The Anvil - Spring 2016

THE ANVILDISTRIBUTING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SPRING 2016

KEVIN BOMKAMP JR., CINCINNATI, OH

CATHERINE MAJESTIC, GARDINER, NY

MELINDA GOURLIE,

WYSOX, PA HOW A YOUNG,

FRESH APPROACHBOOSTS THE

BOTTOM LINE

MORE PRODUCTS

MORE PROFIT

PAGE 25

ALSO INSIDE:▸ 7 Hot Products for

Sizzling Spring Sales p10

▸ Smart Tips for Better Lighting Displays p9

▸ Be a Lawn-and-Garden Solution Center p22

VOL. 3 | NO. 1

Bright Ideas from the Next Generation p13

© 2016 PPG Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PPG Paints is a trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. Manor Hall, Manorshield and The Voice Of Color are registered trademarks of PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc.

MANOR HALL® exterior paint is formulated to provide extraordinary fl exibility and durability against the harsh outdoor elements, in a brand trusted for generations.

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• Cold weather application down to 35˚F

• Can be used on vinyl siding & composites

Available in over 2,000+ colors in THE VOICE OF COLOR® palette

SatisfactionGuaranteed

LIFETIME LIMITED

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DEPARTMENTS

2 SPOTLIGHTStrengthening ties with a top tarp vendor; Retailer of the Year and Salesman of the Year named; Bay City, Michigan, store celebrates 100 years.

4 MARKETING MINUTEThese tips for creating must-read e-newsletters will help you connect with customers and provide vital store updates and sales information.

6 FOCUS ON ENDCAPSDevise compelling endcaps and show off new products with these smart pointers from retailers and Bostwick-Braun experts.

7 TREND WATCH Retail sales continue to in-crease; homeowners look forways to save water; multi- generation considerations for renovations; new paint style for outdoors; more.

9 NICHE-PERTISECustomers are turned on to the money-saving features of LED lights. Here’s what you need to know to boost your lighting-department sales.

10 HOT LIST Jumpstart your spring with these seven innovative, fast-selling products.

THE BOSTWICK-BRAUN COMPANY

THEANVILDISTRIBUTING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SPRING 2016

p.25

p.6

p.22

28 MARGIN COMBOSCombine lower-margin spring items with high-margin prod-ucts to boost your bottom line this season.

FEATURES

13 COVER STORY: THE NEXT WAVE These young entrepreneurs are using what they’ve learned from previous generations to bring new ideas to hardware stores. Plus: Learn how to start a succession plan; ways you can tap into your store’s youth.

22 BE A LAWN & GARDEN PROBLEM SOLVER Turn your store into a lawn-and-garden solutions center by offering customers the right products at the right time. Here’s how to increase sales by solving five common problems.

25 PROVEN SUCCESS STORIES Three retailers share how Proven Brands’ price, quality and packaging have had a positive impact on their stores.

p.4

2 | The Anvil SPRING 2016

SPOTLIGHT

Proven Partnership: Bostwick-Braun and Kaps TexBostwick-Braun spans oceans and strengthens its relationships with vendors to bring retailers the best possible deals. This past October, Bostwick-Braun headquarters staff welcomed Amy Lee, President of Kaps Tex Co., the company that manufactures Proven Brands tarps.

During her visit to Toledo, Ohio, Lee met with Product Manager Russ Parish to review orders and discuss the latest advances in tarp manufacturing. Lee also met with Chris Beach, Bostwick-Braun President and CEO.

“This international relationship allows Proven Brands to grow and improve,” Beach says. “Her company supplies big-box chains, too, meaning we’re giving our hardware dealers the same tarps found at national chains with the same quality while offering them low, low costs. With these tarps, our dealers are able to make a great margin while still being extremely competitive. That’s a win-win for everyone.”

A recent shipment of Proven Brands poly tarps includes yard tarps, woodpile tarps and a new cam-ouflage color scheme.

STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS: During her annual visit to the United States, Amy Lee, President of Kaps Tex Co., met with Chris Beach, President and CEO of Bostwick-Braun. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lee now lives in China while operating Kaps Tex, which is headquartered in Vietnam. She took over the company when her husband, the company’s previous president, passed away in 2009; she has since excelled in the top job. Lee, who has been in the industry for 13 years, travels extensively to meet customers around the world.

2015 Bostwick-Braun Salesman of the Year This January, Bostwick-Braun Dealer Sales Representatives gathered for their annual meeting and training. During the event, Mike Taylor received the 2015 Salesman of the Year Award. Taylor had an outstanding year helping new stores open and resetting older stores with fresh layouts. A Bost-wick-Braun sales representative for 20 years, Taylor travels throughout the West Region, providing store owners with high-level service. “Mike is highly regarded among his peers and among the store owners he helps on a daily basis,” says Jerry Clasey, President, Hardware Unit. “This distinction is well deserved.” (From left) Clasey; Mike Taylor, 2015 Salesman of the Year; and Damian Nicholson, West Regional Sales Manager.


SPOTLIGHT

Bay City Honors Putz Hardware’s 100th Anniversary Long before power tools were regularly stocked on shelves or airplanes zigzagged across the skies, there was John W. Putz Hardware in Bay City,

Michigan. Earlier this year, the city honored the store’s 100th anniver-sary by declaring January 20 Putz Hardware Day.

John W. Putz opened the store in 1916 and ran it until he died in 1937. His son Ted managed it for the next 59 years; Ted’s daughter, Lois Nie-mann, now owns and runs it.

“My grandfather and father would be proud to know we reached 100 years,” Niemann says. “We lasted this long because we’re honest and fair with our customers. Treat customers right, and they come back.”

Bostwick-Braun has been Putz Hardware’s distrib-utor for more than 25 years. “We’ve always had good salesmen from Bostwick-Braun,” Niemann says. “The salesmen have always been very helpful, showing us products that we should be buying and looking at.”

c RETAILER OF THE YEAR Nunda PRO Lumber & Hardware received the Paul L. Cosgrave Memorial Hardware Retailer of the Year honor at the Fall Market. (From left) Branch Springer, Bostwick-Braun CFO and COO; Kirk M. Komendat, Eastern Regional Sales Manager; Jerry Clasey, President, Hardware Business Unit; Nunda PRO Lumber & Hardware Vice President Larry Mallaber and his wife, Melodee Mallaber; Chris Beach, Bostwick-Braun CEO and President; and Shari Kalbach, Managing Director of ProGroup.

2015 Employee of the YearThe 2015 H.L. Thompson Jr. Memorial Award Em-ployee of the Year is Damian Nicholson, Regional

Sales Manager for the Dealer Di-vision. Nicholson started at Bost-wick-Braun in January 2001 as an inside sales/customer-service representative in the Dealer Divi-sion. In 2004, he was promoted to Customer Service Manager; in 2008, he received another promo-tion to PRO Program Director. He has served in his current role since

2011. “Even more impressive than Damian’s career path with Bostwick-Braun has been the relation-ships he’s developed with customers and fellow em-ployee-owners,” says Bostwick-Braun President and CEO Chris Beach. “He truly exemplifies our compa-ny’s core values of empathy, honesty and fairness.”

