HBSD-0621

One-on-one with Boyden Moore Expansion, the pandemic and the power of a handshake.

milestone. That kind of hockeystick growth doesn’t happen in the distribution industry without intense focus on the art and science of moving products from points A to B with military-like precision and efficiency. A late-spring tour of the upstate New York facility as it was preparing to bring its considerable powers online revealed a number of synergies, strategies and tactics that represented the best ideas in distribution, and some of the best practices from existing DCs. Mark Scanlon, VP of Northeast distribution for Orgill, describes the Rome distribution center as a “team effort.” Not only to get the facility up and running, but to keep it humming. “The phrase you’ll hear us use again and again is ‘miles and footsteps,’” he told HBSDealer. “The idea is to minimize the miles logged bringing product to customers, and the footsteps made by associates here in the building.” For every redundant mile eliminated and unnecessary footstep avoided — whether that’s footsteps to turn off the lights or shovel the walkway —

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During the pandemic, Orgill CEO Boyden Moore has kept the lines of communication open with his own distribution team and retail customers. He donned the mask and hit the road. And what he’s heard is a familiar refrain. “I’ve traveled to all of our DCs for feedback,” he told HBSDealer. “I’ve been to customer stores as well as our own [CNRG] stores, just to see what’s going on out there and talk to people. And recruiting and hiring is the biggest concern I’m hearing. Of course, pricing and commodity costs are on people’s minds, too. So taken altogether, it’s difficult out there right now.” But Orgill feels it’s up to the postpandemic challenges of serving customers and growing its business. Back in October, the Memphis, Tenn.-based distributor budgeted for a 7% increase in sales in 2021, a bullish projection compared to national home center chains Home Depot and Lowe’s. Since then, “we’ve had a strong first quarter in the books, and a fast start to the second quarter,” he said. “We feel really good.” Orgill nation will have a chance to feel even better once it convenes in February 2022 for its Dealer Market. The last such event occurred in February of 2020, just before the pandemic shut down much of the country. Since then, Orgill has created successful, virtual buying markets, but there’s more to a market than transactions. “We haven’t found a good way to replicate shaking somebody’s hand, smiling and seeing each other en masse,” he said. “We’re very excited about our February market. And it will be a new kind of hybrid

Boyden Moore, Orgill president and CEO.

event where we’ll take everything that we’ve learned from these online buying events and roll it into the physical event as well.” While industry markets have taken a hiatus through the pandemic, consolidation and acquisitions have not. Big retailers are getting bigger. Orgill, which has seen its top 100 accounts grow faster than its total business over the last several years, has alsoo been on the acquisition trail through its Central Network Retail Group (CNRG). Independent dealers will continue to play a significant role in the hardware and building supply space, but the consolidation trend is likely to continue, Moore said. “Ten years ago, when we started CNRG, there were a lot of people at a point in their ownership where they were considering passing the business to the next generation, and thinking about what’s best for them, for their family and for their business,” he said. “I think those opportunities are still there, and they continue to play out.” Still, Orgill is temporarily playing a conservative game in terms of recruiting new business. “We have been adding new business this year, but we’ve been trying to do it in a way that doesn’t disrupt our steady improvement of our supply chain or our service levels,” Moore said. (See article on page 26.) The supply chain challenges exist throughout the hardware and building supply industry, and are “gradually” improving, he said. One area of Orgill business that’s particularly likely to grow is among pro customers. Orgill serves more than half of the top 100 pro dealers in the industry, he said. And these customers, for varied reasons, have been softer than the consumer business during the last year. Orgill sees an opportunity for this sector to play catch up in 2021 and beyond. Responding to a question about Orgill’s role in a landscape of coop’s and distributors, Moore turned to the Orgill’s mission — “to help our customers be successful.” “We are very focused on that mission,” he said. “And I don’t know anyone who does that better than us. We go about it differently because Orgill is not represented as a brand at retail. We’re set up to support that the independents and their brands—however a customer wants to assort and what they think is best for their community. And that’s a big part of what makes us special.”

HARDWARE + BUILDING SUPPLY DEALER JUNE 2021

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