products, see the biggest brands, and join the entire hardware & home improvement industry—under one roof. NEW DATES & NEW SHOW FLOOR NEW SHOW DAY PATTERN Wednesday, May 4 - Friday, May 6, 2016

NOW LOCATED UNDER ONE ROOF Las Vegas Convention Center

Checkouts

UNIQUE PRODUCTS

Main Street Ace: The Place for Homemade Artwork Employees have created chess sets, model cars and more with spare pieces from around the store.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

hen they have a little free time, the employees at Main Street Ace Hardware in Bowling Green, Ohio, stay busy with some creative pursuits: using spare hardware parts and pieces to create games, models and other knickknacks that customers love. One popular item is the chess set pictured, which was made from 275 parts, including nuts, bolts and other miscellaneous items. “The idea of making the chess sets from these materials didn’t originate at our store, but we’ve made an effort to design the most attractive sets possible,” says employee Kevin Pierce. Another employee, Roger Hansen, designs and builds the boards, which are sold separately. And while manager Carol Tolles stays busy taking care of business around the store, she enjoys the employees’ artistic endeavors. “Placed in a prominent location, these chess sets—along with many other employee creations—make great conversation pieces, and customers frequently comment on them, and occasionally buy one,” Pierce says. The staff also posts photos of these creations on the store’s website, as well as on its Facebook and Pinterest pages. And even when pieces aren’t sold, the artwork helps the store generate business from DIYers. “Customers are intrigued by the effort and come to us for suggestions or help with projects they find on Pinterest and similar sites,” says Pierce. “We recently completed a black iron pipe home lighting project for someone who’d struggled with the mechanics, after seeing it online.” The employees aren’t the only artists whose work is featured in the store. Customers, too, can showcase their artwork at Main Street Ace; in fact, local artists often show off their work there.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Gift Cards: $25 Customer Interaction: Priceless

or customers at HomCo Lumber and Hardware in Flagstaff, Arizona, it pays to comment on the company’s Facebook page. Christina Russo, marketing coordinator for the business, finds social media offers the perfect opportunity to get customers engaged in the store, and offers store gift cards as an incentive. For example, she gets customers talking about DIY projects by posting photos of an item in the store and asking customers how they could use that product in their own homes. Then occasionally, as an incentive, she offers those who share their comments on Facebook to be entered into a drawing to win a gift card to the store. As a follow-up, she invites winners to post on Facebook what products they purchased with the gift card. Whatever the gift card’s value, the customer interaction is priceless. “Social media gives us new ways to engage with our customers that we don’t have inside the store,” says Russo. “We always see an increase in our ‘Likes’ on Facebook when we run one of these contests, because people share their posts with their friends. This exposes

more people to our store who may not normally shop here.” Facebook provides an avenue for interacting with new customer demographics, particularly female shoppers and the younger generation. The opportunity to win a store gift card is the perfect incentive. “Rather than giving away a specific product, gift cards allow customers to buy whatever they want,” she says. “In addition, it gets them in the door to spend the gift card and explore all of the products we have to offer.” Gift cards are also the currency of choice when giving to the community. “We support many non-profits throughout the year,” Russo says, “so when they ask for a donation, we often give it in the form of a gift card.” The local volunteer firefighters, for example, used a donated gift card to buy items from HomCo Lumber and Hardware for a silent auction. Whether it’s as an incentive for a Facebook contest or for giving back to the community, giving away a few gift cards has proved to be just a part of the larger goal to involve more customers in the store.

When a local family lost everything in their home to a house fire, HomCo Lumber and Hardware donated a gift card to the family as part of a community-wide effort to help.

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

How Do You Rate Your Business’s Social Media Presence? Excellent

Very Good

19%

Good

34%

Fair

30%

Poor

16%

264 Votes • 800 Followers

Asked By

North American Retail Hardware Association 2 Days Ago • Share • Report • Unvote

Source: 2016 Social Media Study, North American Retail Hardware Association

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Ask Friends

Room for Improvement Simplifying Social Media for the Busy Retailer By Hilary Welter, hwelter@nrha.org, Sara Logel, slogel@nrha.org

hile more retailers are engaging in social media, a large percentage of home improvement retailers are less than pleased with their efforts. In fact, according to a recent survey conducted by the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) only 2 percent of respondents identified their social media efforts as “excellent,” while 46 percent classified their efforts as “fair” or “poor.” So, while more retailers are engaging in Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, most seem to feel they have a long way to go. To determine what takes a store’s social media presence from fair to excellent, Hardware Retailing spoke with retailers who have high-performing social media accounts. These retailers are using strong, effective content and utilizing social media as an advertising tool to connect with customers. In the following pages, we will help you evaluate your social media presence and encourage you to think about the following questions: • Is your current process effective? • Are you posting strong content? • Are you actively growing your following? • Are your efforts working?

By providing some insight into these topics and sharing firsthand examples from retailers, we aim to offer you tools and inspiration to amp up your social media engagement. At the end of the story, Crystal Vilkaitis, retail social media expert and owner of Crystal Media, will provide her professional suggestions on best practices for growing a social media following and how to track and analyze social media results. You can read a full Q&A with Vilkaitis online at TheRedT.com/SMExpert. Before we explore the previous questions, you may be asking, “Is social media worth it?” You probably run circulars, have a website and occasionally advertise through TV or radio, so does your business need social media, too? Data from a recent NRHA consumer poll, which surveyed 1,000 consumers, shows that more than 30 percent of respondents follow businesses on social media, for reasons such as finding new products and learning about deals. Using social media for your business provides you the opportunity to have a personal touchpoint with your customers. “Connecting with the customer is key for us,” says Glenda Lehman Ervin, VP of marketing for Lehman’s in Dalton, Ohio, “and social media is a great way to find out what they are interested in. It is truly worth the time and effort we put in to it.”

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

Is Your Current Process Effective?

ith the everyday hustle and bustle in an independent home improvement store, social media might be the last thing you have time to think about. But you can make the process easier by identifying two key factors: your target demographic and a plan for managing your accounts.