NIEMANN

NICHOLSON

MARKETING MINUTE


Deliver Successful E-NewslettersCreating effective e-mail campaigns is easy with these seven expert tips.

Putting together an e-newsletter is a great way to connect with your customers and pro-vide regular updates about store events and sales. It’s worth it, too: E-mail’s return on investment is four times greater than that of direct mail, according to research from the Direct Marketing Association. To ensure that your e-newsletter doesn’t get stuck in your customers’ spam folders, keep these seven tips in mind:

Stick to a Schedule Don’t send an e-newsletter more than once a month, says Carolyn Wilman, a marketing consultant and social-media strategist. If customers feel like they’re flood-ed with e-mail from your store, they’re less likely to open your e-newsletter. Also, establish a regular day and time to send them. That way, customers will be familiar with (and, ideally, look forward to) your e-newsletter. Arey Building Supply in Wysox, Pennsylvania, for example, sends about six e-newsletters a year, roughly one every two months.

Get to the Point — Quickly Some online marketing firms recommend that e-newsletters

have no more than 20 lines of text. Such minimal content is also ideal to be read on mo-bile devices. When Melinda Gourlie creates the newsletter for Arey Building Supply, she makes sure each item is no longer than 100 words. “I like to keep e-newsletters short and sweet,” she says. “I’m big on bullet points and easy-to-read chunks of copy.”

Minimize Links and PhotosDon’t overwhelm readers with lots of clickable links. Af-ter about five to seven links, click-through rates decrease, according to research from Constant Contact, a digital- marketing firm. Don’t drop

in too many photos, either — three images or fewer result in optimal click-throughs.

Collect E-mail Addresses Send e-newsletters only to those who wish to receive them. Gathering the e-mail addresses of these customers is essential, Gourlie says. Arey Building Sup-ply gets them through in-store promotions and via Facebook; they also add to their subscrib-er list any customers who have credit accounts. You can also capture addresses by asking cus-tomers to drop business cards in a bowl to win select prizes. Set aside a little time once a week to enter new addresses and delete any that cause your newsletter

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to bounce back. One important note: Federal law requires that commercial e-mail messages like these must include an “unsub-scribe” option by which recipi-ents can opt out. Custom e-mail services such as MailChimp (see below) will handle this auto-matically; if you’re creating your newsletter yourself, be sure not to overlook it.

Rely on Templates You don’t need to be a Web designer — or even hire one — to create e-newsletters. Gourlie re-lies on templates provided by the custom e-mail service MailChimp to send e-newsletters to about

350 subscribers. This free ser-vice offers a simple template into which you can easily drop images and text. “It’ll take about half a day to learn the program,” Gour-lie says, “but once you sit down to create an e-newsletter later, it’ll take just about an hour.”

Reward Subscribers From time to time, run a contest or offer coupons available only to e-newsletter subscribers. Also, make important announcements — such as sales, vendor specials or store events — ahead of time in your e-newsletter. These perks and exclusive access build cus-tomer loyalty.

Measure Success Services like MailChimp provide “open rates” for your e-news-letters — that is, how many subscribers are looking at them at least briefly instead of just putting them in the trash. Giv-en that the distribution for your store’s newsletter is likely hyper- local, expect open rates of at least 30 percent, Wilman says. Also, track your customer count and sales of products mentioned in the e-newsletters. Increases in subscribers and Facebook likes are an indication that yours are effective, especially if you no-tice a boost the day or day after you’ve sent one.


FOCUS ON ENDCAPS

Smart Seasonal Endcaps Compelling seasonal endcaps not only increase sales at the time — they also help reassure customers that your store has everything they need.

Promote Monthly Sales Take advantage of regular sale items from Bost-wick-Braun, advises Mike Songer, owner of L&M PRO Lumber in Emporium, Pennsylvania, which has roughly a dozen endcaps. “We recently put two hoses on sale with shelf tags showing the low, rock-bottom pricing,” Songer says. “We grouped them with other gardening supplies, and that really

caught customers’ attention.”

Be Early Think ahead and put up displays at least a month before the season starts, says Kirk Komendat, Bost-wick-Braun’s Eastern Regional Sales Manager. “You want customers to see those products before they need to buy. The timing will also convey to customers

that you have what they need, when they need it.”

More Visible = More Frequently Swapped Consider changing higher-visibility endcaps more often, Songer suggests. He does just that with the displays near L&M PRO Lumber’s checkout. “When someone is standing at the register and looking around, their interest can be piqued by new prod-ucts,” he says. “For more-visible endcaps, it’s more important to rotate, maybe even every other month.”

Mix Margins A well-built seasonal endcap will have a high-ly visible lower-margin item alongside addition-al, more-profitable goods, Komendat says. On a spring birdseed endcap, for example, display a few


20-pound bags of seed at a competitive price, then include higher-margin specialty seed and feeders at

eye level or atop the endcap.

Celebrate the Season To draw attention to a holiday-themed endcap, Songer created a vinyl sign that read christmas cor-ner. He also brought in an endcap from the popular gift brand Melissa & Doug; those items sold well. “People liked how it was set up,” he says. “It was the first year we sold them, and we’re looking forward to the spring line.”

Capitalize on Big-Box Promos Keep tabs on nearby big-box advertising and pro-motions, Komendat recommends: “When you see that they’re really pushing certain items, create an endcap of those products. If your price is competi-tive, customers will think of you first. The big boxes will spend millions of dollars on advertising, and you can use that to your advantage.”

Melissa & Doug children’s toys, offered at the Fall Market, are an easy addition around the holidays.


TREND WATCH

Multi-Generation Households Spur Home Remodeling ProjectsHome remodeling will likely re-main a growth area this year, with year-over-year home-improve-ment spending jumping from 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2016 to 7.6 percent in the third quarter. That’s the forecast from Harvard’s Joint Center of Housing Stud-ies, which regularly publishes a Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity.

One key factor driving that growth in the years ahead: home-owners adding safety and con-venience features in multigen-erational households. By 2040, roughly half of Americans will be either younger than 18 or older than 65; do-it-yourself additions to help accommodate these two age cohorts include bathroom safety bars, anti-scald showers, nonslip flooring, light switches with large toggle buttons, easy-open door handles, easy-to-clean fixtures and motion-sensor lighting.

• Retail Sales Continue Growth Retail sales are expected to grow 3.1 percent this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s economic forecast for 2016, citing steady consumer confidence and easing of wage stagnation as reasons for the uptick. Reduced unemployment and wage increas-es boosted the country’s gross domestic product by 2.4 percent last year; those factors, combined with lower gas prices, have afford-ed Americans more discretionary income of late. The federation also forecasts modest but continued

economic growth of between 1.9 and 2.4 percent this year.

