“Our Midwest Fastener display is a destination for the Outdoor Supply Hardware customer. Midwest provides us a wide range of products which has increased our customers satisfaction with our fastener selection!”
- Flor Naranjo, Store manager
- Felix Cruz, Hardware Department Supervisor
Outdoor Supply Hardware, Redwood City, CA
Exceeding Expectations. One Fastener Destination at a Time!
1025 East 54th St. Indianapolis, Indiana 317-275-9400
NHPA@YourNHPA.org YourNHPA.org
OUR MISSION
The North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) helps independent home improvement and paint and decorating retailers, regardless of affiliations, become better and more profitable retailers.
NHPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Daniel Harris, Palos Ace Hardware, Palos Heights, Illinois; Lemont Ace Hardware, Lemont, Illinois
EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN
Jared Smith, Jared’s Ace Hardware, Bishopville, South Carolina
DIRECTORS
Craig Bond, Tommy’s Paint Pot, Eugene, Oregon
David Dishke, Grand River Home Hardware, Caledonia, Ontario
Scott Jerousek, Farm and Home Hardware, Wellington, Ohio
Ryan Ringer, Gold Beach Lumber Yard Inc., Gold Beach, Oregon
Jackie Sacks, Round Top Mercantile Co., Round Top, Texas
SECRETARY-TREASURER
Bob Cutter, NHPA President and CEO
STATE & REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
MIDWEST HARDWARE ASSOCIATION
Jody Kohl, 201 Frontenac Ave., P.O. Box 8033 Stevens Point, WI 54481-8033
800-888-1817; Fax: 715-341-4080
NHPA CANADA
NHPA 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
The past year has proved contactless commerce isn’t a passing trend, but a true differentiator independent home improvement retailers can harness to distinguish their operations. Next month, dive into the ways you can establish permanent contactless commerce solutions for your business to increase sales. Plus, see how investing in e-commerce helped one retailer gain new revenue streams and grow closer to existing and new customers.
Join Us for a Contactless Commerce Webinar Wednesday, September 15 Register at YourNHPA.org/webinars
STRATEGIC SERIES
SPONSORED BY EPICOR
Hardware Retailing (ISSN0889-2989) is published monthly by the North American Paint and Hardware Association, 1025 East 54th St., Indianapolis, IN 46220. Subscription rates: Hardware Retailing (Payable in advance): U.S. & possessions
$50/year. Canada $75/year. All other countries $100/year. (Air Mail $60/year additional). Single copy $7. The Annual Report issue can be purchased for $30.
Periodical postage paid at Indianapolis, Indiana, and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hardware Retailing P.O. Box 16709, St. Louis, MO 63105-1209.
All editorial contents © 2021 North American Paint and Hardware Association. No editorial may be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher.
REPRINTS: For price quotations, contact the Editorial Department at editorial@YourNHPA.org. Printed in the U.S.
EDITORIAL, DESIGN & PRODUCTION 317-275-9400, editorial@YourNHPA.org
MANAGING EDITOR
Melanie Moul, mmoul@YourNHPA.org
TRENDS EDITOR
Todd Taber, ttaber@YourNHPA.org
PRODUCTS & DIGITAL EDITOR
Hans Cummings, hcummings@YourNHPA.org
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Lindsey Thompson, lthompson@YourNHPA.org
SENIOR DESIGNER
Aubrey Smith
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Autumn Ricketts
DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST
Kevin Trehan
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Austin Vance
SALES & PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Freda Creech
ISSUE CONTRIBUTOR
Kate Klein
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Whitney Daulton
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER & EDITOR
Julie Leinwand
NHPA SALES
FIELD SALES MANAGER & SOUTHERN SALES DIRECTOR
Scott Gilcrest, sgilcrest@YourNHPA.org, 317-508-7680
MIDWEST SALES DIRECTOR
David Brodowski, dbrodowski@YourNHPA.org, 440-520-9551
NORTHEAST, NORTHWEST & CANADA SALES DIRECTOR
Jordan Rice, jrice@YourNHPA.org, 217-808-1641
SOUTHERN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Jessi Moore, jmoore@YourNHPA.org, 260-200-0306
EXECUTIVE STAFF
PRESIDENT & CEO
Bob Cutter
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER & PUBLISHER
Dan Tratensek
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS SERVICES
David Gowan
MEMBER SERVICES & TRAINING
800-772-4424, NHPA@YourNHPA.org
DIRECTOR OF MEMBER SERVICES & EVENTS
Katie McHone-Jones, kmchone-jones@YourNHPA.org
TRAINING MANAGER & EDITOR
Jesse Carleton, jcarleton@YourNHPA.org
RETAIL ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST
Renee Changnon, rchangnon@YourNHPA.org
DATA & INFORMATION COORDINATOR
Natalie Harris
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PAINT & DECORATING PROGRAMS
LeAnn Day, lday@YourNHPA.org
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ADVANCED RETAIL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Scott Wright, swright@YourNHPA.org
Retail employees need a variety of skills to be successful at their jobs, but some of the most important skills are the least understood. Learn why soft skills, such as communication and teamwork, are crucial in the workplace and how to develop them in your employees.
