Issuu

Serving Hardware, Home Center & Building Material Retailers

Evolving Service How Retailers Are Still Meeting Customer Needs

Page 32

What’s Your Employee Retention Strategy? Page 40

Setting Up Builders Hardware for Success Page 48

Volume 219 • Issue 3 • October 2020 • hardwareretailing.com

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What’s Your Employee Retention Strategy? Page 40

Setting Up Builders Hardware for Success Page 48

Is your team in sync, or just trying to stay afloat?

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Volume 219 • Issue 3 • October 2020 • hardwareretailing.com

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How Retailers Are Still Meeting Customer Needs

Introducing® Simple Key

Page 32

All you need to sell modern car keys. No computers. No cloning. No training. No nothing. Today’s retail key programs are outdated and consumers are desperate for affordable alternatives to dealership replacement. Simple Key brings modern key replacement back to retail. The consumer-friendly replacement kit includes a universal key and a do-it-yourself EZ Installer™. Once the key is cut with your existing key cutter, your customer plugs in the included EZ Installer and presses a button. That’s it. They’re finished!

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OCTOBER SPONSOR Learn How to Leverage Today’s Challenges From

Industry Disrupters NRHA All-Industry Conference | Oct. 12-15

We’re going virtual!

Kevin Hancock

Eric Hassett

Matt Woods

Will Aubuchon

Dan Starr

Dan Tratensek

Kim Peffley

Kirby Scales

Patrick Goebel

Connect and Learn KEYNOTE

Dan Starr, President & CEO, Do it Best. Corp. How Independents Are Still Disrupting Eric Hassett, Owner, Hassett Hardware & Matt Woods, Owner, Woods Hardware Evolving Technology Steve McKee, Co-founder, McKee Wallwork + Company The Disruption Cycle: What It Is, Why It Matters and What to Do About It

To see the entire speaker lineup and to register, visit nrhaconference.com

KEYNOTE

Kevin Hancock, CEO, Hancock Lumber Employees First: Disrupting Assumptions for More Loyal Customers and Stronger Sales Will Aubuchon, Patrick Goebel, Kevin Hancock & Kirby Scales 2020 Top Gun Awards Retailer Panel Kim Peffley, Retail Consultant, NRHA The Tools You Need to Improve Your Culture

Serving Hardware, Home Center & Building Material Retailers

Evolving Service How Retailers Are Still Meeting Customer Needs

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What’s Your Employee Retention Strategy? Page 40

Setting Up Builders Hardware for Success Page 48

Volume 219 • Issue 3 • October 2020 • hardwareretailing.com

Titen Turbo You’ve got to drive it to believe it. ™

Reliable installation. Less torque. Superior holding power. Meet the Titen Turbo™, the next-generation concrete and masonry screw anchor from Simpson Strong-Tie. Its revolutionary Torque Reduction Channel traps dust where it can’t obstruct the thread action, drastically reducing binding, stripping or snapping. For a fast, easy and high-strength fastening solution, try our new Titen Turbo screw anchor. Visit go.strongtie.com/titenturbo or call us at (800) 999-5099 to learn more. ©2020 Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc. TNT20

BUILDING STRENGTH IN COMMUNITY

As hardware retailers across the nation fill an essential role in their communities, hardworking business owners and their employees provide dependable resources in a time of great uncertainty. For keeping their doors open and working to serve their communities, PRO Hardware commends these dedicated and resourceful retail professionals.

Paul L. Cosgrave founded PRO Hardware in 1953. The annual award that bears his name goes to our top PRO Hardware retailer nationwide based on sales, merchandising, inventory management, PRO key supplier support, PRO advertising, PRO store identification and financial performance.

Congraulations to the 2020 Paul L. Cosgrave Memorial Award Winners

PRO Hardware Retailer of the Year & Paul L. Cosgrave Memorial Award Winner

Campbell PRO Hardware

Valley Building Supply & PRO Hardware

Youngstown, Ohio Tony Tsikouris - Owner PRO Distributor: The Bostwick-Braun Company

Sweetwater, Tennessee DeLane Dacus - Owner PRO Distributor: Wallace Hardware Company

PRO Hardware Distributors: The Bostwick-Braun Co. Toledo, OH • 419.259.3600 Horizon Distribution, Inc. Yakima, WA • 509.453.3181 Wallace Hardware Co., Inc. Morristown, TN • 423.586.5650

Learn more about the PRO Hardware program by contacting Shari Kalbach, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, at 303.792.3000 or shari.kalbach@pro-group.com. Find us online at www.prohardware.com

Headquarters EDITORIAL, DESIGN & PRODUCTION 317-275-9400, editorial@nrha.org

COMING IN NOVEMBER

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE EDITOR Dan Tratensek MANAGING EDITOR Melanie Moul, mmoul@nrha.org PROFILES EDITOR Kate Klein, kklein@nrha.org

136 N. Delaware St. #200 Indianapolis, Indiana 317-275-9400 nrha@nrha.org | nrha.org

@NorthAmericanRetailHardwareAssociation @nrha_official North American Retail Hardware Association @nrha_official

OUR MISSION

The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) helps independent hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards, regardless of wholesale affiliation, become better and more profitable retailers.

What Makes a Family Business? Next month, we continue succession planning conversation with a story about how two families have passed their operations down to the next generation. Find out their successes, their challenges and what the future holds.

TRENDS EDITOR Todd Taber, ttaber@nrha.org PRODUCTION EDITOR Hans Cummings, hcummings@nrha.org SENIOR DESIGNER Aubrey Smith GRAPHIC DESIGNER Autumn Ricketts DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST Kevin Trehan EDITORIAL & RESEARCH PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Natalie Harris PRODUCTION MANAGER Nancy A. Vondersaar SALES & PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Freda Creech

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Whitney Daulton CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER & EDITOR Julie Leinwand

NRHA SALES

317-275-9400, sales@nrha.org VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & PUBLISHER Kevin Hohman, khohman@nrha.org

NRHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

NORTHERN REGION SALES DIRECTOR David Brodowski, dbrodowski@nrha.org

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Daniel Harris, Palos Ace Hardware, Palos Heights, Illinois; Lemont Ace Hardware, Lemont, Illinois

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE Matt Caruso, mcaruso@nrha.org

EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN Greg Schlecht, Greg’s True Value, St. Francis, Wisconsin

SOUTHERN REGION SALES DIRECTOR Scott Gilcrest, sgilcrest@nrha.org

DIRECTORS Will Aubuchon, W.E. Aubuchon Co. Inc., Westminster, Massachusetts

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE Jordan Rice, jrice@nrha.org

David Dishke, Grand River Home Hardware, Caledonia, Ontario Ryan Ringer, Gold Beach Lumber Yard Inc., Gold Beach, Oregon

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

Jared Smith, Jared’s Ace Hardware, Bishopville, South Carolina

EXECUTIVE STAFF

Matt Woods, Woods Hardware, Cincinnati, Ohio SECRETARY-TREASURER Bob Cutter, NRHA President and CEO IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN TJ Comstock, Northwest Hardware LLC, Billings, Montana

Hardware Retailing (ISSN0889-2989) is published monthly by the North American Retail Hardware Association, 136 N. Delaware St. #200, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Subscription rates: Hardware Retailing (Payable in advance): U.S. & possessions $50.00 year. Canada $75.00 year. All other countries $100.00 year. (Air Mail $60.00 year additional). Single copy $7.00. The Annual Report issue can be purchased for $30.00. Periodical postage paid at Indianapolis, Indiana, and additional mailing offices.

STATE & REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS MIDWEST HARDWARE ASSOCIATION John Haka, 201 Frontenac Ave., P.O. Box 8033 Stevens Point, WI 54481-8033; 715-341-7100; 800-888-1817; Fax: 715-341-4080

NRHA CANADA NRHA CANADA Michael McLarney, +1 416-489-3396, mike@hardlines.ca 330 Bay Street, Suite 1400, Toronto, ON, Canada M5H 2S8

CIRCULATION, SUBSCRIPTION & LIST RENTAL INQUIRIES CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Richard Jarrett, 314-432-7511, Fax: 314-432-7665

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hardware Retailing, P.O. Box 16709, St. Louis, MO 63105-1209. All editorial contents copyrighted 2020 by the North American Retail Hardware Association. No editorial may be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher. REPRINTS: For price quotations, contact the Editorial Department at 317-275-9400 or fax requests to 317-275-9403. Printed in the USA.

PRESIDENT & CEO Bob Cutter VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE & BUSINESS SERVICES David Gowan

MEMBER SERVICES

800-772-4424, nrha@nrha.org TRAINING MANAGER & EDITOR Jesse Carleton, jcarleton@nrha.org RETAIL OUTREACH COORDINATOR Renee Changnon, rchangnon@nrha.org EVENT MANAGER & RETAIL SUPPORT Katie McHone-Jones, kmchone-jones@nrha.org EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PAINT & DECORATING PROGRAMS LeAnn Day, lday@nrha.org

RETAIL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Scott Wright, swright@nrha.org

Contents OCTOBER 2020 | VOLUME 219 | ISSUE 3

“We have a mantra: ‘Just ask us.’ It means we do business on customers’ terms.” —Michael Costello, Costello’s Ace Hardware

Departments On the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 Association Matters . . . . . . . 08 Taking Care of Business . . . . 10 NRHA News. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

New Products . . . . . . . . . . . 20

COVER STORY

Without Missing a Beat The pandemic has pushed every independent retailer to reconsider how they can deliver stellar customer service under pressure. Discover how Costello’s Ace Hardware and Connolly’s Do it Best have maintained customer satisfaction while navigating new retail standards.

OPERATIONS

CATEGORY SPOTLIGHT

Coaching the Team

Core Capitalization

A recent Gallup survey shows that adopting a coaching style of management can reduce turnover. Read what that means for you and how three retailers have taken steps to improve employee retention.

Taking essential categories for granted can be a misstep. Learn how two retailers make the most of builders hardware with strategic inventory selection and merchandising.

INDUSTRY EVENTS

ASSOCIATION NEWS

Associate Virtually

New Opportunities

The NRHA All-Industry Conference kicks off virtually Oct. 12-15. Find out who’s presenting and how you can still make valuable virtual connections this year.

The North American Retail Hardware Association has expanded its membership to include paint and decorating retailers in the U.S. and Canada. Learn how the century-old association is bringing new members into the fold and transitioning to become the North American Hardware and Paint Association.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

Checkouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Newsmakers . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Last Word. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

On the Cover Michael Costello, CEO and co-owner of Costello’s Ace Hardware, has worked with his team to change how they meet customers’ needs during the pandemic. Photos by Kevin Markland

HIGH PERFORMANCE RETAILING, FALL 2020

H1 Gain Clear Insight The home improvement industry is full of activity, but you can understand exactly what your current customers need with insights from the 2020 Retail Selector Study. The comprehensive analysis sheds light on top-performing categories and what’s motivating customers to make a purchase.

It takes strength and perseverance to own a small business. It takes dedication, hard work, and sacrifice. Many of you continue to operate to provide essential services to our communities. As the backbone of America, you play a vital role in the recovery of our economy. Together, we’ll come out stronger than ever. We see you, we need you and we thank you.

INDEPENDENTWESTAND.ORG

On the Web

RESEARCH

Planning for the Future Some years are harder to budget for than others, and 2021 is surely going to be an exercise. Check out some highlights from a recent retailer survey to find out how your peers are budgeting for next year at TheRedT.com/2021-budgets.

PODCAST

Stream the Latest Podcasts Get up to date with the latest home improvement podcasts from the North American Retail Hardware Association. Browse these episodes and the archives to learn how the independent home improvement channel is thriving in 2020. Editorially Speaking: Episode 4 Hear from NRHA training manager Jesse Carleton who talks about the ins and outs of the association’s latest training program, which focuses on onboarding. Taking Care of Business: Episode 26 Marc Hamer, Orgill Inc.’s first chief digital and information officer, describes how the company is embracing tech to drive growth. Tell Me More: Episode 19 Bea and Steve Fisher of Bea’s Hardware discuss how they run a fully mobile hardware store amid COVID-19.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Trends in Turnover In this Q&A, Sam Acuna, managing consultant with Gallup, highlights findings from a recent study on how retailers can better engage their employees. By reviewing trends, you can precisely pinpoint trouble spots on your own team. Visit TheRedT.com/turnover-trends.

Employees who are supervised by highly engaged managers are 59 percent more likely to be more engaged than employees of disengaged managers. Source: State of the American Workplace, Gallup

OPERATIONS

Bigger Than a Big Box Learn 10 tips from Bill Brunelle, co-founder of Independent We Stand, on how your business can make a lasting impression with your community this holiday season. Read the full article now at TheRedT.com/big-box.