• Painting the Outdoors Profitable This summer, homeowners may turn their paintbrushes to the outdoors. Fences, sheds, arbors and houses may get a makeover with darker colors, says Garden Design magazine. Mirroring a trend throughout Europe, white and light-gray outdoor paint is out, and dark colors such as deep blue, black and charcoal gray are in. These darker hues allow gar-dens, especially flowering plants, to stand out better.

$ Homeowners Save Water and Money Water conservation has become a priority for many Americans, with homebuyers and do-it-yourselfers looking to be more environmen-tally conscious through water saving and reclamation projects — gardeners irrigating plants via a rainwater harvesting system, for example. Low-flow toilets and showerheads, meanwhile, are

required by law in some states; “gray-water” recycling systems, composting toilets and irrigation sensors are increasingly com-mon as well. Such measures can reduce water consumption by up to 30 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors.

🟒Families Return to Outdoor Living The most popular destination for many families this summer: the backyard. With barbecues, outdoor games and firefly hunts, families increasingly look to bond in the backyard, according to Garden Me-dia Group’s Garden Trend Report. As part of this return to the great outdoors, gardeners will also add a riot of color — bold reds, oranges and purples — with flowering bulbs.

Garden Breakout: Container Gardening Whether they grow vegetables indoors, on tabletops or in win-dow boxes, gardeners are thinking outside the box . . . by staying in the pot. Terrariums and planters’ mini-landscapes are an increas-ingly popular gardening trend, according to Garden Design mag-azine. Outdoor-gardening tech-niques such as filler (foliage that complements but doesn’t over-whelm the host plant) and spiller (plants that tumble pleasingly out of the pot) are increasingly being applied to container gardening. What’s more, it’s easy to move the plants outside to a deck or patio during the summer. Small plants such as cherry tomatoes, which add decoration and can be tossed in a salad, are helping spark renewed interest in this trend as well.


NICHE-PERTISE

Bright Ideas for Bulbs and Beyond

mation about bulb longevity to show customers the value of LED.

Compare Lumens To help customers compare incandescent bulbs to LED and other, newer options, Demis suggests comparing lumens to lumens — a more accurate apples-to-apples comparison than wattage, he says.

Check Customer Needs If the light is for reading or out-door use, customers will need brighter bulbs, such as halogen or incandescent. If the custom-er is lighting a large room, clear bulbs are better. Soft white blubs are preferable for mood and ambience.

Turn on Displays To help boost LED bulb sales, put them in the first four feet of a light bulb run, with the less expen-sive bulbs toward the back, Demis recommends. Bulb sales pick up when Daylight Saving Time changes, so plan endcap displays around those times of year.

Pick a Price Leader When promoting bulbs in flyers, select one to be a price leader. One good example would be the 10,000-hour LED bulb. Customers are often familiar with that price point and can compare to the competition. “Customers will re-act and come in for that opening price point,” Demis says. “Then they’ll buy two or three packs.”

Q: How many hardware store employees does it take to sell a light bulb? A: Just one, if he knows what he’s talking about.

Federal energy legislation in recent years has changed the nation’s lighting landscape. In-candescent light bulbs must now be more efficient — some states are also passing laws to curb their use — and as a result, other types of bulbs, such as LED, are becoming increasingly popular.

You can help customers sort out these choices and save money on energy costs while increasing your lighting department’s sales and margins. The really good news: Light bulbs and related products typically earn a 25 percent margin, even as they keep you competitive with big- box prices. Here are six ways to improve your lighting sales:

Diversify LED Category With incandescent lighting being phased out, customers have embraced the LED category, es-pecially given the energy savings LEDs can offer. Look to expand your store’s variety of LED items — shop lights, trim lights, flash-lights and more, recommends Kevin Demis, Bostwick-Braun’s Product Manager for Plumbing, Electrical and Hardware.

Explain Value “LED lights will ring a little higher at the register,” Demis says. “Sug-gest to customers that they buy one, try it, then come back room by room as needed.” Share infor-

BENEFITS

4 Break-resistant compared to incandescent bulbs

4 Life up to 25 times longer than incandescents

4 Saves 75% more energy than incandescents

NEED TO KNOW

4 Instantly provides light with no warm-up

4 Often compatible with dimmers, but varies by model

4 Versatile — can be used for just about any purpose, including recessed lighting

MUST-KNOW INFO FOR LED LIGHT BULB SALES

HOT LIST


Repel Deer With Ease The Bonide Go Away Scent-inal Deer Repellent system protects plants from deer all year long. This potent repellent even protects succulent new growth with no need to reapply as the plant grows. This easy-to-use kit requires no mixing or spraying; its environmentally friendly active ingredients include peppermint, cinnamon and clove oils with sulfur and citric acid vine-gar. Each kit includes enough acti-vator to recharge six diffusers up to four times, for 12 months of protec-tion for shrubs, fruit trees, vegeta-bles and evergreens. Bonide. EDP: 1022131

Spring Into Profits! Kickstart the season with these innovative, margin-boosting products.

Spray-On Sea Style Create soothing, beach-inspired coastal colors on any clear glass surface with Kry-lon’s Sea Glass Spray Paint. This stylish, sophis-ticated look is available in a wide range of colors to match just about any indoor décor. The semi-translucent,

frosted finish looks like glass tumbled smooth by ocean waves. With excellent adhesion and durability, this paint dries to the touch in 15 minutes or less. Colors include rose, ruby, am-ber, lemon, sea foam, ice, aqua and corn-flower. One can covers up to 25 square feet. Intended for indoor use.

Krylon.

EDPs: 1027180, 1027252, 1027198, 1027207, 1027216, 1027225, 1027234, 1027243

Good Riddance, Rodents Designed for outdoor use, Rat Magic repels rats, chipmunks, squirrels and more, yet is entirely safe for peo-ple and pets. Made with a unique combination of essential oils, Rat Magic is strong yet biodegrad-able. Five pounds treat up to 1,000 square feet.

Bonide.

EDP: 1024021


Strong, Natural Fibers Combining natural fibers with environ-mentally friendly features, these ropes

from the Lehigh Group are an excel-lent choice for gardening, yardwork and

landscaping. They can be easily stocked in different parts of your store — on the front

counter or added to gardening-themed endcaps. Gentle on plants and biodegradable, these ropes knot well and resist wear from sunlight exposure.

Lehigh Group. EDP: 1015615 — 1/8” x 50’ Natural Grass Cord EDP: 1015597 — 1/4” x 100’ Twisted Sisal Rope EDP: 1015786 — 300’ Twisted Sisal Twine EDP: 1015813 — 190’ Twisted Jute Twine

Cool Colors, Smooth Finish Rust-Oleum’s Chalked Ultra Matte paint brings new life to any tired, worn paint job. The velvety smooth matte finish can easily be distressed for a vintage look that will nonetheless be durable and tough. This easy-to-use paint is available in several colors to match any project and style.