Knowing Your Customer Demographic With countless social media platforms available, determining where your customers are spending their time is crucial. “You have to look for what’s popular in your area and across your customer demographic,” says James Cabirac, owner of Kief Hardware in Cut Off, Louisiana. “And beyond that, think about the age of the customer you’re trying to reach.” For example, Facebook is a popular platform among Kief Hardware’s older customers, but Instagram elicits attention from a younger crowd. Equally important to understanding the different social media platforms is your location and the type of customer you’re trying to reach. “If you’re in a large metro area and your business is mostly B2B, you might want to be really involved on Twitter and LinkedIn to find professionals and communicate with them,” says Jared Sawyer, owner of Sawyer’s True Value & Just Ask Rental in The Dalles, Oregon. “If you’re in a college town, you will want to be on younger demographic platforms and talk to them in a way that’s meaningful to them.” For Sawyer, a lot of his customers are older and less than 5 percent are millennials, so Facebook is his main focus. However, to get the younger generation more engaged, Sawyer and his team created a Snapchat account that provides the younger demographic with laid-back and entertaining content, such as pets customers bring into the store or sales associate playing pranks on one another. There is no right or wrong answer when choosing a social media platform, or platforms, for your business. To evaluate your current accounts, or to get started, do your research. Ask yourself, who is my target audience, and what social media platforms are they on? And, if you’re not sure, create an online or in-store survey for customers or pull data from your store’s loyalty program.

Account Management Once you have committed to using social media for your business, the next step is to

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

identify who is responsible for creating content and overseeing the process. Sawyer has help from his staff to post content to the store’s different social media platforms. However, he monitors all of the accounts to ensure all posts are aligned with the store’s brand. Ervin has a team of staff members who use scheduling tools to regularly post to the store’s accounts. There are many scheduling tools available for free online, such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck, that make it easy to schedule posts days, weeks or even months in advance. Facebook also has a built-in scheduling feature. While scheduling can be helpful, it is important to check posts to ensure all content is still relevant. For example, if you schedule a post about an event, but decide to cancel it, you’ll want to make sure to delete the post before it deploys. Cabirac is responsible for posting all content to his store’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, but he often involves his staff in content creation. He believes that regardless of who is posting to the store’s accounts, posts should be coming from the voice of the store, not an individual person. “When it comes to Instagram and Facebook, it’s Kief Hardware,” Cabirac says. “It’s not me. I would answer something differently on Facebook as Kief Hardware than I would as James Cabirac. I want Kief Hardware to have its own personality.” And the best way to develop a personality for your company on social media is to share strong content that is relevant to your followers.

Next Steps • Evaluate your store’s customer demographic(s) and decide who you’re going to target on social media. • Determine where your target demographic is spending time on social media. • Appoint a staff member or team to be responsible for creating content and overseeing the process.

86% of retailers currently use social media for business.

What social media platforms do you use for business purposes? Please select all that apply.

32.2%

27.1%

Twitter

Yelp

99.5%

Facebook

Retailers say the most beneficial social media tool for them is

23.8%

19.2%

Facebook Who maintains your social media accounts? 42.1% A full-time staff member (one of his/her many responsibilities)

21.5% The owner

12.1%

13.6%

7.0%

Instagram

Other

50% of businesses track their social media analytics.

A part-time staff member (one of his/her many responsibilities)

10.3% Multiple employees

9.8% An outside agency/freelance/consultant

2.8% A full-time staff member (his/her primary job)

1.4% A part-time staff member (his/her primary job)

Source: 2016 Social Media Study, North American Retail Hardware Association

42% of businesses use paid advertising on social media.

$$$ March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

Are You Posting Strong Content?

ou may be using social media platforms where your store’s target audience is active, but if your posts lack substance, you will not be able to break through the clutter to reach your customers. How do you distinguish your store from the rest?

Variety When posting, it is important to consider several topics. For example, Ervin and her team share photos of products, events and people inside the store on Lehman’s Instagram page. They also use Pinterest to share DIY projects, gift ideas and advice, such as winter skin care tips or ways to use Mason jars. Cabirac explains it is important to take a subtle approach when promoting his business. “I’m really more interested in making our posts entertaining than making a hard sell,” Cabirac says. “I’m more about product placement than saying ‘here is this item.’” For example, Cabirac and his staff produced a video that featured a person cutting into a watermelon in the store. Neither the post nor video came out and said, “We sell watermelon,” but the video implied it. The next day, the store sold out of watermelons. Another great approach to posting about products is to consider what your vendors or manufacturers are doing online. Emily Stine, of Stine Media, who handles all social media efforts for Stine Home + Yard’s 12 locations in Louisiana, says she works with the stores’ vendors to use their images and graphics on the company’s social media. She also recommends sharing posts and photos that vendors have posted to their own pages, while adding a local twist such as, “Find this drill at your local Stine Home + Yard.”

Authenticity Stine gives social media a personal touch by posting images with people, whether they are sales associates, members of the Stine family or customers shopping in the store or winning prizes from store contests and sweepstakes. Cabirac says sharing fun pictures or videos is a great way to engage. For example, the Kief Hardware staff produced a video in-store titled “Grease” that involved a story line of the staff going back in time, acting, lip-syncing and dancing to songs from the famous movie, “Grease.” The video entertained customers and showed personality. Cabirac believes that it is crucial to put genuine effort into social media in order to grow your audience.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

“No matter if we have 100 people following us or 5,000, we always put the same effort into social media, because that’s how we got to the engagement level we’re at today,” Cabirac says.

Engagement One huge benefit of social media is that it gives you an opportunity to interact with your customers in real time. And, engaging your followers is also important for building and sustaining your brand. If someone tweets at you or comments on your Facebook post, reply back and stay present. “If you join the conversation, you need to stay in the conversation,” Ervin says. “Don’t put social media there and expect it to explode without checking it. It’s a relationship platform.” For Stine, the ideal time frame to respond to customer comments is within one hour. “The reason we like to respond within the hour is because once [the customer] sees you’ve responded quickly, whatever complaint they had tends to go away, because they see how responsive you are as a company, and they’re pleased with that,” Stine says. Stine uses a predetermined, customizable template to respond to negative comments, keeping responses prompt and consistent. Cabirac, along with 80 percent of respondents to NRHA’s 2016 Social Media Study, responds to all comments. He avoids deleting any comments and responds within the comment thread on social media to display Kief Hardware’s character.