Create Results-Focused Job Descriptions Having clear job descriptions will help your employees understand what’s expected of them and increase their job satisfaction. If you need help creating job descriptions for your business, NRHA has a series of templates you can use to get started. Go to nrha.org/job-template for templates you can use as a guide to customize a document for your business. 6

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

STAY CONNECTED

@hardwareretailing @hardwareretail

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Association Matters

Independent Family Building Up the Industry Through Positive Change

hile it can be said that the past several months have presented overwhelming challenges for our channel, like most of you, the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) has also been focusing on how to emerge from these challenging times better and stronger for the journey. On March 16, 2020, together with wholesale executives, NRHA led the way delivering a joint letter to our industry, local, state, provincial and federal governments urging them to recognize our members as essential to their local economies and communities. Since then, NRHA has continued to serve its mission, delivering insights, programs and content to the industry with open arms and open doors because we know we are that much stronger when we all work together. In this same spirit of working together, we are always looking for ways to find allies and strengthen the position of independent retailers. After years of working closely with the Paint and Decorating Retailers Association, which offers programs and services to more than 15,000 independent paint and decorating retailers, we were recently presented with an opportunity to both fulfill our mission and make our alliances with independent retailers even stronger. Effective immediately, NRHA will be opening its doors and broadening its member base to include independent paint and decorating retailers. PDRA has served its industry retailers for the past 75 years. Recently however, PDRA made the difficult decision to shut down its individual operations. We worked closely with PDRA during this time to find a way for NRHA to expand our organization to also offer services to this channel. Within the next several months, NRHA will officially become the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA).

With this monumental expansion, paint and decorating retailers will not only have access to the same services and benefits they’re accustomed to, but they will also have a wealth of new opportunities of resources at their disposal. We also see this expanded membership being highly beneficial to the hardware, home center and lumber dealers we have represented for more than 100 years. Undoubtedly, while each of these individual business segments serves its home improvement customers in slightly different ways, there are so many commonalities among all locally owned and operated businesses that adding to the “independent family” can only yield positive results. This announcement is just the beginning of all the new and exciting things that will be coming your way. Please stay tuned for more communications in the coming weeks about this exciting new era for your association. I look forward to the opportunities that await, and I can say with greater confidence than ever that your association is well positioned to provide you with support and services for generations to come whether you sell hardware, lumber, paint or wallpaper. And remember, we are stronger together!

“There are so many commonalities among all locally owned and operated businesses that adding to the ‘independent family’ can only yield positive results.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

”

Bob Cutter

President and CEO | bcutter@nrha.org

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Taking Care of Business

WWCD

What Would Carnac Do?

s a business leader, you likely know that a pretty important part of your job every year is to try to predict things. Some of you might be thinking, “Dan, what exactly do you mean? I run my business by the book.” Well, no matter how grounded you are in your management principles or entrepreneurial doctrine, every business leader ultimately has to make a lot of guesses on their road to success. In fact, it is around this time each year that most of you are going to be forced to sit down and put on your Carnac the Magnificent hats and prognosticate about the future of your operation. (If you don’t get the reference, it’s worth a Google.) Of course the form of financial divination to which I am referring is better known in business circles as budgeting. As you set about trying to create a budget for your business for the coming year, no matter how well informed you might think you are, the numbers that eventually make their way into your spreadsheet are pretty strictly “best guesses.” While this might not sound like the best way to build the financial plan for your entire operation, in most years, these guesses are actually pretty reliable. After all, the numbers you put in your budget are typically based on solid data, like past performance for your operation on the revenue side and on the expense side. Hopefully, you factor in things like rising costs or projected sales growth, and voilà, you have a budget. This year, however, some of you might be spending a lot of time staring at a blank Excel sheet, pondering how in the heck you are going to try to make sense of what has happened this year and how it might have implications on those educated guesses you are making for your 2021 financial plan. I wish I could now provide you with some sage advice about how to flatten the highs and lows of 2020 to best predict what your business and this industry are likely to see in the coming year. Well, I always hate to disappoint my readers, but I really don’t have that advice to pass along. Especially not this year.

So, when I typically don’t have the answer to a problem, I revert to a practice that was much frowned upon when we were all in school—I try to look at other people’s work. In the business world, we don’t call that copying, we call it research. That’s exactly what we have been doing at the North American Retail Hardware Association for the past several months. We have been asking independent home improvement retailers what their predictions are for the coming year as they relate to revenues. We talked to retailers across North America who represent more than 550 storefronts. About 87 percent of these retailers told us they have seen same-store sales increases in 2020 over 2019. The average increase these stores reported was about 24 percent. Nearly 70 percent of the retailers we talked to said they expected to continue seeing increases through the balance of 2020. When it comes to 2021, about 41 percent of retailers are predicting sales to decline (from 2020), while 39.8 percent are predicting flat sales and 19.3 percent are guessing sales will continue to increase. On average, those predicting sales declines see sales dropping by about 16 percent, while those budgeting increases are estimating about 11 percent. While having this information might not make the predictions about your business any more accurate, it sure doesn’t hurt to see what the other folks are guessing. For more information about this research and the overall impact of 2020 on the home improvement industry, check out our recent webinar, sponsored by Epicor, called “COVID-19: Its Impact on the Home Improvement Industry” at nrha.org/webinars.

“We have been asking

independent home improvement retailers what their predictions are for the coming year as they relate to revenues.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

”

Dan M. Tratensek Executive Editor | dant@nrha.org

Introducing® Simple Key All you need to sell modern car keys. No computers. No cloning. No training. No nothing. Today’s retail key programs are outdated and consumers are desperate for affordable alternatives to dealership replacement. Simple Key brings modern key replacement back to retail. The consumer-friendly replacement kit includes a universal key and a do-it-yourself EZ Installer™. Once the key is cut with your existing key cutter, your customer plugs in the included EZ Installer and presses a button. That’s it. They’re finished!

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Free wing display included with special offer.

Available at

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NRHA News

2020 Cost of Doing Business Study Now Available

he North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA)’s 2020 Cost of Doing Business Study is now available. The study has been conducted annually for more than 100 years and collects detailed financial information from hardware stores, home centers, lumberyards and paint stores. The Cost of Doing Business Study is designed to help independent home improvement retailers understand how their businesses compare financially to typical and high-profit operations—and to help retailers make informed decisions for their operations. This year, more than 1,000 retailers participated in the study. “This study is such a valuable tool for retailers of all sizes,” says Dave Gowan, vice president of finance and business services at NRHA. “You can compare your operation’s performance across dozens of metrics, from transaction size to sales per square foot and more. And you can compare how your operation performs compared to typical and high-profit operations. This kind of data can be critical to turning around a business or further accelerating growth.” Visit nrha.org/codb to purchase a copy of the 2020 Cost of Doing Business Study today and find out how your operation compares to your peers.

Did You Miss These Webinars? Catch Up Today

anaging stress in the workplace is a priority under normal circumstances—but amid COVID-19, this topic is both important and timely. In August, NRHA hosted a webinar: “Tools & Tips to Help Your Team Through Stressful Times.” NRHA retail consultant Kim Peffley and Scott Wright, executive director of the NRHA Retail Leadership Institute, led the webinar, which looked at how stress can affect teams and businesses. Attendees learned tools to support their teams by helping them control, prevent and reduce stress. The webinar also explored TeamBuilder organizational development assessments and DiSC theory, which divides people into four main behavioral styles. Visit nrha.org/teambuilder to get more information on how TeamBuilder can benefit your organization.

COVID-19 and Its Impact on the Home Improvement Industry Dan Tratensek, NRHA executive vice president and executive editor of Hardware Retailing, recently presented a webinar called “COVID-19: Its Impact on the Home Improvement Industry.” In the webinar, which was sponsored by Epicor, Tratensek looked at how the COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on the home improvement industry. He also examined how the industry reacted during the first weeks of the outbreak and how consumer attitudes about their homes may be forever changed. What’s in the Webinar • New, proprietary research from NRHA • Industry research • Real feedback from retailers on the frontlines

Missed the Webinar? Don’t Stress! Visit nrha.org/webinars to watch or learn more about NRHA webinars.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

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NRHA News

Trainer’s Corner

New Resources Help Retailers Onboard Employees

he first few weeks after hiring a new employee are critical. How well you onboard them will have a big impact on retention and job performance. But if you’re like most retailers, developing a thorough onboarding program is just one of the many responsibilities you have, and finding the time to do it may be difficult. NRHA has released a new set of resources designed to help make the employee onboarding

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

process easier. These tools can be used together or separately, depending on your individual need. In addition to using these resources, be sure to read the article on Page 40 to learn more about retaining the employees you hire. All of the resources listed here are available to NRHA Training Members at nrha.org/training. If you are not an NRHA Training Member, but would like to learn more, visit nrha.org/membership.

Onboarding Handbook Owners and managers who want to develop their own onboarding program or need to improve on what they have can use this guide to get started. Available as a downloadable PDF, this guide covers why onboarding is important, best practices and a checklist of items to incorporate into a new hire’s first weeks on the job.

Joining a Retail Team This online, on-demand course is designed to help new employees understand the role they play in providing an excellent customer experience. The course, which consists of a series of six short modules, covers teamwork, customer service and why independent retailers are an important part of the community.

Retail Terms

Skills Assessment Tests

Path to Success Poster

The product knowledge training available from NRHA covers the major categories in a typical home improvement store along with hundreds of products. Where should a new hire start? The Skills Assessment Tests are short tests that can help you find the categories where your new employee has the most knowledge. You can use the results to determine where you will start your training.

NRHA’s training covers a variety of topics, including product knowledge, selling skills, merchandising and operations. The Path to Success poster shows you how all of those courses fit together, from basic to most advanced. It’s a great way for new hires to see all of the opportunities they have to further their careers. The poster is available on the Resources tab on NRHA’s Learning Management System.

While terms such as SKU, planogram and turnover may be a part of your everyday vocabulary, they may be intimidating to someone new to the industry. New employees can learn more than 50 retail terms using a fun and interactive game format.

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DO IT BEST HELPS WOOD SHED LUMBER & HARDWARE SUPPLY LOOK INWARD—AND GROW OUTWARD. Do it Best member-owners Sharona and Cecil Eiserer always thought they were solely a contractor-driven business. But through powerful research and analysis programs from Do it Best, they discovered a steady stream of do-it-yourselfers were already coming into their store. The Eiserers jumped on the opportunity to serve this untapped market. With help from our Signature Store Design and TM

Retail Performance teams, they redesigned a larger store, adding The Color Bar and introducing popular housewares TM

brands to deliver a fresh shopping experience for all their customers. Sharona and Cecil’s investment has paid off. Sales have more than doubled, and Wood Shed Lumber & Hardware Supply is now the community’s go-to DIY store while still meeting all their pros’ needs.

“We wanted to find new ways to serve our customers—it helped to learn who our customers actually are.” Sharona Eiserer Wood Shed Lumber & Hardware Supply

» How well do you know your customer base? Do it Best can help identify your strongest customers and show you how to serve them best. Call us today at 888-DO-IT-BEST (888-364-8237) or visit doitbestretail.com.

Trends Monitoring the Market Use the following industry metrics to anticipate emerging trends and opportunities in the channel. Data is not seasonally adjusted, meaning these graphs represent real-time shifts in the market.

Analyze total retail sales for building material and garden equipment centers to track your business’s performance against national averages.

Understand consumers’ desire to save or spend by gauging overall consumer confidence levels.

Serve customers renovating or upgrading homes more effectively by observing housing starts and existing home sales.

Consumer Confidence

Monthly Home Improvement Sales

Existing Home Sales

JUL

JUN

MAY

APR

MAR

FEB

JAN ‘20

$10

DEC

OCT

NOV

$20

SEP

$30 JUL

JUN

MAY

APR

MAR

FEB

JAN ‘20

DEC

NOV

$40

OCT

120

SEP

$50 AUG

150

AUG

(Building material and garden centers; in billions)

(Measured by surveys sent to U.S. households; in basis points)

Housing Starts

600

500

(in thousands)

400

300

200

100

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

JAN ‘20

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

Sources: The Conference Board; U.S. Department of Commerce, NAICS 444; National Association of Realtors; U.S. Census Bureau

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

JUL

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New Products Portable Propane Skillet The FIREDISC® Original Deep Skillet is a portable cooker designed to disassemble for flat, easy storage without screws, nuts or bolts. Using large or small propane tanks, the Original Deep Skillet features a walled disc designed to contain high volumes of food and liquids, making it suitable for most food, including soups and stews. It includes a 36-inch tall stand that puts cooking at table height and is available in red or black. FIREDISC Cookers firedisccookers.com or 281-857-3711

Smart Tamper-Resistant Outlet Leviton’s Decora Smart™ Wi-Fi Tamper-Resistant Outlet allows homeowners to control lamps or other small appliances plugged into the top receptacle using the My Leviton app. The device is compatible with Google Assistant and all products that support Amazon Alexa. Homeowners can schedule Wi-Fi outlets to turn on and off at certain times of the day, use the auto-shutoff feature to turn off appliances or other electronics after a preset amount of time. The outlet’s vanishing feedback LED can show load status, serve as a nightlight and more. Leviton leviton.com or 800-323-8920

Moisture Meter Protimeter’s ReachMaster Pro is a non-invasive moisture meter with a telescopic handle that adjusts from 27 inches to 48 inches. It features an audible alarm, auto-shutoff, adjustable sensitivity and wireless communication between the sensor head and display. It is not adversely affected by surface moisture and eliminates the need for workers to be on their hands and knees or climb ladders. It is suitable for flood damage restoration, flooring inspection, home inspection, EIFS inspection, rubber roof leak detection, fiberglass marine hull inspection and more. Protimeter protimeter.com or 814-834-9140

Send a note to editorial@nrha.org with the details about products you can’t keep on the shelf. Include your name, your business name and a few reasons why you or your customers would love it to be considered for publication.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

“The Husqvarna Automower 435AWD is a game-changer for our industry. It can handle almost any terrain we put it on and is loved by all from the porch watching the lawn be mowed. The Husqvarna team is light-years ahead of the competition in this space, carving out market share exceptionally in this emerging field.