Rust-Oleum. EDPs: 951307, 951315, 951323, 951331, 951340, 951358, 951382

Powerful, 3x Thick Protection Just one coat of Varathane Triple Thick Poly urethane provides excellent scratch and stain resistance. Three times thicker than traditional polyurethane, Varathane Triple Thick is a water-based, self-leveling formula that offers fast dry time and easy soap-and-water cleanup. Suitable for interior wood surfaces such as furniture, doors, trim and more.

Rust-Oleum. EDPs: 951390, 951404, 951412

Fasteners With Smart Storage New Grip-Rite fasteners include finish nails and staples in the best-selling sizes. They’re packaged in handy plastic cases with secure belt clips, making for easier reloading of nail guns — and thus faster completion of projects.

Grip-Rite.

EDP: 1015156 — 16ga 1½” galv 1M straight finish W

EDP: 1015165 — 16ga 2” galv 1M straight finish

EDP: 1015174 — finish brad 18ga 1” galv

EDP: 1015183 — finish brad 18ga 1¼” galv

EDP: 1015192 — finish brad 18ga 1½” galv

EDP: 1015201 — 18 ga 2” 1M galv 1M brad nails

EDP: 1015210 — narrow stpl 18ga ¼”x1” galv 1m

EDP: 1015219 — narrow stpl 18ga ¼”x1¼” galv 1m

EDP: 1015228 — fin-finish nail 15ga 2” galv

EDP: 1015237 — 16ga galv 1M angled finish

EDP: 1015246 — narrow stpl 18ga 7/32”x1” galv


© 2016 PPG Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PPG Paints is a trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. Manor Hall, Manorshield and The Voice Of Color are registered trademarks of PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc.

MANOR HALL® interior paint has been a trusted brand for generations. Only the very fi nest products, backed by decades of research and testing, are worthy of carrying the Manor Hall tradition.

WHY IT WORKS:

• Paint, primer and stain repellent in one

• Durability for high traffi c areas

• Outstanding scrub ability Available in over 2,000+ colors in

THE VOICE OF COLOR® palette

SatisfactionGuaranteed

LIFETIME LIMITED

WARRANTY

Traditions last a lifetime... and so can your paint.


THE NEXT WAVE

THREE YOUNG, RESOURCEFUL AND AMBITIOUS HARDWARE RETAILERS SHARE HOW THEY EMBRACE

LESSONS FROM THE PAST WHILE BRINGING VITALITY AND NEW IDEAS TO THEIR STORES.

WHAT’S EVEN BETTER: YOU CAN TAP INTO THIS INNOVATIVE, DYNAMIC YOUTH MOVEMENT, TOO.

R E TA I L H A R DWA R E ’ S I N S P I R I N G N E W G E N E R AT I O N

STORY BY DOUG DONALDSON

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JIM SMITH AND DOUG DONALDSON


HOME AGAIN WITH BRIGHT IDEAS •Melinda GourlieArey Building Supply Wysox, Pennsylvania

Melinda Gourlie was 3,000 miles from her northeast

Pennsylvania hometown when she got the phone call no one wants to receive: Her mother, Nanette Good, had been diag-nosed with cancer. Melinda, who had graduated from college with a degree in outdoor-recreation management, was working in a ski lodge in western Canada at the time. “The diagnosis was a sort of wakeup call and pulled on my heartstrings,” she says. “I realized I needed to be closer to home.”

In April 2015, Melinda and her husband, Dave Gourlie, moved to Wysox, Pennsylvania, and stepped into roles at Arey Building Supply, the family business. (Nanette, happily, has since recovered.) The Gourlies’ presence was a natural fit: Melinda had gained retail,

Melinda knows the importance of small gestures, such as handwritten notes, that connect with customers.

Over the past few years, you might have noticed some-thing a little differ-ent about the Bost-

wick-Braun Fall Dealer Market: More and more young people are strolling the aisles — and stepping fully into hardware retailing.

The next wave of hardware re-tailers has arrived, and the hard-ware business, like the rest of the country, is getting younger. The United States is, in fact, on the

cusp of a tremendous demograph-ic shift: By 2025, “Millennials” — those born between 1980 and the mid-2000s — will make up about 75 percent of the American work-force, according to The Hartford Financial Services Group. They’ve already overtaken the Baby Boomers to become the country’s largest demographic group.

This emerging generation is also the first to have grown up in the era of the Internet. Studies indicate that Millennials have a

strong entrepreneurial spirit, with more than half expressing interest in starting their own business. As such, your own younger family members or employees can be a vital asset to your store. To show you how, here are the stories of three young Bostwick-Braun retailers. Alongside their families, they’re succeeding by embracing the traditions and smart business practices of the past while also looking toward the future with new technology and innovations.


7 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSION PLANNINGSelling your store, or having the next generation take it over, involves more than simply handing over the keys. “Without breaking the pro-cess into steps, you may feel like it’s too difficult and not get started at all,” says Michael Kalscheur, Senior Financial Consultant at Castle Wealth Advisors, an Indianapolis-based financial-consulting firm with expertise in succession planning. Kalscheur breaks those steps down:

1 | Start early. Ideally, you should begin succession planning three to five years before you intend to retire or sell. You can complete a succession plan in less time, but in that case you’re not as likely to receive the fullest value for your business. Getting a head start will make planning seem less daunting.

2 | Talk with the next generation. Have a conversation with those who will be affected by the change. Some owners have assumed family members would take over the business without ever actually having that discussion, Kalscheur says. Getting it out in the open will help guide you about how to proceed.

3 | Establish value. It’s crucial that you assess the business to deter-mine its worth, so have an independent assessment firm conduct an audit. It’s easier to move forward once you’ve established a verifi-able, concrete number.

4 | Consult with advisers. Schedule meetings with your lawyer, accountant, financial planner and insurance agent to discuss suc-cession. Each may have specific advice about your plan and will be able to discuss topics such as tax implications and how your store’s corporate classification (S Corp., C Corp. or LLC) will affect a sale. Kalscheur suggests having these meetings during slower periods in your schedule, such as January or February.

5 | Decide on sale terms. There are many ways to sell or pass on a business. You can give family members shares, for example, or conduct a sale in one lump sum or over several years. These de-cisions will often be guided by your retirement planning. One rule Kalscheur recommends: Never sell more than 50 percent until you’re certain you’re ready to be done with the business.

6 | Set up your leadership transition. While the financial portion of a sale or passing along your store can be straightforward, the day-to-day and management aspects can be more ambiguous. In-troduce whomever is taking over the business to your advisers and have them review every piece of it. Create a timeline — ideally at least three years in advance — for transferring responsibilities.

7 | Review that transition regularly. During the changeover, reeval-uate your plans and fix any problems by doing a review every six months or so: Have meetings with everyone involved in the transi-tion to ensure that everything is on track.

marketing and customer-service experience in the outdoors indus-try, and Dave had grown up in his own family’s hardware business.