Next Steps • Review the content you are posting, or would like to begin posting, and determine if it includes a good mix of authentic, engaging content. • Brainstorm interesting ways to show your store’s brand and personality. Ask yourself, “What’s unique about my store?” Try to translate that to your customers through social media. • Develop guidelines for responding to comments on social media, whether it be responding within 24 hours or creating a policy for how to deal with negative comments.

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Are You Actively Growing Your Following?

f you are frequently updating your social media pages, it is likely that new followers are occasionally trickling in. However, if you want to see exponential growth, there are ways to proactively drive traffic to your store’s social media accounts.

Contests, Giveaways and Sweepstakes One way to get people engaged and to grow your following organically is to hold a contest, giveaway or sweepstakes using social media. Along with displaying in-store signage with Sawyer’s True Value’s different social media platforms, Sawyer tries to use different promotions to create awareness around the store’s accounts. For example, last year the store held a Halloween-themed pet contest, where customers dressed their animals in costumes and posted photos to social media. The store promoted the contest on Facebook, but people could only vote for their favorite participant on Instagram. This converted traffic from Sawyer’s True Value’s Facebook page to followers on its Instagram account. Using cross-platform growth is a great way to inform customers of the different ways they can engage with your brand. During the 2014 holiday season, Cabirac organized a giveaway that awarded $10,000 in gift cards to one grand prize winner. Customers had about five weeks to enter an unlimited number of times and could do so by liking, sharing or checking-in at Kief Hardware. To earn the entry, customers had to show a cashier that

“We got around 500 new

page likes, which may not seem like a lot, but in no other form of advertising can I say that I reached 500 new people who now know what my store is and what we’re about. —James Cabirac, Kief Hardware 46

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

”

they’d engaged with the store on social media. Customers could also earn entries through the company’s text program and by making in-store purchases, but the store’s Facebook following skyrocketed as a result of the sweepstakes. “We got around 500 new page likes, which may not seem like a lot, but in no other form of advertising can I say that I reached 500 new people who now know what my store is and what we’re about,” Cabirac says. The key to growing your following is to encourage people to share your content, especially on Facebook, as shares are incredibly valuable. “’Likes’ mean, ‘I like what you said,’ but ‘shares’ means, ‘I like it so well that I gave it to my friend, who then gave it to two of her friends, who gave it to four of her friends…that’s how you go viral,” Ervin says.

Paid Advertising In addition to sweepstakes and giveaways, another way to reach new audiences and drive traffic to your page is through paid advertising. Utilizing paid advertising options through Facebook allows you to target ads to Facebook and Instagram users based on specific criteria, including demographic information, but also very specific areas of interest. With a wide variety of advertising options available through the platform, you can spend as much, or as little, as you want on these ads. Stine Home + Yard contributes 20 percent of its advertising budget to Facebook advertising. The company takes advantage of different ad options to encourage potential and existing followers to “Like” the company’s Facebook page, advertise specific products, drive traffic to the website, distribute coupons and promote events, videos and sweepstakes. Each month, the company reaches approximately 300,000 people within 10 miles of a Stine Home + Yard location at an average of six times in their Facebook News Feed with Facebook advertising. Recently, the company engaged in a detailed Facebook ad campaign that involved a series of targeted carousel ads for tools sold at Stine Home + Yard. As a result of the Facebook ads, tools sales were up 40 percent. Stine says Facebook sweepstakes and advertising has helped the company collect

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over 10,000 emails and gather approximately 100,000 Facebook page likes over the past four years, while engaging their audience with fun content. To reach the company’s target audience, Stine uploads the company’s email list, then Facebook matches the customers’ emails with their emails on Facebook. Another targeting feature available is Lookalike Audience, which finds attributes of the individuals identified in your email list, and creates a very similar segment to target ads to. Ads can also be targeted at people who currently like your store’s page, friends of people who like your page, individuals with specific interests and more. Sawyer also uses Facebook to run specific, targeted ads about once per month. He uses Facebook advertising to target dog food information to pet owners or sports attire to college students in his area. He also used Facebook to promote an in-store event around fire safety. He created a post targeted at women ages 20-45 with children who lived within 25 miles of the store and were not currently RSVP’d to the event on Facebook, along with a few other criteria.

The examples provided by these retailers only brush the surface of the advertising options available through Facebook. The possibilities are abundant. To learn more about Facebook advertising, visit www.facebook.com/business.

Next Steps • Determine how much time and money you’re willing to put forth to grow your audience, and create a plan accordingly. • Identify giveaways or contests to host on social media that your customers would find fun and intriguing enough to “share.” • Familiarize yourself with different paid advertising opportunities available on social media platforms. While you may want to commit to organic growth, it’s important to understand what’s available on this growing ad platform.

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Are Your Efforts Working?

f you’re putting in the effort to create unique posts, engage your customers, run contests and maybe even post ads on social media, it is essential to know if your efforts are effective. Cabirac consistently checks his Facebook analytics and uses an app called “Followers” to track when people follow and unfollow Kief Hardware’s Facebook page. “It’s important to see what struck a chord with people so you know what to post next time,” says Cabirac. “You can see what people are responding to each day. If I see a lot of people drop, I pay attention to who’s dropping and why they might be doing that.” Stine also tracks posts frequently and tracks everything from followers, post likes and shares to overall engagement. She also measures the company’s ads for clicks, engagement and the total cost it takes to reach their audience. “Metrics on Facebook are far superior to anything you can get from any other channel, whether it’s print, TV or whatever,” Stine says. “You can truly measure anything.”