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Polystick XFR is a dual-purpose fire-resistant and self-adhering waterproofing underlayment for combustible decks with metal roof coverings and other high-temperature applications. Fiberglass reinforcement provides additional strength and stability. Polystick XFR is also approved for use under asphalt shingles, mechanically attached tiles and any other application where fire resistance is needed or desired. It is rated to withstand temperatures up to 265 degrees F. Polyglass polyglass.us or 888-410-1375

Robotic Lawn Mower

Bathtub Overflow Cover Plumbers’ Mate Self-Sealing Bathtub Overflow Cover is a sanitary solution to block overflow covers prior to plunging bathtubs. It allows plumbers and homeowners to close and seal the overflow face plate to create sufficient vacuum for efficient plunging. It eliminates the need for a rag to stop up the overflow face plate and is self-sealing.

Husqvarna’s Automower®435X AWD is equipped with all-wheel drive and can handle inclines up to 35 degrees. It features Automower® Connect for smartphone control and smart home integration, as well as GPS-assisted navigation. The batteries charge in about 30 minutes for 100 minutes of mowing time, enough for 0.9 acres. The cutting height is adjustable from 1.2 to 2.8 inches. Husqvarna husqvarna.com

Plumbers’ Mate Products 267-506-4915

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

New Products

Cleaning Scrub Pad Glisten® Cooktop & Kitchen Cleaning Pads are designed to clean and polish gas and electric ranges, cooktops, ovens, range hoods, microwaves, small appliances, sinks, faucets and more. One side is nonabrasive and contains a grease-cutting cleaner. The other side has a soft cloth to polish, leaving a shiny, streak-free surface. Each cleaning pad is perforated and can be used as one large pad or separated into two smaller pads. Summit Brands summitbrands.com or 888-476-6688

Magnetic Key Caps Key caps from INTU-Keys provide an alternative to magnetic key cases. The rubber body contains an embedded magnet and is designed to provide a secure fit for all common keys. Key caps will fit on key rings for color identification and future magnetic application. INTU-Keys intukeys.com or 215-533-2581

Stripping, Sanding and Polishing Tool The Restorer strips rust, burnishes, sands and polishes. The tool includes 15 different types of brushes and accessories—including nylon brushes, steel wire brushes, sanding and polishing abrasives, wool flaps and more—allowing a user to change its functionality without withou the use of additional tools. It features a built-in dust collection port and a 1000-3200 RPM brushed motor. Wellington Corp. imarestorer.com or 330-259-9009

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

Fluid Extractor JohnDow Fluid Extractors are made from chemical-resistant polyethylene and include five feet of flexible hose and rigid dip-stick tubes for engine oil removal. Perfect for use with automobiles, small engines, marine, landscaping equipment, all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, farm equipment, snowmobiles and other machinery, these extractors provide a clean and fast way to evacuate engine oil, transmission fluid, gear oil, coolant, brake fluids and more. JohnDow Industries johndow.com or 800-433-0708

IT’S TOTER TOUGH!

Hand Sanitizer Disinfect&Shield™’s FDA and EPA approved Organic Hand Sanitizer is effective against SARS-CoV-2 and 99.9 percent of other dangerous viruses, bacteria and other microbes on contact for up to 8 hours. It is an alcohol-free, benzalkonium chloride-based product that eliminates harsh fumes and dry skin that can accompany alcohol-based sanitizers. Disinfect&Shield™ disinfectandshield.com or 346-293-7265

TRASH STAYS IN, WILDLIFE STAYS OUT Toter Bear Tough Carts are built to withstand the baddest bears! Our carts are constructed with our Advanced Rotational Molding process that eliminates the weakness and brittleness associated with other injection molding processes. We’ve armed them with a bear-tight lock, double-walled lid and steel-reinforced rim which makes them tough enough to withstand the strongest claws and jaws!

try.toter.com/beartoughcarts October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

New Products Leather Work Gloves These Leather Performance Gloves by Milwaukee Tool leverage the lightweight design of the current Milwaukee® Performance Gloves with an added leather palm for durability. Designed for all-day comfort without sacrificing performance, these gloves feature soft top-grain leather, a breathable back, moisture-wicking terry cloth sweat wipes on the thumbs and SMARTSWIPE™ technology on the knuckles for touch screen compatibility. Milwaukee Tool milwaukeetool.com or 800-729-3878

Cutting Rail Guide Pony Jorgensen’s Cutting Rail Guide is made from heavy-duty rigid aluminum, providing consistent straight edges. It clamps onto work surfaces allowing for accurate cuts up to 50 inches long. It features a handle-locking mechanism and a built-in ruler and is suited for use with jigsaws, circular saws, routers and other portable power tools. Pony Jorgensen ponyjorgensen.com or 800-776-2228

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Bowl Grater The Microplane bowl grater fits inside larger mixing bowls and fits over the top of smaller bowls. It is dishwasher safe and BPA- and phthalate-free. The blade is made from rust-resistant stainless steel. The bowl grater is suitable for use with cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, squash, beets, carrots and a variety of medium soft cheeses such as cheddar and mozzarella. Microplane microplane.com or 800-555-2767

Holiday Decorations Holiday LED Door Greeters range from 9 inches to 24 inches and are made from highly detailed resin. They’re illuminated with battery-operated LED lights. Mark Feldstein & Associates markfeldstein.com or 800-755-6504

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New Products Hands-Free Door Opener Designed so people can open doors with their feet instead of their hands, the StepHandle™ by 5th Axis provides a hands-free option for businesses’ workers and customers. StepHandle’s gripper teeth and raised lip provide traction without sticking in shoe treads. It is manufactured from aerospace-grade aluminum and is available in several colors. 5th Axis stephandle.com

Circular Saw Blade Spyder circular saw blades feature Nickel Cobalt (NiCo) teeth to provide clean cuts and exceptionally long life. Integrated polymer stabilization vents reduce noise and vibrations and an interfused antifriction coating protects against heat, gumming and corrosion. It is available in 6 ½ to 12 inch sizes. Spyder Products spyderproducts.com or 888-471-2239

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HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

In-Wall USB Outlet The TOPGREENER TU21558AC In-Wall USB Outlet uses intellichip technology to provide short circuit and overcharge protection. The UL -listed USB outlets support USB Type-C and Type-A devices with a collective output of 5.8 amps. It includes white, black and light almond interchangeable face covers and a wall plate. Top Greener Inc. topgreener.com or 844-390-2568

Pneumatic Nail Gun More than a pound lighter than its closest competitor, SENCO’s JoistPro™ 150XMP pneumatic nail gun fires 1 ½ inch nails ranging from .13 to .15 inches in diameter. The 360-degree adjustable exhaust port directs blowback away from the user and the gun includes a lockout that prevents dry firing and a full-comfort grip to reduce fatigue and minimize slipping. SENCO senco.com or 800-543-4596

Checkouts

Hardware Wish Lists

teadman’s Ace Hardware in Miles City, Montana, is a community resource for a variety of reasons, one of which isn’t common for an independent home improvement store. The store is a destination for couples who are getting married to register for wedding gifts. Each couple goes to the store to create a wish list of products, not limited to items from the popular housewares department. Steadman’s then posts the registries on its website. The store also announces the names of the couples on its website and on Facebook so guests can view the gift wish lists online. Choosing wedding gifts—be they measuring cups or 20-foot ladders—at Steadman’s isn’t unusual for locals. “People shop here for all occasions, including birthdays and graduations,” says Ronda Worlie, housewares buyer and manager. “It is a tradition for families to shop at the local hardware store.” Worlie provides a personal touch for engaged couples by creating displays in the store that are specific to their bridal registries to make shopping easier for friends and family. Out-of-town guests can make purchases from the registry over the phone and Steadman’s employees advise them on what items haven’t been purchased yet. Steadman’s also provides complimentary wedding gift wrapping and delivery for local couples. “We have signature gift wrap,” Worlie says. “People recognize it. It is important because people want to give a gift that they’re proud of.”

When engaged couples register for wedding gifts at Steadman’s Ace Hardware, they can choose items from an array of store departments, including housewares.

We have signature gift wrap. People recognize it. It is important because people want to give a gift that they’re proud of.” —Ronda Worlie, Steadman’s Ace Hardware

Looking for creative ways to engage customers? Whether it’s promotions, merchandising or special events, we cover it here. Have an idea? Send an email to editorial@nrha.org to have your story considered for publication.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

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A Historic Welcome Clinton Hardware in Clinton, Maryland, has an eye-catching entry display that introduces customers to its history. The business opened in 1946, and the display includes a paint shaker that has belonged to the store since day one, an old nail keg and other antique tools. The entryway also features a photo of former owners Clyde and Dennis Billman in front of the original building. “We embrace our past,” company president David Billman says. “The entry is a great conversation starter for introducing new customers to who we are and what we do.”

Bingo for Productivity T & M Hardware & Rental in Bellevue, Pennsylvania, has made a game of improving employee productivity. Workers complete tasks, such as helping with a curbside pickup order, cleaning the bathroom or making a customer laugh, and mark them off on bingo cards. If an employee completes five tasks in a line on the bingo grid, they earn a free snack. Earning a double bingo means the employee gets to buy any product in the store at cost. Checking every square wins an employee a one-hour paid lunch break. Marketing manager Samantha Post says the game was intended to help cheer up employees during the pandemic, but has also motivated greater productivity. “The best part about this activity is that it was entirely employee driven,” Post says.

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HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

For Plant Lovers Gardeners regularly visit Branneky True Value Hardware in Bridgeton, Missouri, looking for gardening supplies and advice. Jackie Branneky, whose family owns the business, realized she could use Facebook to answer customers’ gardening questions, even when she is away from the store. She created a Facebook group named Branneky Hardware Plant Lovers and invited customers to join. Branneky enjoys helping group members and seeing a sense of community grow among them.

Gardeners share photos of successful vegetable crops as well as failing planting projects. Group members praise each other’s successes and offer tips for rescuing plants that aren’t thriving due to fungus, mold, insects or other problems. Branneky also answers questions, recommends products from the store and updates members on garden-related product deliveries. The group has more than 800 members, with hundreds of plant lovers who visit the page daily. “It’s definitely a community. It’s really fun,” Branneky says.

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October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

C O V E R

S T O R Y

Shifting How They

SERVE Retailers’ Customer Service Evolves in a COVID-19 World BY K AT E K L E I N TO D D TA B E R

KKLEIN@NRHA.ORG,

T TA B E R @ N R H A . O RG

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

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HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

ndependent home improvement retailers have stepped up to meet the challenges of serving customers during a pandemic. Many shoppers have avoided in-store shopping, while others have swarmed to stores to stock up on everything from hand sanitizer to bags of mulch. The past six months have challenged independent retailers to reconsider their businesses’ approaches to customer service. Costello’s Ace Hardware, which has 32 locations in Maryland, New Jersey and New York, and Connolly’s Do it Best, which has five stores in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are very different, but both companies’ teams reacted immediately to position their stores to meet customer needs during the pandemic. The retail landscape has changed, but retailers’ efforts to offer unparalleled customer service endure. This story is the first installment in a two-part series on how operators have altered how they do business due to COVID-19 and which changes they plan to keep.

In the Beginning

In late February, demand for N95 face masks shot up at Costello’s Ace stores in and near New York City. COVID-19 had already started changing business, and the Costello’s Ace Hardware team took immediate notice. “Right around the second week of March, we started seeing our cleaning products just emptying,” CEO and co-owner Michael Costello says. “After a few days, we were looking at sales and saying, ‘What’s going on here?’ We weren’t thinking there was a serious health risk that could be in our neighborhoods or stores. We thought we were seeing excessive preparedness.” Lauren Mathews, communications manager for Connolly’s Do it Best, realized COVID-19 would impact business significantly when products vanished and became nearly impossible to restock. “We were seeing products being sold in quantities it would’ve taken us years to sell,” Mathews says. “We were seeing a run on products that aren’t normally huge sellers for us.”