Arey Building Supply was founded by the eponymous fam-ily in 1962; four decades later, Jim and Nanette Good, who also own an electrical-contracting company and two other business-es in Wysox, bought the store. After planning their succession for about five years, the Goods transferred ownership this Janu-ary and have begun to transition out of day-to-day involvement. “Everyone wants to see their kids be successful, and it’s nice to have someone taking it on,” Nanette says. “Melinda is exceptionally good at solutions thinking — she’s knowledgeable and helps custom-ers find the right solutions.”

•Passing the TorchNanette still handles some admin-istrative and bookkeeping duties for Arey Building Supply, and it’s through her careful attention to detail that her daughter learned

“ THE GREAT THING ABOUT DIGITAL MEDIA IS THAT IT’S TRACKABLE, COMPARED TO A NEWSPAPER AD. CUSTOMERS COME IN AND SAY THEY FOUND US ON YELP OR FACEBOOK.”


She’s planning to implement some technological innovations, too. This spring, Arey Building Supply is updating its point-of-sale system with searchable fields so customers can shop up to 200,000 SKUs online. She’d also like to upgrade the store’s com-puter system to make its database more readily searchable.

With Melinda, the store’s marketing has expanded into the digital realm with a Web site, Facebook page, digital newsletter and Yelp page, on which custom-ers can post reviews of their expe-riences there. “Digital marketing has been a big addition,” she says. “The great thing about digital me-dia is that it’s trackable, compared to trying to figure out how many people have read a newspaper ad. We have a decent following on Facebook, and often customers come in and say they found us on Yelp or Facebook.”

Melinda and her husband have also made some smaller changes to make the store more efficient. They reorganized the lumber and building-supply storage system, consolidating scattered storage into a racking system that groups similar products together.

But she sees more opportunities for growth. The spray-paint sec-tion was recently updated and re-vamped, and the store may add a greenhouse along with an expand-ed lawn-and-garden department. It’s also adding more plumbing SKUs to meet demand, in partic-ular several Proven Brands prod-ucts such as plumbing and toilet repair. That makes good cus-tomer-service sense: With some plumbing items, if Arey Building Supply doesn’t have it, customers have to drive a half-hour or more to the nearest big box.

ware retail (bulk nail bins still occupy space on the sales floor) and modern innovation — and al-though Melinda hews closely to the example her parents set, she has already begun to guide the store in some new, profitable directions.

Her daughter’s adaptability, Nanette says, is one of her great-est strengths. During the shale boom in Pennsylvania in recent years, for example, commercial sales accounted for a larger per-centage of Arey’s business. Now, though, the store relies mostly on do-it-yourselfers and con-tractors; the split is about 60/40. As such, Melinda caters to that consumer base. She often noticed customers mentioning that they needed more than just a couple feet of copper tubing, for exam-ple, so the store now sells it in both 2-foot and 5-foot sections. There’s also a new rebar cutter to bend and cut rebar according to customers’ needs.

the importance of small gestures that connect with customers.

“My mother takes the time to hand-write notes to our top 10 purchasers and send them goodie bags with some sort of store-branded merchandise,” Me-linda says. The 10 top delinquent accounts get handwritten notes, too, “but not grumpy or demand-ing — just asking if they’re OK. With those few minutes spent writing notes, she gets great results with retention and getting accounts current. I plan to contin-ue that tradition.”

One other tradition Melin-da plans to carry on is working with Bostwick-Braun and PRO. “Bostwick-Braun and PRO are family, plain and simple,” she says. “They’re immensely helpful and dependable.”

•Looking Forward Arey Building Supply is an alluring combination of old-school hard-

This spring, Melinda plans to update the store’s point-of-sale system, in part to make it more searchable.


Kevin Bomkamp Jr.’s spirit, energy and innovation mirrors his store’s changing, revitalized neighborhood.

CUSTOMIZED TO THE COMMUNITY •Kevin Bomkamp Jr. Northside Hardware Cincinnati, Ohio

The Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati has experienced

a striking renaissance in recent years. Increasing numbers of young people are moving to the area, creating a housing boom. Sleek new apartment buildings reach skyward, and many new residents are fixing up historic older homes. On weekend nights, crowds throng to the new restau-rants and bars that are opening on seemingly every block.

One such weekend night a few years back, Kevin Bomkamp Jr. was out with friends and passed by the hardware store that had served Northside for a half-cen-tury. “I’d really love to run that shop,” he remembers thinking.

Two years ago, it came up for sale when its longtime owner passed away. Offhandedly and half-joking, Kevin mentioned this to his dad, Kevin Sr., owner of nearby Camp Washington Hard-ware. He didn’t think much more about it — until a couple months later, when Kevin Sr. bought the store and asked his son to run it.

Kevin Jr., 28, hadn’t always dreamed of managing a hard-ware store. He had worked at Camp Washington since he was 13, but hadn’t considered hard-ware a possible career until much more recently. “I went to college to study graphic design but real-ized it wasn’t for me,” he says. “I knew my dad was a hard worker,

and seeing him be so successful, everyone loving him and listening to his advice, I began to think more about working at the store. I had a light-bulb moment: I dis-tinctly remember lying in bed one night and realizing I wanted to be just like him. He’s supported me throughout my life and is the best image for me to look up to.”

In the wake of that epipha-ny, Kevin committed himself to working harder in the store and learning as much as he could: how to cut and thread pipe, repair

screens, cut keys and re-key locks. He credits his dad with teaching him how to value quality products and maintain a strong and varied assortment.

•Serving Different Demographics Although Northside Hardware and Camp Washington are just a five-minute drive apart, they’re vastly different stores. Camp Washington has a long history of catering to commercial and industrial customers, serving steel


mills and factories. Northside, by contrast, relies almost entirely on do-it-yourselfers.

“There’s nothing better than helping someone with a problem,” Kevin says. “A stranger comes in with a problem and leaves with a solution, even if it’s just a $3 part

and explaining how to install it. It’s really satisfying when you make a connection and they trust you.”

Of late, more and more cus-tomers ask for him by name. “Kevin Jr. will do things like fix a screen while a customer waits, or bring a part to the neighborhood

pharmacy and fix their door,” Kevin Sr. says. “He’s very good with people, and I’d like to think he learned that from me. He’s super-patient and treats every customer like it’s the last one.”

In addition to the lessons gleaned from his father, Kevin learned about store merchan-dising from another Cincinnati retailer, Sue Flory, the owner of Burkhardt PRO. When he was growing up, Kevin split his time between his father’s store and Flory’s; she also took him under her wing during last year’s Fall Dealer Market to teach him how to evaluate and purchase products tailored to the Northside store’s demographic.

“It’s exciting seeing Kevin Jr. run the other store and makes me think everything I’ve done is worthwhile, because the tradition is going to get carried on,” Kevin Sr. says. “If I didn’t have Kevin Jr. to run the Northside store, I prob-ably wouldn’t have bought it. It’s too hard to find a good manager.”