To track Lehman’s social media accounts, Ervin uses Google Analytics and the analytic tools provided by each platform to determine information like referral websites and how long people are viewing videos. One team member evaluates each platform regularly and reports to the larger group on a quarterly basis. They review trends and determine what has worked over the past month. “It is important to regularly look at what your customers do on social media and determine an action plan,” Ervin says. “If we post a five-minute video and the drop-off rate shows that everyone stopped watching at one minute, our customers are telling us the video is too long. We will use that information in creating the next video.” In order to help you analyze your efforts, we’ve created an analytic tracking template you can use each month to evaluate your company’s social media engagement. This template includes tracking formulas for several data points, and allows you to easily compare engagement month to month.

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This template is part of a larger social media toolkit that is available to download at TheRedT.com/SMKit. Other elements of the package include: • Scheduling Template This spreadsheet will help you create a plan for posting social media content to your accounts. The template allows you to plan out post details including date, time, social platform and person responsible for posting. It can also help you ensure that your social efforts are in sync with store events and promotions. • Social Media Best Practices We’ve summarized best practices from this story, and have added on a few more tips in this list of top 10 things to consider while using social media. This reference is perfect for evaluating and improving your current social media processes. • Facebook Page Builder There are several components that make a great Facebook page. This quick, visual guide will help you determine if your company’s page includes all of the essentials to make it a user-friendly and informative resource.

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Next Steps • Download Hardware Retailing’s free, premade social media tracking template at TheRedT.com/SMKit. • Create a tracking system to regularly monitor your social media performance.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

• Evaluate your analytics on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis to determine what type of content is working and if your efforts are driving sales or in-store traffic.

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Ask the Expert Crystal Vilkaitis Retail Social Media Expert and Owner of Crystal Media

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Vilkaitis and her company are dedicated to helping retailers integrate proven social media, mobile and email marketing strategies into their businesses. Vilkaitis started Social Edge, an online membership group exclusive to retailers looking to gain an edge over competition using social media. For more information and free social media tips, visit crystalmedia.co or socialedge.co, and visit TheRedT.com/SMExpert to read the full interview with Vilkaitis. What are some unique best practices for increasing page traffic without putting money into social media? Many store owners completely forget to direct people to their social media accounts! The first step to social media success is making sure your customers know you’re online. This can be achieved with in-store signage, including social media usernames or a specific hashtag that users can follow to find home DIY tips or information about your store. In addition, you can send an email inviting people to join you on social media, and if you couple this with a contest, conversions will be higher.

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You can manually follow your target audience on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. Use Facebook as your business page, and network with other local business pages your customers follow. Ask people to do what you want them to do, such as, “Like this post if you agree!” or “Like/double tap if you’re in the middle of a DIY project.” Ask people to tag themselves or someone who would like a product, tips or blog post. Implementing these strategies can increase reach and exposure to your current network and their friends. What are best practices for tracking and understanding social media analytics? I recommend having a tracking resource, which can be as simple as an Excel spreadsheet. Track growth on each active social media platform from month to month. Look at engagement such as likes, clicks, retweets, mentions, etc. and add in notes about comments and questions customers leave on your page. Are people asking questions about store hours, location or products? Those types of questions are meaningful.

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Breaking In How to Start Selling to Government Agencies In the early 1980s, residents of Avenal, California, made what may have seemed like an unusual petition to their state government. The state was making plans to build one of the largest prisons in the nation. And Avenal residents wanted it in their city.

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

For Ron Moran, owner of Avenal Lumber and Hardware, the request made perfect sense. His town’s local economy was struggling. A prison would bring jobs and, for retailers like himself, new customers. Ron knew that diversifying his business beyond its current customer base would help him remain profitable. Today, 28 years later, Avenal has the distinction of being the first town to ask its state for a prison, and now, Moran goes to the prison nearly every day with a delivery. Moran is one of many retailers across the country who find lucrative customers in government agencies, whether it is at the local, state or federal level. Every government facility,

whether it’s a prison, a school or the county courthouse, needs to be maintained, and many of the products they need are already right in the aisles of your store. It’s likely that every town, including yours, has some type of government agencies in need of your merchandise. These agencies collectively spend billions of dollars a year buying goods and services. So how do you start selling to the government? Hardware Retailing spoke to three retailers who are well-acquainted with this unique customer base and asked for their strategies for getting and keeping government customers. If you’re willing to put in the work, the rewards can add up, and a trip to the prison might mean a trip to the bank.

Three Retailers Who Sell to the Government AVENAL LUMBER & HARDWARE Avenal, California While local agriculture provides customers for Ron Moran, owner of Avenal Lumber & Hardware, he also knows it’s wise to diversify. A drought can cause a slowdown in the farming business, and construction has been slow for many years. That’s why he has several staff working on bids for his numerous government accounts, which include Avenal State Prison. In addition to the prison, government accounts include local schools, the Department of Transportation, a nearby Air Force base and the California Fire Department. “Having business from the government has helped carry us through the lean years,” he says.

AL’S ACE HARDWARE Houston, Texas Al’s Ace Hardware’s business with the government is centered on an account with the local school district, which brings in more than $60,000 in sales every year. Joey Borski works alongside his father, Rodney, and aunt, Lynette McGary, to sift through the yearly bidding process for school supplies. Then, while they might land an annual contract with the school for a list of items, they’re also on a preferred vendor list and get walk-in trade from school workers all year long. Since Al’s Hardware also provides keyed-alike padlocks for the entire school district, maintenance personnel always have a reason to come into Al’s Ace for their day-to-day needs.

HACIENDA HOME CENTERS Albuquerque, New Mexico Hacienda Home Centers, with two locations in Espanola and Las Vegas, New Mexico, and an office in Albuquerque, is a major supplier to Los Alamos National Laboratories, one of the world’s largest science and technology research facilities. Hacienda’s contracts with the Laboratory may extend multiple years and be worth several million dollars. Those contracts may also require certain value-added services, such as requiring identification die markings on power tools, or proprietary bar codes for the Lab’s receiving department. The team at Hacienda will make those customizations to the products before delivering them to the Laboratory.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Getting Started

hile selling to the government can be rewarding, getting started takes a bit of work. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for how to get the business. Each agency will vary in its requirements for suppliers, but generally, there are a few key steps you need to follow.