INSTANT INNOVATION As a result of the pandemic, the team at Connolly’s Do it Best (above) and the Costello’s Ace Hardware staff (left) have learned to adapt quickly to new store procedures and changing customer needs.

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

By mid-March, the Connolly’s team was in touch with retail peers across the U.S. Some were operating in areas that had been hit early by confirmed coronavirus cases. All were experiencing product shortages and witnessing customers buy large quantities of household cleaners, paper towels and protective masks. As grocery stores and big-box stores ran out of essential products, Mathews and her team noticed more people coming into local home improvement stores in search of those common items. For some shoppers, it was a revelation that many home improvement stores carried the items they and their families were searching for.

“The first true change that took place was implementing social distancing,” Mathews says. “We put plexiglass shields at the register, but curbside service was the biggest early change we made. People were calling left and right to get curbside pickup.” Connolly’s Do it Best had always offered curbside service to customers who asked for it, but never promoted it as a true differentiator for the store. “Curbside pickup was suddenly popular. We had almost as many people calling for curbside pickup as people coming into the store at one point,” Mathews says. Costello can remember offering curbside service since he was a teenager, so providing the contactless service wasn’t unusual for the stores. “When I was 15 years old working for my father’s hardware store, a woman would call “We figured things out quickly. We us up and say, ‘My baby is sleeping. Could had to. We developed a process and you come out to my car and help me?’” says. “We have a very open mind as decided that when there were issues, Costello far as what curbside service means.” Though curbside pickup was popular, we would address those individually.” it required fine-tuning at both operations. Mathews and the Connolly’s team moved to —Lauren Mathews, Connolly’s Do it Best ensure all team members were conducting curbside pickup transactions uniformly. “I think that initial run on products, even though it Questions had to be addressed about when and how was stressful, was beneficial,” Mathews says. “As more to take payment, whether accepting cash would be people stayed at home past March, they remembered a advisable and what to do if a credit card was declined. trip to their local hardware store and were more willing to “We figured things out quickly. We had to,” Mathews come in later for DIY projects.” says. “We developed a process and decided that when At the same time, online and phone orders were there were issues, we would address those individually. flooding Costello’s Ace. The whole goal was to help customers and our team “We saw e-commerce growing at a level we hadn’t social distance.” seen before,” says Rob Feiler, Costello’s executive vice Phone and online orders began stacking up at the president of sales and marketing. “We really had to have Costello’s stores, so the executive team reassessed the an adapt-and-move philosophy right from the beginning.” stores’ curbside and in-store pickup methods and began Before the pandemic, Costello’s stores were filling about delivering orders as quickly as possible to decrease the 10 online or phone orders per day. By late April, the stores backlog at the stores. were filling 10 of each type of order per hour, with no If customers didn’t promptly arrive to get their signs of slowing. curbside pickups, then Costello’s added the customers’ addresses to delivery routes and dropped Early Adapters off the items for free. The executive team at Costello’s realized quickly that “In the beginning, it was all hands on deck. I made a their operation’s response to COVID-19 could not couple hundred deliveries myself in my personal Honda remain solely reactive. Accord,” Feiler says. “It wasn’t like we were showing up Their initial efforts were similar to many other at someone’s home and no one was there. Everyone retail businesses. They amped up their store cleaning was on lockdown.” protocols, installed plexiglass screens at the service Costello’s Ace personnel also began helping find new counters and asked employees at every level to be sources of products as customer demand strained their team players and help wherever needed, even if tasks supply chains. When needed, the marketing director fell far outside their job descriptions. worked alongside frontline employees in the stores, Mathews and the team at Connolly’s took similar actions and Costello and other executives made hundreds of in their stores. product deliveries.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

Daily executive team phone calls and twice-a-week calls with store managers became normal as the entire company tried to understand how to meet the challenges of massive demand for products while supply chains lagged and COVID-19 developed into a worldwide crisis. “I consider us a typical family business,” Costello says. “How we usually deal with increased demand is everyone works harder and everyone is asked to do a little more and chip in. And then at some point, you get to a critical point when you need more systems and need to get more organized.”

A Call to Hire

Costello and his team knew stretching the staff thin and lowering customer service standards were undesirable and unsustainable. The team had to reassess how they were doing business and decide to take action in ways that would work long term for the staff and better serve customers. After two weeks of unprecedented order volumes, executives realized Costello’s needed to hire new employees, dedicate workers to handling phone and online orders, buy more delivery vans and add new delivery routes. They grew the company’s product sourcing team from two people to six to work through supply chain challenges and find alternate manufacturers and distributors they hadn’t used before. In addition, they dedicated more staff to human resources so Costello’s could recruit and train new staff. They hired 200 people between April and June, adding cashiers, delivery drivers and warehouse workers. They also mapped out 10 new delivery routes and bought three delivery vans. Large-scale adaptations required significant communication internally to get all employees on board with the ideas and understand not only what their responsibilities are but how to do their jobs as things changed, Costello says. He used phone calls, video messages and letters to keep communication fresh with employees and regularly thank them for their efforts.

Communication Is Key

Business improvements weren’t always top-down decisions at Connolly’s. On many occasions, Mathews and the team adjusted protocols in response to on-the-ground feedback from staff. “It was important to hear employees and to let them know we trust their opinions and will use them to improve the business overall,” she says. “I think they were more willing to adapt to changes when they knew we truly were willing to adapt to protect them or make their jobs a little easier.” Another important component of Connolly’s communication early on was social media. Customers used the store’s social media pages, Facebook Messenger and Google messages to inquire about items and place orders.

A FOCUS ON SAFETY Connolly’s Do it Best responded to a surge in requests for curbside pickup due to the pandemic.

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

CONSTANT COMMITMENT Costello’s Ace Hardware employees have excelled in providing customer service while their business has made changes to meet needs during the pandemic.

“Social media was our No. 1 form of communication with customers. We saw an influx of followers in March and April, so people knew social media was a powerful way to connect with our business,” Mathews says. “Social media let us get messages and business changes out to thousands of people at once, and we really leaned on it.”

Changes in Retrospect

At Connolly’s, many new business procedures had to be refined or even completely rethought as the company deployed them. When curbside pickup gathered steam at the business, Mathews recognized the need to standardize the process to ensure employees and customers had a reliable workflow to follow. Cashiers answered phones and took orders from customers. If they could leave the register, they fulfilled orders ahead of customers’ arrival. If cashiers were in the middle of ringing up customers, they handed orders to other associates, who gathered the items.

The team aimed to take credit card payments over the phone, but would adjust and handle payment once customers arrived if they objected to an over-the-phone payment. “The early strategy was to do whatever worked best for customers,” Mathews says. “We always kept customers’ needs at the forefront, but later we were able to refine curbside service into a single workflow that worked best for our team and business. We went from a really flexible process to a step-by-step process.” Serving customers the way they want to be served during the pandemic has also been the goal at Costello’s Ace. Doing so has cemented relationships with existing Costello’s Ace customers and brought in many people who had been unfamiliar with the stores. The team at Costello’s raced initially to meet the massive demand for online and phone orders, but then hired additional people to answer phones and keep track of in-store pickups, curbside pickups and home deliveries.

Regardless of the pandemic, many of the changes would have been necessary to stay competitive long term, Costello says. Shoppers’ expectations for integrated online and in-store service were already evolving. The pandemic sped up the process and Costello’s adapted more quickly in response, he says. “We have a mantra: ‘Just ask us.’ It means we do business on customers’ terms,” Costello says. “It’s about progressively thinking how we, as a company, can continually adapt to meet the needs of the customer.”

THE STORY CONTINUES

Like many other retailers, the teams from Connolly’s Do it Best and Costello’s Ace Hardware have learned valuable lessons about adaptable customer service during the pandemic. Discover how they’ll use that insight to power their businesses into the future in the next issue of Hardware Retailing.

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O P E R A T I O N S

From Boss to Coach H OW M A N AG E M E NT ST Y L E R E D U C E S E M P LOY E E T U R N OV E R BY JESSE CARLETON

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

JCARLETON@NRHA.ORG

eeping quality employees is a perennial problem for retailers. Solutions for reducing turnover often focus on better hiring techniques, competitive pay, benefit packages and a healthy company culture. Recent research from analytics and data firm Gallup adds another important piece to the equation: managers make a difference. According to the study, employees are more likely to stay when a manager is actively involved in their development and success. “We have research that shows the manager being able to impact up to 70 percent of an employee’s engagement,” says Sam Acuna, managing consultant with Gallup. Engaged managers, and in particular those who operate more like coaches than top-down supervisors, lead to engaged employees, which results in higher productivity and reduced turnover. To help you learn more about improving your management style and reducing turnover, Hardware Retailing editors spoke with Acuna and three retailers who have taken steps to improve employee retention.

the study shows. Replacing an employee who quits has a big price. Some of those costs can be quantified, such as recruiting fees or the hours it will take you to train the new hire. Other less tangible costs include loss of productivity, impact on morale of the other workers or the deferment of projects that might grow your business. Of course, employees still place a high value on pay rate and benefits, but that isn’t telling the full story of why they may choose to look somewhere else for work. The Gallup poll indicates there’s a shift away from the top-down management approach to one that places high value on development. “There is a change happening in what people expect out of the workplace. A job used to be about a paycheck; now people want a job with a purpose,” says Acuna. “People used to think of their manager as their boss; now they are looking for a coach. It’s not just about annual reviews; they want regular feedback, regular conversations.” Managers who are coaches offer regular What Employees Want feedback and help employees develop. Gallup’s study, the State of the American They understand that employees want a Workplace, presents results of surveys from work-life balance and they may need some employees in a range of job sectors and all flexibility with their schedules. Managers company sizes that gauged their attitudes who emphasize coaching understand the toward their place of employment. The results needs of their employees and that if they show a disturbingly low level of engagement at meet those needs, they will have happier, work. About one-third of employees surveyed more productive workers and more are engaged in their work—they love their jobs engaged employees. and want to make the organizations they work “Our study shows that employees for better. The other two-thirds of employees who are supervised by highly engaged are disengaged or, worse, they are doing managers are 59 percent more likely to be damage to what other employees are building. more engaged than those supervised by Engaged employees are more productive disengaged managers. It’s a cascade and are more likely to stay at their current effect,” Acuna says. “The more jobs where they can make long-lasting engagement there is at the top, contributions to their companies. They are the more it will trickle down to also less likely to be looking for another job, the bottom.”

51%

of employees say they are actively looking for a new job or watching for openings. Source: State of the American Workplace, Gallup

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

4 Hiring Tips Keeping employees for the long term starts with finding the people that fit your company culture. Consider these four hiring tips from Stephen Collins, co-owner of

Home Building Centre Gravenhurst in Gravenhurst, Ontario.

01 | Use a recruiter. Collins hires a recruiter to solicit applications and recommend one or two good candidates. “The recruiter has really helped streamline the process,” he says. “She prequalifies candidates and singles out a good person for us to interview. The fee she charges is worth the savings in time and paperwork.”

02 | Hire for attitude. “We hire for attitude and operate with the premise that you can train for experience,” says Collins. His expectations are simple: be nice to customers and be nice to other employees. When employees are in the habit of treating others well, they will deliver better customer service and build the team. That will create a better place to work where employees will want to stay for a long time.

03 | Look for a culture fit. No two interviews at Home Building Centre Gravenhurst are the same. Collins says he used to have a standard set of interview questions but soon learned the limitations of sticking to a script. The questions have become a guide to a larger conversation about the person. “We started focusing less on specific questions and geared the interview more to the person,” he says. “What we are always looking for is how well they fit with the other staff. If it’s obvious that they will clash with someone, we think twice about hiring them.”

04 | Interview in teams. Collins wants to be involved in every hiring decision, but he doesn’t go solo. He involves other members of the team, including the supervisor of the potential hire. “I like having different perspectives in the room,” he says. “There is usually one person doing the talking and another as a silent observer.”

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

How to Coach Employees If changing from a commander style of management to a coaching approach is the way to keep employees around longer, how do you do it? Lean how three retailers have focused on employee development and manager engagement to tackle turnover.