For anyone who’s considering opening an additional store, Kev-in Sr. recommends slowly ramp-ing up inventory. He also created

HOW TO HARNESS THE POWER OF YOUTHYoung family members and store employees can shoulder much more work than merely moving bags of soil. More and more, retail-ers are finding ways for the next generation to make meaningful contributions to many aspects of running a hardware store. How can you best tap into the fountain of youth? Some ideas:

•Connect skills to store needs. Toni Sharp, co-owner of Hi-Way 3 PRO in Muncie, Indiana, asked her granddaughter, Megan Blankenship, to oversee the store’s Web site and social-media presence. Blanken-ship studied advertising in college and previously worked for a firm whose ad clients included Chrysler and Nike. Thanks to her savvy, traffic to Hi-Way 3’s site and Facebook page dramatically increased.

•Capitalize on non-hardware experience. Rick Majestic (see page 19), owner of Majestic’s Hardware in Gardiner, New York, worked in the family store throughout his childhood. He didn’t pressure his children to do the same. His daughter, Catherine, who is now poised to take over the business, went to school instead and also worked at an auto-parts shop. “My daughter was able to bring her experi-ence in another retail environment to our store,” Rick says.

•Be flexible with time and location. Because marketing and social media can be managed off-site, you can more easily recruit the younger generation to help. At Hi-Way 3, Sharp’s granddaughter oversees the Indiana store’s digital efforts . . . from Portland, Ore-gon, where she lives. Rick Majestic has given his daughter schedule flexibility, which enables her to care for her child.

•Be open to change. “Take your blinders off,” Sharp recommends. “I’m not computer-minded, but my granddaughter’s generation uses phones for everything.” One of the big changes Blankenship institut-ed: dramatic cutbacks on newspaper ads and an increased focus on PRO circulars, which customers can easily view on a smartphone.

•Encourage civic involvement. The younger cohort can enable a store to continue to serve customers as demographics change, says Jim Good, who is in the process of passing on Arey Building Supply in Wysox, Pennsylvania, to his daughter, Melinda Gourlie (see page 14). Ask a younger friend, relative or employee to represent your store at community gatherings and in local organizations.

“THERE’S NOTHING BETTER THAN HELPING SOMEONE WITH A PROBLEM. IT’S REALLY SATISIFYING WHEN YOU MAKE A CONNECTION.”


a central distribution point from which he handles ordering for both stores. Inventory can be shifted from one to the other as needed, too.

•Resetting for Success Kevin Jr.’s spirit, energy and innovation mirrors the changing surroundings in which he plies his trade. “It’s an incredible ex-perience to see the neighborhood get better and better, and to get to know the families who come into the store,” he says.

Like the neighborhood, the Northside store needed some revitalizing. When Kevin took over, the store was a crowded mess. The previous owner had crammed it with inventory from four other stores. Customers had to turn sideways to walk down the aisles, and products were difficult to find amid the clut-ter — the old owner would often burrow through boxes and piles of goods to dig out what a cus-tomer needed.

This past November, Bost-wick-Braun merchandising ex-perts spent a week helping Kevin reset the store, replacing signs and shelves and updating inven-tory to match the demands of the locals. “The Bostwick-Braun folks came in here, worked hard and conquered,” Kevin says.

Also, sales rep Ben Obee helped install a custom counter that has really defined the store’s new look.

What has the experience of opening a new store by way of renovating an old one taught him? “Patience,” he says. “When the re-set started, I was stressed out, but we finally organized it. With hard work every day, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and the community will appreciate you.”

AHEAD OF THE CURVE•Catherine Majestic- BouchardMajestic’s Hardware Gardiner, New York

Catherine Majestic-Bouchard can remember cleaning the

shelves of her parents’ store — Ma-jestic’s Hardware in Gardiner, New York — when she was just 6. Her father, Rick Majestic, has a similar recollection. In fact, his earliest memory is being in a crib on the store’s front porch. The store is steeped in family tradition — yet it almost closed a few years ago.

As far back as the 1880s, the building the store occupies served

Three generations of Majestics grew up in the store. (From left) Laura, Catherine, Hayden and Rick.

as a general store, post office and fire department for Gardiner, a Hudson Valley town 75 miles north of New York City. In 1969, Catherine’s grandfather bought the vacant building and opened Majestic’s Hardware. Rick and his brother, Bobby, later took it over. When Bobby passed away a few years back, the store’s future was uncertain; Rick even considered selling it. That’s when Catherine, who had graduated from college with a fine-arts degree, stepped in.

About five years ago, she start-ed working at the store, dovetail-ing gradually into her late uncle’s role. She began at just one day a week, increasingly integrating herself until, after six months, she was full-time. “The store is such


a big part of the community and has such history that we didn’t want it to go to some big chain,” she says. “I told my dad I’d like to keep it in the family and the community.”

A year or so ago, the family be-gan the leadership transition. “I’m still here but work just a partial schedule,” says Rick, who contin-ues to provide financial guidance but will phase out his involvement within the next two years. “Peo-ple realize my daughter and her husband are taking over. We’re teaching Catherine different parts of the business: payroll, sales tax.”

Now that Catherine and her husband, Nick Bouchard, have devoted themselves wholeheart-edly to the store, results have been astounding: According to Rick, business over the past four years has tripled.

•New Perspective, New Products Part of that success stems from the ways Catherine has tweaked the product assortment — tak-ing a cue from the store’s roots, she’s paying close attention to the local demographic shift. “They’re constantly changing endcaps and displays, which is good,” Rick says. “Catherine always brings in new products to figure out what’s going to sell. That’s really a step up from me. I just sort of kept the store business-as-usual.”

She has even introduced items that Rick didn’t think would sell at all: life jackets, for example.

With the plenitude of nearby lakes and the Hudson River, though, customers bought them in droves. Camping goods, clothing, boots and an assortment of sporting goods have sold well too; there are several campsites in the area and even a skydiving community, an ample market for outdoorsy products.

“We’re tapping into the chang-ing demographics,” Catherine says. “I want to broaden the appeal of the store so that not only the contractor comes in but his wife, too, so she can buy home

goods. My grandmother used to sell candlesticks, blankets and china. I hope to create that feeling for everyone.”

Though it’s expanding into new product lines, Majestic’s continues to rely on several core categories, of course, such as plumbing and elec-trical. Catherine credits the store’s relationship with Bostwick-Braun for helping it keep prices lower than at the big boxes. In addition, the store was reset two years ago, and Catherine continues to look at planograms and revamp how she displays products throughout.

•Beyond the BackyardCatherine’s taking the store full-speed into the digital realm, too, championing the development of its Web site. Working with media company Four Square, she has

“I WANT TO BROADEN THE APPEAL OF THE STORE SO THAT NOT ONLY THE CONTRACTOR COMES IN, BUT HIS WIFE DOES, TOO.”