Get Certified One of the first steps to landing a contract with the government is to obtain proper certification for your business. This step verifies that you are indeed a small business, which will be beneficial to you later. The process is fairly simple, and a good place to start is on the Small Business Administration (SBA) website, www.sba.gov. There are three acronyms you need to know. • SAM: The System for Award Management refers to a database that contains all the vendors that sell to the government. Registration in this database is free and voluntary, but typically required if you want to do business with the federal government. Through this website, you’ll also register the types of products you can provide, which will aid government agencies who may be searching for vendors. You can visit www.sam.gov for more information.

Being three miles from the Avenal State Prison allows staff at Avenal Lumber to make frequent deliveries, a competitive advantage.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

• DUNS: You’ll also need a Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S® number. This is a unique, nine-digit identification number for each physical location of your business. It’s free and easy to register. Visit www.dnb.com for more information. • NAICS: It may also be helpful to find the NAICS, or North American Industry Classification System, code for your company. This code helps the government classify your business according to its function. Hardware stores are generally classified under 444130, but check the list at www.census.gov to see if any other codes apply to you. Even if the government agency you’ve started working with doesn’t require a certification, chances are they may soon. It’s best to get the proper certifications up front so you don’t lose a customer later when the requirements change.

Know Your Small Business Benefits According to the SBA’s website, the federal government buys nearly $100 billion in goods and services from small businesses each year. With his sales to the prison, Moran gets a piece of that. He started by getting a certification with the State of California as a microbusiness, a classification of a small business. As a result, he has certain benefits when it comes to obtaining government contracts. “California tries to help small businesses by providing a vehicle for them to be a part of the bid process,” he says. “For each bid a government agency puts out, there has to be at least one small business in that bid and I have a 5 percent bid preference on certain bids against larger companies.” That means his bid could be up to 5 percent higher than his competitor, and he could still win the bid. The state also has a goal of spending at least 25 percent of its dollars with small businesses. And those benefits for small businesses are not limited to California—similar requirements extend to all states and all levels of government. The “Small Business Set Aside” is a term used to describe goals the federal government has for setting aside money for small businesses. In addition to the SAM certification discussed above, small businesses can be certified according to several certification programs, including businesses owned by women, minorities or disabled veterans, or those in certain business development zones. “Many of those government agencies at the federal and state level have requirements for doing a certain percentage of their business with small businesses,” says Joseph Sanchez, government

sales contract manager for Hacienda Home Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “If you can identify yourself as one of those groups, and get certified as such, then that will help you in the bid process.” The popular buy-local movement also can help your cause, especially when the government agency sees an opportunity for positive public relations. “In our case,” says Moran, “the prison wants as much good PR as they can get, so if they buy a lot from local small businesses, they see that as a feather in their cap to showing they’re friendly toward the community.”

Prepare for Paperwork “Every bid I write for the prison requires about 13 forms,” says Moran. Some government agencies require a mountain of paperwork for every transaction, with forms documenting satisfaction of a number of government requirements. For example, one form might confirm that the products are being purchased from a drug-free workplace, or another might indicate that products sold contain a certain amount of recycled content. Moran has a team of two or three of his seven employees who help him with all of that paperwork, and 70 percent of the forms are

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Moran’s wife, Julie, keeps track of the changing government regulations, which often dictate what products they can and cannot sell.

submitted via email. Some days, he gets as many as 15 bid requests, and he typically bids on all of them. Some bids take 20 minutes to finish; others take four or five days, depending on the amount of research he has to do to source the product. Not every contract with the government will require that much paperwork. But even if it’s a large bid (Sanchez recently filled out a bid that, after all of the necessary documentation was finished, totaled 100 pages), don’t be daunted by the amount of time it may take to fill out a proposal. Staying organized will ease the process and the payoff is usually worth the paperwork.

Contact the SBA One of the best ways to get started selling to government accounts is to contact your local Small Business Administration office or log on to www.sba.gov. In addition to helping with the certifications discussed earlier, the site is full of entry-level information about working with the government. “Selling to the government is entirely different than selling to the private sector,” says John Shorka, associate administrator for the office of government contracting and business development

“You have to do your research

to find who’s buying what you’re selling. Doing all of that research can be daunting, but the truth is there are a lot of free resources out there that can help. —John Shorka, SBA

”

at the SBA. “You have to do your research to find who’s buying what you’re selling. Doing all of that research can be daunting, but the truth is there are a lot of free resources out there that can help.” The SBA website offers free courses in its Government Contracting Classroom to help anyone understand the basics of selling to the government. Shorka also recommends retailers seek out a mentor to help them learn the contracting process. Through the SCORE program, the SBA offers volunteer business counselors, free, to those who want to start or build their business. Go to www.score.org for more information.

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Selling Strategies

nce you begin working with a government entity, you maintain that business much the way you maintain other business relationships. Here are strategies to leverage the advantages you have as an independent retailer.

Look Everywhere for Ideas Just about every town has some type of government agency, and each agency can represent not just one, but many potential customers. Sanchez and his sales team work with and call on multiple departments in the Los Alamos National Laboratories, but they work directly with the contracting office to respond to RFPs and address contract issues. Joey Borski and Lynette McGary at Al’s Hardware in Houston, Texas, work with a local school district. Even within the same school, there may be several different people across several departments that have different needs, and they deal with each person separately. They sell weed trimmers and marking paint to the stadium, padlocks to the school’s event center, and tools and drill bits to the maintenance crew. Each department has its own unique purchasing procedures, whether it’s through a bid or a standing purchase order account at the store.

“Each department within the school acts as its own entity, and we work with each as an individual department,” says McGary. “Each one operates a little differently as to how they want to buy.” All employees can look for opportunities, too. “When anyone walks into our store, our employees know to start asking them where they are working today and if there’s a way we can do business with them,” says Moran. “We’re also not afraid to go out and knock on doors to find new business.”