Have an Organized Approach to Training Elena Nelson faces a problem likely common to many urban retailers. “Finding qualified people is a big problem. We usually hire three people hoping one of them will work out,” she says. “Retail isn’t a career to many of them, or they don’t understand how hard you have to work.” As co-owner of Nicollet Hardware in Minneapolis, Nelson says a high turnover rate is an ongoing challenge. She has a core group of dedicated employees who have been with her six or more years. For the others, a tenure of more than a year is a success, she says. She estimates the cost of bringing on a new employee is around $3,400, and that doesn’t include diminished revenue from lost productivity. Recently, Nelson has been making strides to reduce turnover rates. Her former approach to training had some weaknesses, she admits. New hires were expected to be self-starters who would search out opportunities to learn. Instead, the lack of structured training left many new hires frustrated and unengaged. She tackled the issue by creating clear job descriptions and writing a new employee handbook so new hires could understand standard operating procedures. She also took a more organized approach to training that gave a clearer path for both the trainer and the new hire to ensure consistency in what employees were learning. Her approach blended both online courses and on-the-job mentoring. “We developed a program to get employees trained quickly so they can start to feel helpful sooner,” she says. “We also have individual conversations with people to determine their strengths and what types of jobs best fit them.” In addition to making employees happier, which has begun to reduce turnover, Nelson’s new approach to onboarding is resulting in more satisfied customers because they are interacting with more knowledgeable employees.

Training doesn’t stop after the initial onboarding phase, either. Acuna suggests employee development should be ongoing. “Training is not the only way to invest in employees,” he says. “Development could also be an assignment that stretches them to grow. It could be a different role where they learn new skills. Get creative. Little moves can go a long way toward developing an employee.” Managers who take a more active approach to training and development have a direct effect on turnover. According to the Gallup study, businesses in the top quartile of engagement, or those with the highest level of engaged employees, have a 24 percent lower turnover rate than those in the bottom quartile of engagement, or those with the lowest level of engaged employees. Free Job Description Templates Do you need help creating job descriptions for your employees? NRHA now has a set of six templates for common retail jobs. Use these templates as guides as you create your own job descriptions that fit your own unique needs. Get your free templates at nrha.org/job-template.

Learn to Trust Employees As the new owner of McCoy True Value in Indianola, Iowa, Jennifer Pfeifer-Malaney says she has been following the example for good employee management set by her father, Steve. When he unexpectedly died in 2015, Pfeifer-Malaney took over the business. Until then, she had no experience as a manager, but fortunately her father had developed a strong core of employees. Two have been with the company for more than 30 years; several others have tenures around 10 to 15 years.

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

“My dad really had a flair for being someone who was good with people, whether customers or employees,” she says. “That’s what helped make the business successful for so many years. He was good at delegating responsibility.” Her father’s example of showing employees his trust in them by giving them responsibilities has had a big influence in Pfeifer-Malaney’s own management style throughout her transition to ownership. She believes the reason many employees have been so loyal to the business is a direct result of her father’s leadership, she says. She’s been following her father’s model as she makes new hires and learns how to engage the current staff. As a starting point, she says it’s important to learn the strengths of each employee and find the best place where they could be used in the company. Teach the Staff Teamwork As you show employees how you trust them, teach them to trust each other too. Teamwork is critical to a productive staff, which is why NRHA’s new training course, Joining a Retail Team, includes exercises designed to get employees thinking about the importance of working together. Learn more about this and other onboarding resources on Page 14.

“We have had employees who were hired for one job and then we see that’s not where they were the best fit,” she says. “Once we figure that out, we are able to move them to a different area.” When you find where an employee fits in, or where their strengths lie, trust them to do their job, even when they slip. In fact, how you react to mistakes may be one of the most powerful statements you make

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

about how much you trust them. Allow them autonomy to do their jobs and treat mistakes as learning opportunities. Pfeifer-Malaney says she chooses to assume employees want to do the right thing and that most mistakes are unintentional. “We know that everyone makes mistakes,” she says. “Understanding that and knowing how to react to those mistakes shows the level of trust you have in your employees.” Also, celebrate successes together. Positive feedback goes a long way toward developing a positive attitude among employees, she says. Acknowledging employees who do something well will foster longevity with the company as employees understand they are valuable to the team.

Get Serious About Feedback At Home Building Centre Gravenhurst in Gravenhurst, Ontario, owners Stephen Collins and LeeAnne Gidwani lead nearly 50 employees, some of whom are seasonal staff. Turnover rate is around 10 percent, a testament to a careful hiring strategy as well as a management style that emphasizes the importance of regular feedback. It’s an approach they developed by necessity 10 years ago when Collins, then new to the business, was part of a rapid business expansion that included a significant increase in the number of employees. “We built a new facility in 2010 and moved in with a staff of 28 and added 14 in that first year,” he says. “The first few years were a roller coaster. We were dealing with a lot of people with a long tenure in the business mixing in with a lot of new people.” With such an influx of new people, Collins made changes to the company’s hiring practices and used a consultant to help with the process. He also placed a high importance on annual reviews. During the first quarter of each year, every employee

52%

of employees who leave voluntarily say their manager could have changed their decision if they asked about job satisfaction or discussed their future with the organization. Source: State of the American Workplace Report, Gallup

gets a one-hour, one-on-one session with their immediate supervisor and ownership, in which they receive feedback about their performance and also have the opportunity to give feedback on their experience. “This is one of the most important things we do to increase retention and engagement,” Collins says. “Each employee knows they get a voice and time behind a closed door when they can speak their mind. We encourage staff to share their thoughts.” Having a scheduled, dedicated time for feedback, whether it involves reviewing job performance, addressing concerns or talking about future opportunities, will boost employee engagement. But for Collins, feedback doesn’t just happen once a year. With the company’s open-door policy, employees are always free to come and talk to management. “Communication is important all year,” he says. “When we sit down at the annual review, there should be no surprises. If there are concerns, it’s important we deal with them in a timely manner.” An issue with one employee can quickly spread if not dealt with promptly, and the result may be dragging down the rest of the staff. The timeliness of the feedback is just as important as its regularity. Give praise and encouragement too when it’s warranted.

Don’t only give feedback when something goes wrong. With three managers under his supervision, Collins says learning to give feedback, whether in the form of constructive criticism or a word of encouragement, is a skill that needs to be taught. It doesn’t come naturally to all people. There have been cases in the past where he’s worked with managers to learn those soft skills. When he does, he’s strengthening not only the effectiveness of the manager but also the entire staff under him. Regular feedback and communication are key to a coaching style of management. “When you think about a coach in sports, it’s not the guy in the owner’s box. It’s the one on the floor with the team seeing what he can do to impact the organization,” says Acuna. “A coach is in the moment. If you do something wrong, they are going to tell you right away. If you do something right, they are going to tell you right away, too.” Give Better Performance Reviews A new hire’s first performance review offers a critical opportunity to provide honest feedback. Best practices for conducting that review is one of many topics discussed in NRHA’s new Onboarding Handbook. See Page 14 for more information.

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

“Midwest Fastener delivered an amazing facelift to our department and backs it up with day in, day out great service. They truly are one of our premier vendors”.

– Mike Brackin, CEO/Owner, HomCo Lumber & Hardware, Flagstaff, Az. pictured left to right, Todd Callan, Chief Operating Officer & Dan Groth, General Manager

Exceeding Expectations. One Fastener Destination at a Time!

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

800.444.7313

fastenerconnection.com

A RELIABLE RETAILER Tim Alexander, owner of Alexander True Value Hardware, believes keeping his fasteners category clear and tidy is a direct strategy to convince customers the company is a trusted partner for all their DIY projects.

C A T E G O R Y

S P O T L I G H T

Piece By Piece H OW P R I O R I T I Z I N G A C L A S S I C C AT EG O RY A D D S U P BY TO D D TA B E R

T TA B E R @ N R H A . O RG

very home improvement operation Selling builders hardware to pros is a is unique, but a few core categories long-running strategy at Trilling True Value. unite them all. One of them is For many years, the business has offered builders hardware, the various pieces used professional accounts to construction crews to protect and add convenience to shelves, and major facilities around Sheboygan. doors, windows, locks and more. Though “With accounts, customers save a certain it’s a well-established component of nearly percentage off the top,” Schramm says. “It’s every operation, neglecting the category very convenient for them—once a month, can be a costly mistake that could reduce they get a bill and pay all at once.” your revenue and even lower customers’ Recently, a large apartment complex was built opinions of your business. near the store, and the Trilling team established Chris Schramm, store manager of an account with the builders and the Trilling True Value in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, maintenance crews working at the apartments. says maintaining accounts with local “They wanted their handymen to be able construction crews is a key way to keep sales to come by and get products without having strong in the category. As one of the oldest to go into town,” Schramm says. home improvement stores in the U.S., He says his customers are a blend of Trilling True Value has seen product trends pro and DIY customers, and offering them come and go. Discover what Schramm and options in this particular category is key. The his team do to keep the builders hardware company’s fasteners section is lined with category fresh and profitable each year. rows of drawers customers can pull out to Tim Alexander owns Alexander True Value find the perfect match for their project. Hardware in Farmington, Michigan. He “We sell everything by the unit or by the sees the convenience and utility of builders box,” Schramm says. “We don’t have a lot hardware products as a direct way to gain loyal of individual packs with eight screws, for customers. Learn how his team goes the extra example. You can buy one, or buy an entire mile to give customers everything they need box. A lot of people just need two washers; and boost transaction sizes in the process. they don’t need a pack of 10 or a box of 100.” One key way the Trilling team keeps this An Honest Account category fresh is by regularly reviewing According to the Home Improvement sales analytics for key SKUs. Research Institute’s (HIRI) Size of the Home “We’re constantly looking at dead weight, Improvement Products Market report, overall the products that just aren’t moving,” Schramm hardware product sales reached $402 million says. “It’s always out with the old and looking in 2019. Notably, from 2018 to 2019, overall to identify core items for the category. We hardware sales to pros grew 3.8 percent. want to keep the department relevant.”

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

A GOOD TIME TO ORGANIZE Merchandising your builders hardware category can be trickier compared to other departments. Chris Schramm, store manager at Trilling True Value, encourages employees to straighten up the section when the business sees brief downtime.

Best Practices for

BUILDERS HARDWARE Devoting some time to your builders hardware category can be a small investment that adds value to nearly every transaction at your business. Follow some key category insights to help sales grow in this quiet but powerful home improvement category.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

KEEP THE AREA CLEAN Both Alexander and Schramm agree keeping this category well organized is crucial. Not only does a messy department make customers reluctant to shop at your store, it can also be a physical danger. The fasteners aisle is full of small parts that can pose a slip-and-fall hazard to your customers and employees. Be sure the area is swept well regularly.

‘Fasteners Are Money’

Tim Alexander in Michigan offers nearly 100 linear feet of nuts, bolts and fasteners. He says offering a variety of choices in this category helps solidify the business’s reputation as a reliable partner and a true rival to nearby big-box competitors. “Fasteners are money,” he says. “It might be 23 cents here and there, but it adds up quickly and the product selection lets people know they can trust your store.” Alexander says one of his strategies for merchandising this category is to keep inventory near the back of the store, so people who may come to the store only requiring one or two pieces of builders hardware have to pass through other departments, endcaps and signage on their way. Another way he supports the category is by ensuring staff understands the ins and outs of

builders hardware, including the possibility that some customers may need metric pieces and others may require imperial conversions. The company also employs a part-time locksmith, so when customers purchase locks, a salesperson knows to direct them to the locksmith’s suite of rekeying and master keying services.

Merchandising With Purpose Both Schramm and Alexander agree this category, with its numerous small pieces that can easily slip out of grip and slide straight down an aisle, can be tricky to keep tidy. Schramm says as customers explore the inventory and compare separate pieces, any retailer’s builders hardware department will slowly grow disorganized. He asks his employees to patrol the area frequently to ensure no pieces are creating a dangerous obstacle.

“

It’s always out with the old and looking to identify core items for the category. We want to keep the department relevant.

”

—Chris Schramm, Trilling True Value He also trains employees to gather discarded pieces from the floor and the shelves and place them in a nearby bucket. As the bucket fills and employees find some downtime, they re-sort the pieces individually, helping keep the area easy to navigate for shoppers and teammates. Alexander agrees keeping this department clean is crucial. “The atmosphere you provide customers determines if someone buys one item or fills a whole cart,” he says. “If you can provide a well-maintained, clean store, that’s how you get loyal customers, especially in home improvement.”

COUNT YOUR ACCOUNTS

HIGHLIGHT FINISHED PROJECTS

If your business offers sales accounts to contractors and maintenance professionals, do a semi-annual review of those accounts to be sure your professional base is growing. Analyze the types of industries you serve and scout for new opportunities in and around your community to add new pros to your business’s accounts.

Builders hardware supports larger pieces, so many of your customers may be proud of a DIY project they’re just about to finish. Encourage their creativity! Ask them to send finished photos of their projects. With their permission, you can post those photos to your company’s social media accounts to inspire other shoppers.