During the leadership transition, Rick works at the store while teaching Catherine about aspects of the business such as payroll and sales tax.


overhauled the site, ensured that Majestic’s has a strong presence on Facebook and Yelp — and opti-mized the site for mobile devices.

“I try to do at least one post a week,” she says. “I do videos of my daughter, Hayden, doing some-thing cute, or post historic photos of the store or my dad when he was a kid. Facebook is more of a fun thing to get in touch with cus-tomers instead of pushing sales.” That online focus has paid off. Several customers who are visit-ing from New York City to spruce up their summer cottage cite Facebook and Yelp as the reason

they ended up at Majestic’s. Social media is great for cus-

tomer outreach, but Majestic’s also sells some 40,000 to 50,000 Wheel Horse and other tractor parts through eBay. “We had a stock of Wheel Horse parts col-lecting dust. We put them online and they’ve sold really well, espe-cially internationally,” Catherine says. “Surprisingly, a lot of people in Sweden and the Netherlands order parts from us.” The eBay store accounts for about 10 per-cent of Majestic’s business and is so popular that orders are checked and processed twice a day.

Fittingly, Majestic’s reach looks likely to transcend time, too. Just as Catherine did when she was a young girl, Hayden now carries on the family tradition (and helps her mother and father) by cleaning shelves. “This store means more to me now that I have a daughter,” Catherine says. “I can see now how hard my dad worked when I was young. There’s an old news-paper clipping where my dad was interviewed about the store and said, ‘I have two daughters, and this store will be there for them if they want it.’ And that’s how I want to raise Hayden.” n


THE PROBLEM

MOLES In western Pennsyl-vania, moles have become an increasing-ly damaging pest for homeowners, accord-ing to Rich Robinson, manager of Robinson’s Home + Garden in Sewickley, Pennsylva-nia. Two or three of the critters can devastate a yard within a week. “Moles have become a huge problem,” Robin-son says. “They make trails to eat bugs, and the raised burrows are high enough that mow-ers will scalp the soil.”

THE SOLUTIONRobinson recommends Bonide’s MoleMax, a castor oil–based formu-la that can be sprayed or used dry. It works by making the bugs un-palatable to moles. The formula is safe for chil-dren and pets — and doesn’t even hurt the insects. Add-on sales include spreader, hose and nozzle. Be a Lawn & Garden

PROBLEM SOLVER With some green-thumb know-how, you can help customers grow vibrant vegetables, flourishing flowers and lush, healthy lawns.

W hen customers know you have the outdoor answers, your store will become their destination when they have lawn-and-garden needs. Here, retailers who excel in the category share their top tips and

discuss which products can help solve five common lawn-and-garden problems.


THE PROBLEM

BARE SPOTS IN LAWN Whether because of pets, pests or high traf-fic, bare spots are one of the most frustrating aspects of lawn care, Robinson says.

THE SOLUTIONFirst, rake out the area and any dead grass with a stiff, heavy garden rake. For larg-er patches, you might need to turn over the soil to a depth of about six inches. Still use the rake to smooth the dirt, however; it’ll leave small furrows that will help the new grass germinate. Put seed down and cover it with mulch. Lay down lime the same day as the seed, then fertil-ize roughly four to six weeks later.

THE PROBLEM

DEER INVASION “Deer are a huge problem around here,” Robinson says. “Once deer start feeding someplace, it’s hard to break them of the habit.” Robinson’s Home + Garden customers have also reported the animals eating previously untouched plants.

THE SOLUTIONMesh netting with ¾-inch squares can be draped over some plants, Robinson recommends. Then comes the really serious protection: “If someone has a vegeta-ble garden, I tell them have to have a fence up to seven feet high,” he adds. Liquid repellents can work, too, but they usually need to be reapplied after rain. When selling repellent, ask if the customer needs a tank sprayer, gloves or measuring cups. Annuals should be sprayed at least every other week.

THE PROBLEM

SLOW-GROWING VEGETABLES Toni Sharp, owner of Hi-Way 3 PRO in Muncie, Indiana, has noticed that gardeners are experiencing rot and slow-blooming plants, particularly tomatoes. “Especially if there’s lots of rain, the vegetables will turn yellow,” Sharp says. “That means they don’t have enough sunshine, iron and calcium.”

THE SOLUTIONAdding iron or calcium is often the quick fix for these delinquent plants, Sharp says. She recommends Rot-Stop from Bonide, which controls blossom-end rot on tomatoes and other vegetables. Apply the ready-to-spray product to developing fruit after heavy rain or rapid growth.


THE PROBLEM

INSECTS When a customer comes into Hi-Way 3 with an offending insect in tow, wondering what it is and how to combat it, the first thing Sharp will do is whip out her phone and open Bonide’s mobile app, which helps pinpoint bugs by image or name.

THE SOLUTIONOnce the perp is identified, Sharp can better direct the customer to products engineered for the prob-lem at hand. Along with making sure the customer has appropriate pesticides, Sharp asks if they have gloves (with long sleeves if dealing with roses) or garden sprayers. n

5 NEW ORGANIC LAWN & GARDEN PRODUCTS

Customers nationwide are increasingly interested in organic lawn-and-garden products. Many seek environmen-tally friendly goods to help protect pets and young children or because they’re hesitant to add harsh chemi-

cals to their yard. Sales of organic products have increased steadily since 2010; in 2014 alone, Americans bought $475 million worth, according to a survey by Packaged Facts, a market-research firm. To help dealers capitalize on this burgeoning trend, Bostwick-Braun offers a number of organic products:

5-3-3 Plant-Tone Plant Food

Espoma

An all-natural, all-purpose

premium blend, this food is ideal for flowers, vegetables,

trees, shrubs and lawns. Approved

for organic gardening, it’s an excellent starter

plant food.

Burn OutBonide

Made from natural ingredients, Burn Out kills all types of growing weeds and grasses. Use around sidewalks,

driveways, buildings and

fence lines, and around the base of mature trees.

Jobe’s Organics

All-Purpose, Water-Soluble

Plant FoodEasy Gardener

A biozome formula with 100 percent

natural micro- organisms, this

plant food is ideal for vegetables and flowers. Apply with watering cans or a hose-end sprayer.

Iron-Tone Plant Food

Espoma

Natural and organic, this plant

food contains no fillers or slud-ges and provides

5 percent iron and 13 percent sulfur. Good for plant

beds, it won’t stain sidewalks, concrete

or driveways.

Green Organic Garden Kit

Earthbox

Through a gradient system, Green Organic

distributes water and fertilizer.

The kit includes aeration screen,

water-fill tube, two fitted mulch covers,

casters, 20-oz. 7-7-7 fertilizer and

a 16-oz. bag of dolomite with trace

elements.


PROVEN SUCCESS STORIES HOW THREE RETAILERS PROFITED AFTER ADDING PROVEN BRANDS TO THEIR STORES.