Get to Know Everyone in the Department Just as there may be more than one department involved in purchasing, there may be multiple people in the department authorized to buy. There are plenty of cases where government employees may need an item not included on a regular contract, and their store of choice will be where they know and trust the people behind the sales counter. “It’s good to know the top guys in the department, but get to know the workers, too,” says Borski. “If there’s an emergency and they need a product right away, they’re going to the place where they have a relationship, even if their bid is at another place. We’re surrounded by competitors that have open bids with the schools, but we treat our customers well, so we get a lot of their walk-in business.”

Looming Changes to Federal Contracts In a state with a low population and not a lot of industry, Los Alamos National Laboratories in Los Alamos, New Mexico, is a boon to the local economy. Not only does it provide jobs, but it also holds contracts with local businesses such as Hacienda Home Centers, where Joseph Sanchez is the government contract sales manager. But for him and retailers across the country, selling to the federal government is about to get a lot more difficult. “One of the most significant changes happening in government sales today is that most government agencies are moving toward centralized purchasing agencies,” says Sanchez. Instead of each government agency making partnerships and pursuing bids with local vendors, there will be one centralized agency that makes those bids for the entire country. While the move is designed to save money, it makes it more difficult for small businesses to work with the government, as most contracts will be issued out of state. The SBA has been raising its concerns with the federal government that this consolidation will hurt small

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

businesses and has been advocating ways the government can continue to provide opportunities for those small businesses, such as encouraging government buying agencies to consider a wide range of vendors. The best advice, says Shorka, is to form partnerships with other businesses (see the Team-Up section on Page 65), as this can make you stronger and offer more opportunities. Sanchez says his current partnership with a larger retailer will help him maintain some of his business with his large government account, but the change will still hurt his business. He also recommends a grass roots effort of local advocacy. “I encourage retailers to be advocates for their local communities and advocate that this business stays local,” says Sanchez. A good place to start that advocacy, he says, is with your local chamber of commerce, and with local, state and federal representatives. “We have already been engaged with our representatives. The federal government’s attempt to save money is hurting local businesses as those bids are being shifted away.”

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Many times, individuals in each department are responsible for buying their own products, so the more people you know, the more opportunities you have for the sale. In addition, when any of those employees move to a different department, or to a completely different government agency, they’ll stay loyal to your business as a result of the good relationship you’ve built.

Emphasize Your Customer Service Don’t get so buried in the paperwork that you forget the personal side to the business. Remember that while the lowest price wins bids,

“Teaming up with a larger

business is a great way to learn the ropes of government contracts. And sometimes the acquisition packages are larger than a small business could handle on its own. —John Shorka, SBA

customer service wins walk-in trade. Many of your competitors may be national distributors who are not likely to match your level of customer service. Simple communication goes a long way to creating loyal customers. “We try to communicate frequently with our customers,” says Moran. “We always give them a call or a text to tell them the status of their order and when we’re ready to deliver.” When a customer needs a special item, his employees are trained never to say no and try to help. “We try to sell them whatever they ask for,” he says. “We’ve sold everything from ink pens and envelopes to building materials. Once, we sold 50 steam irons.” Convenience is another benefit you can leverage against commercial distributors. With quick delivery, local stores can provide for the daily needs of the institution better than a large company can.

Diversified Orders Help You Win Business

”

Government agencies may purchase from many vendors, including specialty stores and industrial distributors. As a hardware store and lumber retailer, Moran says one of his strengths is being able to sell a diverse array of items on a single bid. For example, while a specialty paint store

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may only be able to provide paint, Moran can fill an order that includes paint along with fasteners, lumber and concrete. That gives him the flexibility to bid on nearly every job that comes across his desk, especially since he has quick access to a wide variety of items through his distributor.

Bids Are Good, But So Are P.O.s Doing business with government through walk-in customers has other benefits, too. At Al’s Hardware, Borski and McGary do a lot of business with the school through purchase orders (P.O.s). While there’s no guarantee of selling a long list of items, as a bid would secure, there’s an opportunity for a better price. “We make more money on purchase orders versus the bids, where we have to lock in at a certain price,” says McGary. Her walk-in government customers are less likely to compare prices on a P.O. than they are on a bid. Also be aware of how purchase orders can affect your cash flow. While McGary mails out the monthly statement, she says the accounts payable department at the school may not pay much attention to it until their workers turn in their invoices. That can create a delay past the standard

30 days collection period. “We’ve found it’s best to email invoice reminders,” she says. “If you stay on top of them, they will pay faster.”

Team Up There is strength in numbers when it comes to winning large government contracts. “One big mistake I see small businesses make is that they try to go at it alone,” says Shorka. He recommends small businesses become sub-contractors for larger businesses or team up with other small businesses to pursue larger contracts. “Teaming up with a larger business is a great way to learn the ropes of government contracts. And sometimes the acquisition packages are larger than a small business could handle on its own.” Sanchez knows a larger company’s buying power will improve his chances of getting large contracts, so he formed a partnership with Grainger. It’s a win-win for both of them. “Many times, a large company like Grainger needs a smaller, local company like ours to go after large contracts, since we can provide local support and flexibility to those government agencies. We maintain our individuality, but we’re staying aware of our opportunities.”

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HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

By Jesse Carleton, jcarleton@nrha.org

Kick

It Up a

Swatch Five Ways to Improve Your Paint Department

f you sell paint, you’ve got the basics and finding ways a lot of company. Specialty to make your paint department stores, other independent stand out from the competition. home improvement stores, farm To see what separates the supply stores, big boxes and even good from the best, we spoke discounters like Walmart all want with three retailers who have a crowded to sell to it. masteredaint theisart of sellingmarket. Specialty stores, independent But while many retailers this category. They talked home improvement stores, can put paint cans on shelves, about consumers’ changing stores, big boxes and even few are able to fully maximize demandsfarm and supply how they strive discounters like Walmart the category. Doing this requires to be proactive in meeting those all want to sell to it. a retailer to stay on top of trends, demands. Since the best paint despitealways the widespread popularity of this keep abreast of the latest product But retailers have an eye on category, not every retailer has lifted this category innovations, create an inspiring fashion, we also spoke with a to its full potential. Since paint is a fashion-driven in-store presentation and offer representative from the Pantone category, ever-changing demands knowledgeable assistance. Color consumers Institute to have let you know about what they want, and vendors continually Simply put, being successful what’s new and trending in color new products that you need to understand. with paint means going beyond haveand design for 2016. Since it can be difficult to have a paint department that stands out from the rest of the crowd, we spoke with three retailers who have mastered the art of selling this department. We go beyond the basics 621 Hardware Retailing Orange of selling this category, like having a well-lit space and having good customer service, to see what traits distinguish the average paint retailer from the beset. And because one of those traits is knowing trends March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING the market, we spoke with a professional designer

Owner Jim Donnelly, left, and Vice President of Sales Operations Jay Donnelly’s customer base ranges from the do-it-yourselfer to the commercial painter.