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

VIRTUAL KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

ALL-INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

Dan Starr President and CEO, Do it Best

INDUSTRY

How Independents Are Still Disrupting, a Conversation With Dan Starr KEY POINTS

• Overcoming common misconceptions about independent retailers • How to evolve to meet the challenges of the new retail consumer • How outside forces are causing disruption in the home improvement industry

Kevin Hancock CEO, Hancock Lumber

Employees First: Disrupting Assumptions for More Loyal Customers and Stronger Sales KEY POINTS

• How to disrupt assumptions for more loyal customers and stronger sales • Strategies that helped Hancock Lumber thrive through generations • Why putting customers first isn’t the path to customer loyalty

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

DISRUPTERS Register Today for the Industry’s All-in-One Virtual Event

arlier this year, as trade shows and buying markets transitioned online, there was still hope that in-person events and gatherings could resume later in the spring and early summer. However, it soon became clear that the safest course of action was to make 2020 the year of virtual events. The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) typically hosts the NRHA All-Industry Conference in conjunction with the National Hardware Show (NHS) in Las Vegas in May. This year, your trip will be closer to home. The conference and the show will take place virtually Oct. 12-15. “While we wish we could be in Las Vegas celebrating the 75th annual National Hardware Show and delivering top-notch live educational content on the NRHA Village Stage, that scenario just isn’t feasible this year,” says NRHA executive vice president Dan Tratensek. “Although the delivery method looks a little different, we have still developed a cadre of exceptional presenters who will take our virtual stage. We are

looking forward to the opportunity to deliver content to attendees in a different way this year.” To attend the conference, retailers, wholesale representatives and other channel partners should register for the National Hardware Virtual Show at nationalhardwareshow.com. This registration will give you access to all of the conference content along with everything that is offered as part of the National Hardware Virtual Show. This year’s show will include all the benefits of an event dedicated to product research and networking with vendors, all from the safety and ease of your office or home. Through the virtual platform, you can set up and attend meetings with exhibitors, browse new products and access conference content. “Over the past few months, our team has had to rethink everything, and open our minds to new, innovative ideas,” says Rich Russo, NHS industry vice president. “We’re excited about our pivot to virtual which allows us to bring our robust programming to customers across the globe in a new, safe way.”

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

The theme of the 2020 NRHA All-Industry Conference is “Industry Disrupters: How Today’s Leaders Are Winning the Retail Game.” While the independent home improvement industry has certainly seen its fair share of disrupters in recent years—technology in retail, industry consolidation, tariffs and more—the most prescient disrupter this year has been the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s conference presenters will touch on all of these disrupters and talk about how the independent industry has been innovating and seeing success through them all. See the conference schedule here and visit nrhaconference.com for more details.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14

11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m. EST The Tools You Need to Improve Your Culture Presenter: Kim Peffley, NRHA

11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m. EST PANEL: How the Channel Is Serving Solutions Moderator: Kevin Hohman, NRHA Participants: Mindy Murphy, Benjamin Moore Glen Gevaart, Midwest Fastener Mike Mahoney, Simple Green Bill Sokol, Arrow Fastener

12:00 p.m. — 12:45 p.m. EST KEYNOTE: How Independents Are Still Disrupting, a Conversation With Dan Starr Moderator: Dan Tratensek, NRHA Speaker: Dan Starr, Do it Best Corp. 1:00 p.m. — 1:45 p.m. EST 6 Steps to Selling Your Business Presenter: Gary Pittsford, Castle Wealth Advisors

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13 11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m. EST PANEL: Generations of Succession Moderator: Melanie Moul, NRHA Participants: Theresa Handel and Gary Thulin, Pioneer Home Hardware Building Centre; and Megan Stiers and Danny Baumstark, Hermann Lumber 12:00 p.m. — 12:45 p.m. EST 5 Disrupters Challenging the Home Improvement Industry Presenter: Jim Robisch, The Farnsworth Group 1:00 p.m. — 1:45 p.m. EST PANEL: NRHA Top Gun Awards Moderator: Melanie Moul, NRHA Honorees: Will Aubuchon, W.E. Aubuchon Co. Inc.; Patrick Goebel, Star Lumber; Kevin Hancock, Hancock Lumber; Kirby Scales, Russell Do it Center

12:00 p.m. — 12:45 p.m. EST KEYNOTE: Employees First: Disrupting Assumptions for More Loyal Customers and Stronger Sales Presenter: Kevin Hancock, Hancock Lumber 1:00 p.m. — 1:45 p.m. Evolving Technology Presenters: Eric Hassett, Hassett Ace Hardware, and Matt Woods, Woods Hardware

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15 11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m. EST Driving Awareness for Diversity and Inclusion and Measuring Results Presenter: Adrian D. Thompson, Taft Law 12:00 p.m. — 12:45 p.m. EST The Disruption Cycle: What It Is, Why It Matters and What to Do About It Presenter: Steve McKee, McKee Wallwork + Company 1:00 p.m. — 1:45 p.m. How to Manage E-Commerce in a Post-COVID Environment Presenters: Jimmy Barber and Scott Sinclair, OneStone

THE SOCIAL CONNECTION Be sure to follow NRHA on social media for in-the-moment updates throughout the conference and to follow along with the association to see how it serves the independent channel after the conference is over.

@NorthAmericanRetailHardwareAssociation @nrha_official @nrha_official

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

Stronger Than Ever N R H A E X PA N D S M E M B E R S H I P T O PA I N T A N D D E C O R AT I N G R E TA I L E R S

eginning this fall, the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) is officially broadening the reach of its membership to include independent paint and decorating store operators and will be changing the association’s name to reflect this new era. From this point forward, the association will be known as the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA), and it will represent the interests of all independently operated hardware stores, home centers, lumberyards and paint and decorating outlets throughout North America. The change comes following the closure of the Paint and Decorating Retailers Association (PDRA), an organization NRHA had worked closely with for many years. “Independent hardware stores and home centers share so much common DNA with independent paint and decorating retailers that this expansion of our membership can only benefit the industry as a whole,” says association president and CEO Bob Cutter. “We are excited to offer paint and decorating retailers an expanded breadth of resources, and we are also excited to combine all of their ideas and insights with the already strong pool of retail thought leaders from the hardware side of the channel.”

A New Era

Since 1900, NRHA has served independent retailers in the hardware and home improvement

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

channel by providing them with a range of educational tools, industry advocacy and opportunities to come together and share ideas and best practices. Throughout its history, NRHA has evolved to meet the changing needs of its members, and this recent decision to expand membership to paint and decorating retailers seemed like a logical extension to the association, according to current board chairman Dan Harris, owner of Palos Ace Hardware in Palos Heights, Illinois. “We already have so much in common with independent paint and decorating retailers and we have already had paint and decorating retailers engage with our programs and services, so we saw this as a win-win opportunity for all the retailers involved and for the association as well,” Harris says. As part of this expansion, independent paint and decorating store owners will immediately have access to all of the free programs and services available through the newly named NHPA.

“We saw this as a

win-win opportunity for all the retailers involved and for the association as well.

”

—Dan Harris, Palos Ace Hardware

“

Getting all these fantastic independent retailers under one umbrella will create so many opportunities that just make sense for the channel.

NHPA will also continue to offer paint and decorating retailers targeted social media support, industry specific newsletters and the opportunity to participate in annual research projects —LeAnn Day, executive director, NHPA like the Cost of Doing Business Study. “We want to make sure paint and decorating retailers have access to Retailers who were paid training members of the programs and information they have PDRA will have their membership transferred to come to rely on to run their businesses better NHPA and have access to the complete range of and more efficiently, but also have them realize paid training services NHPA offers. they are now part of a larger community with Additionally, NHPA is immediately assembling a broader range of resources and programs an advisory committee made up of key retailers available to them,” Cutter says. from the paint and decorating industry to provide guidance in the future development of programs. What the Future Holds NHPA will also be reserving a seat on its board When it comes to the future opportunities for of directors for a paint and decorating retailer independent home improvement, paint and beginning in 2021. decorating retailers, the new, expanded NHPA has Former PDRA CEO LeAnn Day will be serving a number of dynamic projects on tap for 2021. as NHPA’s newly created executive director for “In the coming months, we will be sharing NHPA paint and decorating programs. some of the new programs and services we have “I am truly looking forward to the new in store for retailers, but one of the most exciting opportunities this association will offer things that will mark the new year is the new the channel,” Day says. “Getting all these pool of best practices, great ideas and thought fantastic independent retailers from the leadership we will be able to draw from with the home improvement side and the paint and addition of nearly 10,000 paint and decorating decorating side under one umbrella will retailers to our membership,” Cutter says. create so many opportunities that just make “For years we have preached that independent sense for the channel.” retailers are so much stronger when they come together through their association, and now we Continuity and Enhancements are stronger than ever.” While paint and decorating retailers will immediately have access to all the same NHPA programs and services as home improvement For years we have preached that retailers, they won’t miss out on some of the most popular independent retailers are so much resources they enjoyed from PDRA. stronger when they come together NHPA will continue to publish Paint through their association, and now & Decorating Retailer magazine, a we are stronger than ever. monthly publication that includes new products, how-to management —Bob Cutter, president and CEO, NHPA information, retail and manufacturer profiles and more.

”

“

”

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

Learn How to Leverage Today’s Challenges From

Industry Disrupters NRHA All-Industry Conference | Oct. 12-15

We’re going virtual!

Kevin Hancock

Eric Hassett

Matt Woods

Will Aubuchon

Dan Starr

Dan Tratensek

Kim Peffley

Kirby Scales

Patrick Goebel

Connect and Learn KEYNOTE

To see the entire speaker lineup and to register, visit nrhaconference.com

KEYNOTE

High Performance Retailing Brought to You by Hardware Retailing and The Farnsworth Group

FALL 2020 V2 | H1

Call Home

Analyze the Latest Housing Trends Page H4

All in the Delivery

Find the Right Marketing Message Page H10

Projects Made Real

How Customers Are Making 2020 a Banner Year for Home Improvement Page H6

ONLINE

Connect With Us CONTENTS

FALL 2020 | VOLUME 2

Website HPRmag.com

Cover Story H6

ANALYSIS

Pinpoint Their Needs

High Performance Retailing is a collaboration between the North American Retail Hardware Association and The Farnsworth Group. Both organizations are committed to helping the home improvement industry prosper with relevant, informative and timely data.

The 2020 Retail Selector Study from The Farnsworth Group and the Home Improvement Research Institute is a thorough guide to DIY shopping habits. Discover some of the hottest home improvement sales trends from the first half of 2020 and learn precisely what motivates customers to make a purchase.

Executive Vice President and Executive Editor, NRHA Dan Tratensek, dant@nrha.org Senior Partner, The Farnsworth Group Jim Robisch, jrobisch@thefarnsworthgroup.com

92%

of hardware store customers visited a location in person Source: 2020 Retail Selector Study

Departments H4

HOUSING

On the Homefront

Todd Tomalak, principal at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, offers an overview of U.S. housing. Discover what upcoming real estate and construction trends will mean for your home improvement business. H10 MARKETING

The State of Advertising

Relying on the status quo can be a grave mistake for high-performance retailers. Guide your advertising plan by reviewing the latest data from the Association of National Advertisers.

Online Exclusive

Market Research Analyst, The Farnsworth Group Amy Theophilus, atheophilus@thefarnsworthgroup.com

Editorial, Design + Production Managing Editor Melanie Moul, mmoul@nrha.org Project Editor Todd Taber, ttaber@nrha.org Copy Editors Kate Klein Hans Cummings Director of Communications Whitney Daulton Production Manager Nancy Vondersaar

Sponsorship Opportunities

Top Category Insights

You’ve seen firsthand the explosive growth of DIY home improvement projects this year. Now, take a look at the three top-performing categories from the 2020 Retail Selector Study to guide your operation as you begin planning for success in 2021. Visit HPRmag.com/2020categories to review key data points on the year’s most active categories, including average consumer spends and top products in paint, lawn and garden and electrical.

High Performance Retailing Fall 2020

Vice President of Sales and Publisher Kevin Hohman, khohman@nrha.org 317-275-9430 Northern Region Sales Director David Brodowski, dbrodowski@nrha.org 440-520-9551 Business Development Representative Matt Caruso, mcaruso@nrha.org 317-275-9409 Southern Region Sales Director Scott Gilcrest, sgilcrest@nrha.org 317-275-9414 Regional Sales Director Jordan Rice, jriceo@nrha.org 317-275-9443

LET’S TALK

Connect With Dan Email dant@nrha.org

FOUNDATIONS

LinkedIn Dan Tratensek

During Good Times or Bad, Consumers Focus on Home I am now headed into my 25th year playing some small part in the home improvement industry. Over the years, one thing has truly struck me. There is a certain resiliency to home improvement that you don’t find in nearly any other sector of the economy. Looking through this installment of High Performance Retailing, it really stood out just how adaptive this industry is. But this fact also begs the question: why? Home improvement spending certainly has its share of fits and starts, but for the most part, there aren’t many protracted downturns that plague our channel. Take, for instance, the last time we saw a major setback in this channel. It was in the late aughts when the housing bubble burst that we saw sales in home improvement take a hit. The fact that homeowners saw their equity dry up and could no longer tap into their homes’ values for home improvement projects was one factor driving this sales slide. The other factor was that consumers’ ability to buy and sell homes was depressed by lower home values. Within a matter of about two years, however, this problem began to abate. Homeowners took what disposable income they had and started investing in their homes once again. So now, here we are in the midst of a pandemic that has laid havoc to the economy. Service industries, restaurants, entertainment and other retail sectors are all taking the full brunt of this economic downturn, and many say the industries may never recover.