With Proven Brands, Bostwick-Braun retailers can compete with big-box stores on quality and price. “We save dealers money through supply-chain

efficiencies,” says Kevin Demis, Bostwick-Braun Product Manager. “Proven Brands give our indepen-dent dealers the power of a high-quality name brand and set them above the competition.”

Some Proven Brands items offer retailers high margins — 50 percent on batteries, for example. Increasing numbers of dealers report success stories via Proven Brands, sharing how price, packaging and overall quality have spurred strong sales. ➸

“WE CARRY OTHER FAUCET LINES LIKE MOEN AND DELTA, BUT THE ONE WE CONTINUALLY HAVE TO REPLENISH IS PROVEN BRANDS. AS WE SELL OUT OF THE OTHER BRANDS, WE JUST FILL IN WITH PROVEN.” —VIC FOSMER, MANAGER OF SEAL’S PRO HOME CENTER IN COUDERSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA

With competitive prices on items such as lock sets and wax rings, Vic Fosmer, manager of Seal’s PRO Home Center in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, believes Proven Brands helps him beat the competition.


UNBEATABLE PRICE

TJ Resch Lumber & Feed PRO Hardware in Cuba, New York, has carried the Proven Brands line since it was introduced and has continually added new Proven products; it currently stocks the complete line of Proven faucets and tarps. One of the biggest benefits, according to owner Tim Resch, is the fau-cets’ low cost.

“It’s a bargain,” he says. “Proven has made us very competitive on price compared to Home Depot. All the time, customers will drive from 12 miles away to come here because the price point is there.”

Himrod Farm Supply & PRO Hardware in Himrod, New York, has a four-foot faucet display, which customers seek out for its combination of price and quality. “These faucets cater to our customer base,” says Tim Martin, Himrod’s co-owner. “The price has been great. Customers know they’ll get a great deal with our faucets.” Strong sales have likewise led Himrod PRO to devote a 16-foot section to Proven Brands tarps.

“PROVEN HAS MADE US VERY

COMPETITIVE ON PRICE

COMPARED TO HOME DEPOT. ALL THE TIME,

CUSTOMERS WILL DRIVE FROM 12 MILES

AWAY TO COME HERE BECAUSE THE

PRICE POINT IS THERE.”

—TIM RESCH, OWNER OF TJ RESCH

LUMBER & FEED PRO HARDWARE

IN CUBA, NEW YORK

At TJ Resch Lumber & Feed PRO Hardware in Cuba, New York, Proven faucets have sold so well that they’re now the only line of faucets the store carries, according to owner Tim Resch.

Another Proven Brands success story is Seal’s PRO Home Center in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, which has sold Proven faucets, tarps and wax rings for several years. “We integrated Proven Brands into our assortment, and we’ve found that customers grab those because the price is better,” says Vic Fosmer, manager of Seal’s PRO. “Price is a very big consid-eration with customers. They’ll often look at two or three similar products and go with the best price.”

Such cost discipline pays off: Proven has helped Seal’s PRO stand above some intense local compe-tition. “We have Ace, Trustworthy and True Value in town,” Fosmer says. “It may not sound like a big thing, but when our wax rings are much less than the competition’s, customers know — and keep returning.”

SUPERIOR QUALITY

Proven faucets have been such a hit at TJ Resch Lum-ber & Feed that they’re now the only line of faucets the store carries. For Resch, proof of Proven’s quality comes down to one thing: “No returns,” he says. “I’ve been very impressed by how much customers have liked Proven faucets.” In addition, he notes, Proven tarps are far superior — heavier and bigger than the previous line he carried.

The most successful product at Seal’s PRO Home Center has been faucets, especially those with brass waterways. Fosmer, too, cites the alluring combina-tion of quality and price as the reason Proven faucets fly off the shelves. “We carry other faucet lines like Moen and Delta, but the one we continually have to replenish is Proven Brands,” he says. “As we sell out of the other brands, we just fill in with Proven.”

EYE-CATCHING PACKAGING

Proven packaging also grabs shoppers’ attention in Fosmer’s store — it’s “very good and colorful,” he says. “The wax rings really stand out from the others.”

In addition to its aesthetic appeal, the packaging is easier for both customers and retailers to handle; Proven Brands tarps, for example, are individually wrapped. Seal’s PRO Home Center has begun stock-ing Proven batteries, and those have sold well, espe-cially when displayed next to other national brands.

“The packaging is a big plus,” says Resch of TJ Resch Lumber & Feed. “The tarps don’t come unfolded when stocking on shelves or when customers handle

them. Also, the packaging is clearly labeled, so it’s very obvious what size tarps are in the package.”

Proven faucets are easy to show off, too. Resch fastens them to pegboard and also uses the boxes as a dis-play. “I carry Proven Brands because of the quality and packaging,” he says, adding that he plans to contin-ue expanding his Proven offerings as more products emerge. “And because I’m a customer myself and use these products, I can see the quality. I remember when the sales rep first came around with the samples — they were appealing for both quality and price.” n

“PROVEN BRANDS FAUCETS CATER TO OUR CUSTOMER BASE. THE PRICE HAS BEEN GREAT. CUSTOMERS KNOW THEY’LL GET A GREAT DEAL WITH OUR FAUCETS.” —TIM MARTIN, CO-OWNER OF HIMROD FARM SUPPLY & PRO HARDWARE IN HIMROD, NEW YORK


Proven’s clearly labeled packaging is easy to handle and display. Tarps are individually wrapped, for example, and therefore won’t unfold.


MARGIN COMBOS

Perfect Pairings for Spring SalesHighlighting necessary accessories and required supplies for a project makes for a happy customer — and boosts profits. This chart shows how to pair such items, along with tips for making the sale. Margins may vary based on region, competition and individual dealer pricing.

LOW MARGIN HIGH

MARGIN HOW TO SELL MORE

10% to 15%Garden hoses

30% to 40% Spray nozzles

Showcase nozzles, a seasonal necessity, with the hoses at or just below eye level to remind customers to buy them.

10% to 15%Water heaters

25% to 30% Water heater connectors, valves, push fittings and expansion tank

Display water heater on an endcap and show how to hook up with necessary components and expansion tank.

5% to 15%Deck sealers and cleaners

45% to 55% Roller covers, tank sprayers

As the weather breaks and homeowners start sprucing up their outdoors, this is a prime opportunity to up-sell on items such as these.

5% to 10%Air conditioners

50% to 55% Air-conditioner weather seal

Employees should offer to explain how to install the air conditioner, then mention weather-seal products.

15% to 20%Box fans

30% to 40% Extension cords

Devote half an endcap near the fan display to show extension cords to remind customers to pick them up.

10% to 15%Shallow or deep well pumps and tanks

25% to 30% Install accessories, pressure switches, brass tees, sediment filters, foot valves, Teflon tape

Set up a demo model pump or tank with brass or PVC fittings to show installation.

The Anvil - Spring 2016

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