ABS—Always Be Sourcing

The success of your paint department depends on your willingness to change quickly with trends in the market. Last year, Jay Donnelly, vice president of sales operations at Flanagan Paint, a specialty paint store in St. Louis, Missouri, brought in a line of new products. This year, he’s working to get that same line replaced because they’re already outdated. “That’s how fast things change in this industry,” he says. “I have to update my inventory continually. But I’ve noticed that when I visit some independent hardware stores, and look at their paint departments, many of them are not staying up with the trends and they are letting their products get obsolete.” Even when distributors make it easy to return products in exchange for new items, many retailers don’t go through the trouble of swapping them out, he says, and that can have a negative impact on the success of the department. Donnelly also serves on the board of directors of the Paint and Decorating Retailers’ Association. Being a part of an industry association, he says, helps him stay current with paint trends, especially because he has the opportunity to interact with other paint professionals across the country.

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One of the hottest trends in the paint category right now, for example, revolves around specialty paints and applicators. Chalk and chalkboard paints, as well as mirror and glow-in-the-dark paints, continue to be popular. Stephanie Hunter, floor supervisor at Wildomar Ace in Wildomar, California, says paint that creates a weathered, antique look is one of the most popular trends she’s seen. She adds that rags, chip brushes and other tools are what do-ityourselfers are using to produce that look. Whatever the current trend, the best paint retailers are those who keep an open mind about what specialty paints might catch on and who search trade shows and magazines for the latest product trends.

Create an Exceptional Shopping Experience

Before you can even start putting yourself forward as the retailer of choice in paint, you need to look the part. While it’s important to have bright light and fully stocked shelves, it’s not enough if you want to be an exceptional paint retailer. Consumers generally expect a different experience when

“I’m not comparing

where I want to be with Sherwin-Williams or Home Depot. I compare what I want to do here with a store like Coach or Kate Spade.

”

—Jay Donnelly, Flanagan Paint choosing colors to paint their homes than when, for example, they buy a box of nails. They want a place where they can feel comfortable browsing. And if they’re going to buy a premium product, they expect a premium shopping experience. “If you’re trying to sell a $60 gallon of paint, you can’t have your department looking 60 years old,” Donnelly says. He laments that he’s seen too many stores let their paint departments go years without an update.

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

At Flanagan Paint, Donnelly doesn’t let a year pass without making at least a minor adjustment to the store layout. This year, he’s going for a larger remodel. “We’re trying to make our business as trendy as we can,” he says, “and I’m not comparing where I want to be with SherwinWilliams or Home Depot. I compare what I want to do here with a store like Coach or Kate Spade. People go to those stores even if they’re just going to walk around and look. Consumers want to

shop where it’s fashionable, and that’s the type of experience we’re trying to deliver.” If it’s been a while since you’ve given your paint department a makeover, you’re likely overdue. Most retailers who do well in paint focus on the customer’s paint-buying experience. That means staying current on color racks and planograms from your paint vendor. Keep new and premium products at eye level at the entrance of your paint department. Make a place that’s comfortable to sit, look at color swatches and talk with a paint consultant.

Clear signage with premium products in highly visible locations is part of the merchandising strategy at Flanagan Paint.

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

Get to Know Pinterest

Ask nearly any retailer what’s new in the paint department, and it won’t be long before you hear the word “Pinterest.” This social media platform has given do-it-yourselfers a whole new level of confidence about doing projects themselves, along with a wealth of new ideas. DIYers who find a project they’d like to try on Pinterest typically end up in your store asking for the products to complete that project. If you want to be a top-tier paint retailer, you should look at Pinterest, too. “We spend a lot of time studying Pinterest, so we stay on top of what’s trending and so we’ll know how

to do certain projects,” says Donnelly. Customers may know what the finished project will look like, but are not always sure how to get there, or what products to use. “We help people figure out how to do a particular project, and when we do, that customer’s going to come back. Having the patience to work with a customer like that is part of offering great customer service.” Ed Albrecht, paint manager at Northern Lakes Do it Best, Hunter looks everywhere for emphasizes ongoing paint education to keep in tune with trends. trends, including Pinterest and HGTV, so she can stay one step ahead of her customers. “The challenge is customers who want to use exactly what the blogger used,” she says. “We try to know what’s trending and all of the latest painting techniques so if we don’t have the exact same product, we can direct them to something similar.” And don’t just follow on Pinterest: Lead the way with a page for your own store. Flanagan Paint has its own Pinterest page where customers can search for project ideas that involve the colors and tools found in the store. It’s also a great place for Donnelly to post project how-to information and establish his business as an authority on paint and design.

Be Proactive in Educating Consumers, Staff and Yourself

Waiting for a customer to ask a question about a project won’t always get the conversation started. Because of the wealth of information on the Internet, the average consumer today probably did a lot of research on the project they want to tackle, so they may not think they need your help. Encourage your employees to start the conversation. The information the customer has may not always be accurate, so it’s important to find out exactly what they found out online, and then confirm if it’s really correct. To do that, it’s even more critical that employees are well-trained in product and project knowledge. Taking the extra time to ask customers about their projects and make sure they have the correct

March 2016 | HARDWARE RETAILING

Stephanie Hunter, floor supervisor at Wildomar Ace, runs a strong paint department despite two big-box stores just a short distance away.