Meanwhile, home improvement retail is seeing record sales. Consumers value one material thing above just about anything else: their homes. During times when consumers are flush with cash, they spend money to create the homes of their dreams or move into the surroundings they had always aspired to have. During challenging times, consumers look to cut spending in almost every other area while taking their disposable income and investing in the one thing they know they can derive peace and pleasure from: their homes. When you consider this economic reality that seems to play out time and again, it should be encouraging to know you are part of an industry that may be the most resilient of all. It should also be uplifting to realize just how important your vocation is to each and every homeowner who aspires to something greater when times are good and looks to you to help them find comfort in their homes when challenges arise.

When you consider this economic reality that seems to play out time and again, it should be encouraging to know you are part of an industry that may be the most resilient of all.

Dan M. Tratensek Executive Editor, NRHA

Fall 2020 High Performance Retailing

IN CONVERSATION

Todd Tomalak is principal at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, a housing research organization. In his role, Tomalak oversees building products research, including in-depth forecasts of building products spending in new construction and remodeling. For more information, visit John Burns Real Estate Consulting online at realestateconsulting.com.

Hope for Housing How 2020 Real Estate Trends Affect Your Business

xploring the U.S. real estate market helps you anticipate future trends and customer needs. COVID-19 disrupted

what began as a strong year for housing, but seven months into the pandemic, reevaluating key industry metrics and understanding how they will affect your business could prove vital.

High Performance Retailing Fall 2020

What have been COVID-19’s major impacts on the U.S. housing market? The effects of the pandemic have been enormous. Coming into the year, housing showed some very positive signs. Parts of the market were weak, like luxury housing where homes would sit for sale for years in high-income areas, but all of that weakness is currently gone. We’re now seeing low home inventory; people are purchasing almost anything that’s available. Housing has truly gained status in terms of where consumers are prioritizing spending their dollars.

U.S. Housing Market at a Glance

The supply of existing homes fell 21.1% annually, with just 1.5 million homes for sale at the end of July. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

What do strong housing starts mean for U.S. housing overall? Looking at single-family housing starts in Florida alone, we’re seeing figures up 97 percent year-over-year for signed contracts. Texas is up 83 percent. If you want to move out of your home, there’s no existing homes to buy. You can put in an order for a new home, but it’s going to take time before that turns into a start and time before that translates into orders for building products. I think we’re going to see a case where a lot of housing starts begin in 2020, but homebuilders make building product orders in 2021 due to delays we’re seeing in cycle times. Existing home sales in July jumped about 25 percent over June. What does this surge reveal about the U.S. housing market? Existing home sales figures represent closings. In March and April, we saw a wave of delayed closings as many businesses temporarily shut down. Many closings in April and May came due in July. The July existing home sales figures reflect the general strength of the housing market, but the issue is that you can’t buy what’s not for sale. With inventory so low, it’s no longer a demand issue, there are only so many homes that could have been purchased. If anything, with strong demand and low supply, we should see home price appreciation, which is a positive

indicator for the remodeling market. We’re enthusiastic about that and we’re already seeing big boxes report sales gains from DIY projects. What should independent retailers know in terms of real estate activity? Roughly 12 percent of major projects were canceled or postponed. At the same time, we saw a large shift toward unplanned, pandemic-driven DIY projects. That’s showing up in a lot of recent sales for retailers. Historically, the most useful indicator to predict small DIY project activity was wage growth. What’s wild is that personal income figures for April were up 12 percent due to the CARES Act stimulus. It really is translating into significant DIY project growth. What’s on your mind for the remaining months of 2020 and 2021? The pace of DIY remodeling growth will slow compared to summer. The activity was unreasonably strong; there’s no reason to believe it will keep going. Next year, we could see uneven growth. We’re going to reach a point in the second quarter of 2021 where we’re lapping the unplanned projects that started during the pandemic. The overall year could turn out quite positive, but individual quarters could see negative growth simply because of how strong 2020 activity has been. Retailers will have to take the long view.

U.S. homeownership has risen 3.7% since the first quarter of 2019. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Home prices were up 4.3% in June over the same period in 2019. Source: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices

Put It to Use Customers are on the move. Help them get the greatest home value by recommending affordable DIY projects.

Fall 2020 High Performance Retailing

AUTHOR

Todd Taber Trends Editor

ANALYSIS

ttaber@nrha.org

The Select Market The 2020 Retail Selector Study offers a thorough analysis of a home improvement marketplace brimming with possibility.

he home improvement channel has seen 2020 as a year of renewed focus. With more people from all walks of life rethinking exactly what they want from their homes, analyzing home improvement shoppers’ behaviors, inspirations and new retail preferences can help you anticipate your customers’ needs and meet them precisely. Market research firm The Farnsworth Group has partnered with the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) for the comprehensive 2020 Retail Selector Study, a factor-by-factor analysis of what DIYers are buying, where they’re shopping and what outside factors are motivating their purchases. Conducted from April 17 to May 15, the 2020 Retail Selector Study is a clear assessment of the current home improvement market, reflecting the clashing influences

High Performance Retailing Fall 2020

of COVID-19, a patchwork of stay-at-home orders and the reality of new ways of living and working for millions of Americans. Grant Farnsworth, managing partner of The Farnsworth Group, says understanding consumer behavior is critical, especially as COVID-19’s effect on retail sectors looms large. “The study offers a thorough analysis of what exactly has motivated shoppers’ most recent home improvement purchases,” he says. “We can see what DIYers are buying in home improvement, where they are going for purchases and why.” Read on to discover topline discoveries from the study and key takeaways to guide your business in the months ahead.

ONLINE

Category-by-Category Data Discover the three home improvement product categories DIYers shopped most at HPRmag.com/2020-categories.

Market on the Move One of the key strengths of the 2020 Retail Selector Study is its sample size. The study includes insights from more than 2,000 adults who had made home improvement purchases in the past three months, giving high-performance retailers an incisive look at their customer base. One of the key findings from this year’s data is that shoppers are on the move. More than 20 percent of respondents say they plan to buy or sell a home in the next 12 months, more than doubling the rate found in 2016 and nearly 10 percent higher than the 2018 results. “This growth ties into what we’re seeing elsewhere in the market regarding new home construction and existing home sales,” Farnsworth says. “New home sales are up month after month, and we’re starting to see some really strong forecasts for single-family housing starts in 2021.” Farnsworth says real estate shifts can be attributed to the nesting phenomenon observed during COVID-19 wherein homeowners begin to make plans for long-term comfort and versatility in their homes. For many, this nesting phenomenon has prompted research into possible home renovations and actual construction activity.

Brick and Mortar Remains Powerful Home improvement retailers across North America have seen sales rise during COVID-19, and many are now seeing increased in-store foot traffic as the early days of the pandemic have passed. More than 90 percent of respondents who made their purchases at hardware stores visited that business in person. Brick-and-mortar traffic also follows generational customs, too. Roughly 80 percent of baby boomers visited a physical retail store for their purchases, while 61 percent of Gen X and 45 percent of millennials also visited a physical store for their DIY products.

Fall 2020 High Performance Retailing

How DIYers made their most recent home improvement purchase Physical retail store Online Purchased online but picked up in physical retail store

22% 48% 29% Department/ Discount Store

14% 8%

78% Hardware Store

Millennials were the biggest patrons of buy online, pickup in store services, with nearly one-quarter using that option for their home improvement purchases. Considering shoppers of all types of home improvement locations, 72 percent of males and 85 percent of females visited a brick-and-mortar store for home improvement products.

Every Category Is in Play 17% 9% 74% Home Center Note: Home centers denotes big-box chains like Home Depot, Lowe’s and others. Hardware stores counts independents. Department stores/ discount refers to Walmart, Target, etc. Source: 2020 Retail Selector Study

Of the 15 major home improvement product categories charted in the study, only two saw year-over-year declines in purchases (lumber and plumbing). Farnsworth says this cross-category growth is indicative of a truly engaged consumer base. “It’s interesting that electrical and HVAC saw small sales bumps. Those aren’t categories normally associated with DIY activity, but as more people have time on their hands or want to limit contractors entering their homes, spending in those categories is increasing,” Farnsworth says. On average, study respondents purchased 20 percent more home

High Performance Retailing Fall 2020

improvement product categories per purchase occasion than in 2018 and spending per occasion rose 5 percent.

Availability Is Absolutely Key One of the strongest takeaways is the fact that product availability is quickly becoming the most important motivator for DIYers’ product purchases, sometimes outpacing price and convenience. “The concept of product availability—getting what I want, when I want it—is becoming critical,” Farnsworth says. “Price and convenience as purchase motivators have dropped. That’s not to say they’re not important, they still are, but in context of availability, many shoppers may be willing to trade off.” Data from the North American Retail Hardware Association confirms independents are keenly focused on this customer mandate. More than one-third of home improvement retailers are making purchases through more suppliers during the pandemic. About 20 percent of retailers have begun ordering items directly from manufacturers more often.

How Your Customers Shop The complete 2020 Retail Selector Study includes more than 300 pages full of data on what motivates today’s home improvement shoppers and is available exclusively to HIRI members. Use the information below to learn more about your modern shoppers. Visit The Farnsworth Group online at thefarnsworthgroup.com and HIRI at hiri.org.

Cross-shopping is a growing trend.

The study notes an increase in project types and among home improvement shoppers, leading to a rise in cross-shopping behavior. Shoppers are buying more products in multiple categories at once, possibly motivated by a desire to reduce retail visits during COVID-19.

Mobile devices are a new home improvement tool.

Alongside a hammer, nails and paint, customers are viewing their mobile devices as an essential tool for any DIY project. Nearly half of millennials used their mobile devices to research project how-to information, and about 40 percent of Gen Xers used a retailer’s mobile app to compare product prices.

Customers want to be inspired.

Shoppers value the convenience of hardware stores.

In every product category, 70 to 90 percent of shoppers gathered information online before making a purchase. With more shoppers than ever making a majority of their home improvement product purchases online, online video sites and retailers’ websites also grew significantly as sources of information for customers.

DIYers were asked what motivated them to choose the type of retailer they eventually used for their purchases. For hardware store shoppers, convenience was the biggest motivator, beating big boxes in this respect. Variety of products was the second most powerful motivator, followed by customer service.

Fall 2020 High Performance Retailing

SPRINGBOARD

Marketing With Purpose Solidify Your Strategy to Reach Customers Amid COVID-19 Marketing your business strategically is more important than ever as customers quickly adopt new shopping habits and view the retail experience through a new lens of safety and security during the pandemic. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recently published “The New Reality of Marketing,” an overview of

new customer expectations related to marketing, which sheds light on how major advertisers are approaching marketing during COVID-19. Discover some of their top tips and incorporate their advice into your advertising strategy to position your business as an agile partner for every home improvement customer.

01 | Highlight your virtual services.

02 | Don’t let that app go cold.

As nights out become nights in, ANA reports shoppers are increasingly hungry for experiences, not just products. Consider how your team can offer virtual services—offer project estimates, hold new product showcases, host how-to classes—to add value to shoppers’ lives.

Though apps are nothing new, ANA notes many shoppers are using them more often to gather up-to-date information on products and hours of operation. Be sure your app lists all important COVID-19 updates.

03 | What do you stand for?

Two-thirds of customers say their likelihood of purchasing a product depends strongly on how its manufacturer responds during the pandemic. Accordingly, more than 70 percent of brands have “embraced purpose” more and nearly half are collaborating with nonprofits more frequently.

H10 High Performance Retailing Fall 2020

04 | Customers want

seamless online shopping. In April, online orders for more than 6,200 companies rose compared to the same period in 2019. ANA says as customers increasingly shop for items online they’d normally get in stores, 85 percent of them say easy payment options and a fast, easy-to-navigate website were crucial factors in e-commerce.

BETWEEN THE LINES

In Search of U.S. Jobs Analyzing U.S. Unemployment Rates in 2020 Dig Deeper

One of COVID-19’s biggest impacts on retail is the unemployment rate it has left in its wake. In January, U.S. unemployment stood at 3.6 percent, but rose sharply by April to 14.7 percent as the pandemic forced many businesses to lay off workers. By August, the unemployment rate had hit its lowest rate since April at 8.4 percent, when nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.4 million. Retail alone added nearly 250,000 jobs in August. The August unemployment rate is in line with several other metrics showing promise for economic stability: retail sales and real estate activity rates have both risen in recent months. However, some economists say without another stimulus package for U.S. citizens or a possible vaccine, those sectors could see stalled progress in the months ahead.

High performance retailers could be seeing an influx of job applicants. Visit HPRmag.com/hiring for resources to help you select star candidates for your business.

“The duration of unemployment acts as an additional headwind to a robust jobs recovery, even as the number of unemployed workers decreases,” John Leer, economist at data firm Morning Consult, says to Yahoo News. “History has shown that it becomes increasingly difficult for unemployed workers to find new jobs the longer they remain unemployed or furloughed, either because they lose the skills they need to compete, or due to the stigma of long-term unemployment.”

Monthly Unemployment Rate 15%

Review the Data The U.S. economy added only 1.4 million jobs in August, with payrolls roughly 11 million jobs below pre-pandemic levels.

14.7% 13.3%

12% 11.1% 10.2%

8.4%

Before COVID-19, the highest postwar U.S. unemployment rate was 10.8% in 1982.

6% 3.5%

3.6%

3.5% 3.5%

3.6%

4.4% 3.5%

0% SEPT 2019

OCT

NOV

DEC

JAN 2020

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

H12 High Performance Retailing Fall 2020

JUN

JUL

AUG

In August, more than 24 million Americans were furloughed, down more than 20 percent from July levels. Source: U.S. Department of Labor

GOES VIRTUAL!

OCTOBER 12-15, 2020

The first ever National Hardware Virtual Show will feature 4 days of relevant industry education, direct appointment setting and networking between buyers and suppliers and a robust virtual product showcase featuring newly launched and never-before-seen products.

DIRECT APPOINTMENT SETTING & NETWORKING

Easily sync up your calendars and allow NHS to help facilitate direct and virtual appointment setting via Jublia between top industry buyers and retailers and NHS suppliers and manufacturers.

VIRTUAL PRODUCT SHOWCASES

NHS is known to be the industry leader in showcasing new products and innovation. This is your chance to see and source the newest products and tools to help expand your current product offerings…right from the comfort of your home or office!

EXHIBITOR SHOWROOMS

Search the virtual exhibitor directory of NHS suppliers and manufacturers spanning across all of our product categories, and use the tool to search for vendors and the newest products.

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS AND EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS Learn how to leverage today’s challenges from leading industry disrupters including Do it Best president and CEO Dan Starr and other industry innovators at the NRHA All-Industry Conference.

OCTOBER 12-15, 2020

To register to attend or sign up to exhibit virtually, visit nationalhardwareshow.com.

Newsmakers

PRO Group Honors Top Retailers Paul L. Cosgrave Award Winners Exemplify the Best

RO Group has announced the dual winners of this year’s Paul L. Cosgrave Memorial Award: Campbell PRO Hardware and Supply in Youngstown, Ohio, and Valley Building Supply and PRO Hardware in Sweetwater, Tennessee. “During these challenging times, these retailers have brought a new meaning to the word ‘essential.’ With each challenge, they have found even more opportunities to be meaningful to their community. We are proud to have them all as a part of the PRO family,” says Shari Kalbach, vice president and chief operating officer of PRO Group. Read on to learn more about this year’s inspiring winners. Campbell PRO Hardware Tony Tsikouris is dedicated to the business he runs and the community he serves. As the owner of Campbell PRO Hardware and Supply in Youngstown, Ohio, Tsikouris has guided the business into a consistently growing operation, strengthened by his sharp eye on industrial construction opportunities. Anchoring that innovation is Tsikouris’ genuine desire to strengthen his community. “I love helping my customers save money and improve their homes,” Tsikouris says. “It’s truly an honor to be chosen for this award, and I hope to continue serving my customers and the local community.” Tsikouris opened the business in 1994. It began as a 1,200-square-foot store, eventually growing to 6,400 square feet of selling space equipped with a 12,000-square-foot warehouse. Tsikouris now employs 10 people at the business and has counted on PRO Group distributor The Bostwick-Braun Co. as his primary supplier for more than 25 years. “Working with PRO Group has played a role in supporting me to the point I am today,” Tony says. “It’s truly an honor to be chosen for this award, and I hope to continue serving my customers and the local community.” Tsikouris has grown the business by developing relationships with industrial customers, like bridge painters and local municipalities. These connections now represent more than 50 percent of his business. Tsikouris has fully embraced the opportunity of serving industrial crews, researching their specific project needs and finding innovative products to help them work better. As a three-time cancer survivor, he’s regularly on the lookout for charitable causes to support. He and his wife are the proud parents of two children: Nicolette, 15, and Steven, 6, who lives with Down syndrome. To Tsikouris and his family, supporting those in need is crucial.

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

“If any cause is medical-related, we participate,” Tsikouris says. “If someone is in need because of a medical condition, we’re there.” On average, Campbell PRO Hardware and Supply usually raises between $5,000 to $7,000 each year for local charities. In addition to his charitable initiatives, Tsikouris is also an active member of the local Masons lodge and his church, Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church in Campbell, Ohio. He’s also a proud member of the Kalymon Society, a local Greek culture organization.

Valley Building Supply Since 1994, DeLane Dacus and his family have overseen Valley Building Supply and PRO Hardware, which offers complete building materials and outdoor living products. The team recently purchased a former lumberyard in nearby Madisonville and plans to expand their business by moving their custom-built storage facility there. “The Paul L. Cosgrave Memorial Award is named after a distinguished and successful businessman who founded PRO Hardware in 1953 and achieved retail success,” Dacus says. “It is a great honor to receive such a distinguished award.” Since 1994, the company has sourced products from the Wallace Hardware Co. and later became a PRO Hardware and Building Supply dealer. The team remains loyal to both organizations, attending every Wallace dealer market and implementing the Wallace Hardware Partners for Profit business plan and other programs to boost business and connect with customers. DeLane says it is a true honor to work alongside his family. “I have been told it is the greatest honor for a child to follow in your footsteps,” DeLane says. Currently, his son Jason is the vice president of Valley Building Supply. Jason’s brother-in-law, Jeff Cunningham, has also joined the team. Valley Building Supply was recently updated through PRO Group distributor the Wallace Hardware Co. Thirteen endcaps throughout the store highlight special purchases, seasonal items and closeout deals to help shoppers save money on the items they need most. Accurately controlling inventory goes hand in hand with running a successful modern retail establishment.

The company uses the PRO-designed inventory control system, a retail merchandising list used for initially stocking a store. The Valley Building Supply team reviews it monthly to ensure it matches exactly what the Sweetwater community needs from their local independent retailer. Within a 50-mile radius of Valley Building Supply are numerous independent and big-box competitors. By taking advantage of PRO Group’s suite of advertising options, the team knows they can reach customers directly. One of the key ways the company advertises in the community is through circulars. In 2019 alone, they produced 12 circulars. They’re also incorporating technology into their marketing outreach by distributing mobile text coupons to customers. The team prides itself on constantly pushing to learn new ways to succeed in home improvement retail. All employees have undergone retail-specific training to connect with customers and manage the store effectively. In addition to keeping their retail skills sharp, the team also offers a diverse offering of services to customers, including special orders, key cutting, custom-built storage solutions and more. DeLane and the Valley Building Supply team know giving back to the Sweetwater community is paramount. They regularly support a host of fundraisers and community events, including the local school system, youth sports teams, the Scouts, 4-H, Future Farmers of America and first responders. Notably, DeLane has devoted many resources to True Purpose Ministries, an organization that seeks to help people recovering from addiction.

October 2020 | HARDWARE RETAILING

In light of COVID-19, many industry events are either postponing or transitioning to online platforms. For the latest information on major upcoming home improvement events, head to TheRedT.com/calendar.

Canadian Headlines • Home Renovation Spending Rises Home renovation spending, which saw a record high last year in Canada, fell during the early months of 2020 due to COVID-19. That trend is reversing, according to data from real estate consulting firm Altus Group. In total, Canadians spent $61.3 million USD on renovations in 2019, which outpaced overall economic growth. • Home Hardware Names New Merchandise Execs Home Hardware has appointed four new merchandise department leaders. Tara Spengen will serve as director of merchandise hardlines. Carol Crystal will become the director of merchandise hardlines. Craig Thompson will also

serve as director of merchandise hardlines. Meriyem Kaf will fill the newly created role of director of merchandise strategy and execution. • Taiga Launches Digital B2B Platform Taiga Building Products has launched an online businessto-business ordering, catalog and administrative platform called TaigaNow. Users can use the platform to browse the complete Taiga catalog and place orders immediately. The company plans to launch the new system across Canada in early 2021. It is currently live and available to customers served by the Calgary and Saskatoon branches and will be added to more western markets before expanding eastward.

Follow NRHA and Hardware Retailing on social media for updates.

@nrha_official

@hardwareretailing

Ad Index

Allway Tools .............................................................. 75 www.paintponcho.com; 718-792-3636

Midwest Fastener Corp........................................ 46-47 www.fastenerconnection.com; 800-444-7313

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

Car Keys Express ...................................................... 11 www.carkeysexpress.com; 800-557-EXPRESS

National Hardware Virtual Show................................ 69 www.nationalhardwareshow.com; 888-425-9377

Sellars .......................................................................... 3 www.sellarscompany.com; 800-237-8454

Do It Best Corporation ......................................... 16-17 www.doitbestretail.com; 888-364-8237

NRHA All-Industry Conference.................................. 56 www.nrhaconference.com

Shurtape Technologies LLC ...................................... 31 www.T-RexTape.com; 800-321-1733

EZ-AD ........................................................................ 29 www.ezadtv.com; 888-580-5593

NRHA’s TeamBuilder ................................................ 73 www.nrha.org/teambuilder

Simpson Strong-Tie ..................................................IFC go.strongtie.com/titenturbo; 800-999-5099

Gordon’s USA............................................................ 33 www.gordonsusa.com; 800-884-3179

Orgill Inc ............................................................ .76-IBC www.orgill.com; 800-347-2860

Stihl.............................................................................. 5 www.independentwestand.org; 888-787-8497

Home Improvement Research Institute................. H11 members.hiri.org

Paladin Data Corporation ............................................. 7 www.paladinpointofsale.com/nrha; 541-803-6060

Stinger Brush Company ............................................ 26 www.stingerbrush.com; 888-497-8464

Howard Products Inc................................................. 24 www.howardproducts.com; 800-266-9545

Phifer ........................................................................... 9 www.phifer.com; 205-345-2120

Uline .......................................................................... 24 www.uline.com; 800-295-5510

Intertape Polymer Group ........................................... 13 www.itape.com; 888-898-7834

Plylox Hurricane Window Clips ................................. 27 www.plylox.com; 800-583-4289

Wastequip Inc. .......................................................... 23 try.toter.com/beartoughcarts; 877-468-9278

Jonathan Green ......................................................... 19 www.jonathangreen.com; 717-682-2179

Police Security........................................................... 30 www.policesecurity.com; 866-880-9297

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

Lighthouse for the Blind............................................ 38 www.rapidfix.com; 800-542-3697

PRO Hardware ............................................................ 1 www.prohardware.com; 303-792-3000

Maple Avenue Branded Apparel ............................... 39 www.mapleavenue.com; 800-236-4774

Rescue....................................................................... 15 www.rescue.com; 1-800-666-6766

Mayhew Tools........................................................... 14 www.mayhew.com; 800-872-0037

Rust Patrol................................................................. 25 www.rust-patrol.com; 803-396-8400

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

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TeamBuilder Learn more at nrha.org/teambuilder

A North American Retail Hardware Association product, in partnership with Retail People Solutions

Last Word

D A T A

THE RETAIL

2020 ELECTION SURVEY The North American Retail Hardware Association recently asked retailers about their intentions and priorities leading up to the 2020 U.S. election on Nov. 3. Here are the results of the survey.

Top 5 Business Issues for Retailers

92%

Respondents were asked to select the business issues that were their highest priorities going into the election. These are the top five responses.

of survey respondents say they plan to vote in the upcoming election Which level are you most interested in based on the impact the 2020 election will have on your business?

BUSINESS TAXES

PANDEMIC-RELATED REGULATIONS

BUSINESS REGULATIONS

HEALTH CARE COSTS

10.9%

11.4%

LOCAL LEVEL

STATE LEVEL

TARIFFS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Did the pandemic have an effect on how you plan to vote for candidates or issues in the 2020 election?

72%

5.7%

FEDERAL LEVEL

OTHER

Most respondents who said “other” said all are important factors

HARDWARE RETAILING | October 2020

25%

65.1%

9.9%

YES

NOT SURE

THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS

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“Orgill is simply the best hardware distributor for our company. Orgill offers the right retail solutions to help us build our brand and grow our business.” Corby Biddle

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