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information can help build the sale, not only with add-on products, but with the correct products. Donnelly, for example, believes that one of the most misunderstood parts of the painting project is the primer. Among the many different types of primers available, do your customers know the correct one to use? “They may initially choose a cheap primer, but if you educate them on the differences between the primers and the advantages of each, you could easily upsell them a better primer that does the job right,” he says. In addition to being proactive in educating customers, the best paint retailers are proactive in providing ongoing education to their employees. Ed Albrecht, paint manager at Northern Lakes Do it Best Hardware in Hayward, Wisconsin, uses the slower first couple of months of the year to update himself and his employees on what’s new in the industry and refresh product knowledge. He’s tried out most of the products he sells at home, so he has firsthand knowledge of how to use them. He encourages employees to try out products too. “I’m constantly researching new products online and forever taking classes from our vendors and Do it Best so I know as much as I can about the category,” he says.

Don’t be Afraid to Sell Top-Quality Products

All of the paint retailers Hardware Retailing spoke with have noticed more and more consumers are buying premium paints. “We’ve definitely seen a trend toward higher-quality paints, as people are willing to spend more for better quality,” says Hunter. An assortment that includes all price levels for each type of customer may not be that unusual for a paint department, but the best retailers are proactive in getting their customers to try the higher level of products. Albrecht, who sells anywhere from 150 to 250 gallons of paint out of his store every week, is willing to give away a premium item if it means his customer will at least try it. “My do-it-yourself customers used to come in and get the cheapest rollers they could find,” he says. “Then I started giving them quality roller covers for free and asked them just to try it. Now, they’re hooked on them and buy them constantly.” He might have given away a few premium roller covers, but he has since sold many more. As Albrecht has found, usually convincing the customer to buy a premium product rather than a cheap one involves some education. Donnelly takes the tactic of the impromptu in-store demonstrations to show the

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differences between paints and sundry items. “Sandpaper is a good category to show a customer a quality product,” he says, “because after a quick demonstration between low- and high-quality papers, they can easily see the difference.” Sometimes, Donnelly finds it’s helpful to simplify the language he uses to distinguish the different levels of paint he offers. “We usually ask customers, ‘Is this paint for your forever home, your 5-year home, or your investment property?’ That usually helps them decide what type of paint they should buy.” Don’t think that do-it-yourselfers are the only ones who need education about quality products, either. Oftentimes, Donnelly and Albrecht have to educate their contractors who have always gone for the lower-quality items, but may be willing to switch once they know the benefits of a better product. Albrecht also uses his giveaway tactic to promote new products or to hook the business of a prospective customer. “I once gave a contractor a 5-gallon bucket of paint to try, and now he buys about 300 gallons a year from me,” he says. “He’s also with the local housing authority, so now he buys a lot of other hardware items from me, too.”

Selling high-quality paint sundries may often involve demonstrating the qualities of a superior product next to one of lesser quality.

Newsmakers

Helping Ahead of the Big Snow

Upcoming Events March 3-5 Ace Hardware Spring Convention & Exhibits Las Vegas

5-8 International Home + Housewares Show Chicago

6-8 International Hardware Fair Cologne, Germany Twins Ace Hardware manager Vicente Fonseca-Neto stands out in front of the Fairfax, Virginia, store after nearly 30 inches of snow fell on the community.

redictions of heavy snowfall in January sent customers scrambling to buy supplies from their local home improvement stores to prepare for ice, snow and potential power outages. The expectation of nearly 30 inches of snow brought customers to Twins Ace Hardware, where they snapped up shovels, ice melt and sleds. And those were just the top-selling products. All of the store’s snow blowers sold, and customers bought every single D battery, flashlight and lantern Twins Ace had, co-owner Craig Smith says. Shoppers also bought firewood, gloves and hats, windshield wash and generators. The store is located in Fairfax, and residents in the surrounding area had plenty of warning that heavy snowfall was coming Jan. 22, Smith says. At the same time, residents in the Toms River, New Jersey, area were preparing for nearly 20 inches of snow, and they also turned to an independent hardware store for emergency supplies. Ken’s Hardware had the shovels, salt, flashlights and batteries, gas cans, tarps and rope they needed, says co-owner John Kenny. “I can’t say that I heard anybody say they were scared, but they were buying like they were scared,” Kenny says. “The public doesn’t prepare ahead of time. They kind of wait till the last minute, and they expect you to have stuff.” He ordered ahead, expecting his shovels and ice melt to sell well. He underestimated, though, and the Friday night of the storm he was very low on inventory, he says. Hurricane Sandy had hit the community hard in 2012, and he thinks people remembered the hurricane and panicked ahead of the snowstorm. “At the beginning of the week, I had 150 shovels and about 10,000 pounds of ice melt. I sold every shovel and every bag of ice melt. In addition to that, I sold 10,000 pounds of (water softener) salt,” Kenny says. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of that week, the 12,000-square-foot Twins Ace Hardware store was crammed with shoppers. At one point, the Twins Ace checkout line had more than 100 people standing in it, snaking up and down store aisles, Smith says. “We had product when the big boxes ran out. We never ran out of ice melt,” he says. Smith got as many product deliveries to the store as he could. What he didn’t get through his primary distributor, he sent a store van to pick up elsewhere. While no one wants to experience this type of weather, Smith says staying well stocked during these times is important. “Obtain as much product as you can, and I think you need to be willing to hold it from season to season,” he says. “No one will forget it if you’re out. Not having it is just not acceptable.”

HARDWARE RETAILING | March 2016

10-12 Reliable Distributors 2016 Management & Marketing Conference Orlando, Florida

16-19 Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo New Orleans

18-19 Blish-Mize Spring Buying Market Overland Park, Kansas

23-24 Southern Hardware Spring Market Robinsonville, Mississippi

April 17-19 Home Hardware Spring Dealer Market St. Jacobs, Ontario

May 4-6 National Hardware Show®/ NRHA All-Industry Conference Las Vegas 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.

2016 NRHA ALL-INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

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