Discover four niche categories you can add to your operation to give your customers the products and services they need to host fun festive fetes this holiday season and year-round.
Join us in Las Vegas Oct. 21-23 for the NHPA All-Industry Conference. Get a preview of the first keynote of the event in this conversation with tactical leadership expert Dave Rosenberg.
Shawn Risinger changed careers when he bought a hardware store, but switching from preacher to owner hasn’t diminished his eagerness to serve his community at Eagle Hardware Farm & Ranch.
Get insights from building engineer Bill Hayward on how you can help customers select effective products to purify their homes inside and out to create safe and healthy spaces for their families.
Service counts and knowledgeable dealers are part of the STIHL difference. With more than 85,000 online reviews and counting, STIHL Dealers have an average 4.8 star rating and customers overwhelmingly say they would recommend their dealer to others. Thank you for your dedication and the essential services you provide your community. Together we are STIHL Strong.
“The staff was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable about the products. I was very impressed.”
— Tim G.
ON THE WEB
ONLINE Stay Informed
Check out these stories and more. Head over to hardwareretailing.com/september to see more.
Your employees likely spend a majority of their time working face-to-face with customers, but in our digital world, they may find themselves interacting online as well. Information technology professional Chrystal Taylor shares three soft skills your employees need to develop in order to work and connect in a digital setting and how those same skills can translate into real-life situations.
Manage Niche Inventory
Learn five ways to manage your inventory after adding new or enhancing existing niche categories to your product offerings.
Showing Love for Local
Expanding beyond just one day, Small Business Saturday has turned into a yearlong event that promotes small, local businesses. Learn how you can use the event to promote your business and bring customers through the door.
Pure Knowledge
As more homeowners invest in home purification, helping your staff guide them to sound purchases is critical. Educate your staff with tips from the Environmental Protection Agency on what it takes to purify homes and offices.
How much time the average American spends indoors, making home purification a critical home improvement category. 90%
Source: EPA
VIDEO Tour New Potential
Vassar Building Center president Mike MacKay leads you on a tour of his new location, the first Do it Best prototype store. See how it’s connecting with his community now.
EDITORIALLY SPEAKING
CONNECTIONS
Send Melanie a Message mmoul@YourNHPA.org
Melanie Moul YourNHPA.org/es-pod
“Soft skills can make the difference between a good customer experience and a remarkable one.”
ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTY TRICKS when I wear my glasses is letting other people try them on so they can see how bad my eyesight really is. I’ve worn glasses since I was 9 years old when I came home complaining that I couldn’t see the chalkboard from the back of the room. (More than 20 years later, I cannot see the chalkboard from any distance without corrective lenses.)
Because I have over two decades of experience with eye doctors (I even worked as a receptionist for one briefly after college), I feel particularly qualified in my ability to assess the service of the people who work in optometry offices.
It was recently time for my annual eye exam, and the entire process of scheduling my appointment from start to finish was a debacle. I scheduled online, and then I received a cryptic email that said I needed to call to schedule my appointment. I called a few days later, and they had no record of my appointment and were booked two weeks out from the original date I had chosen.
I didn’t have enough contacts to wear until that new appointment, and my glasses are not strong enough for daily wear. Because of my uniquely strong prescription, they didn’t have enough sample contacts in stock to tide me over until my new much later appointment. I had to come up with my own solution: Was there another brand of contacts I could use in the meantime? Oh yes, probably, the receptionist said.
I really like my doctor and want to stay with her, but at what point does the overall experience I have with everyone else I work with in the office diminish— or potentially eliminate—my loyalty?
Generally, the office staff are kind and helpful. On the day of my appointment, I worked with an optician who helped me choose new frames. She was very knowledgeable about guiding me to the right size for my prescription and face shape, and she clearly walked me through my options for lenses.
I think my initial experience with scheduling was a combination of technical issues (the web scheduling system not communicating with the office’s software) and a missed opportunity to anticipate a customer’s needs.
In this month’s cover story, we feature two retailers who are invested in identifying missing soft skills in their staff and executing a plan to help develop them. Read the story on Page 32 to learn how soft skills can make the difference between a good customer experience and a remarkable one and how investing in your people creates strong, dedicated teams.
Melanie Moul Managing Editor
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Dan Tratensek
YourNHPA.org/tcb-pod
“Wages are rising. Employees are more transient. The labor pool has changed forever.”
WHENEVER I GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK on topics related to customer service, I often dust off an old story about “Old Roy” who works in the plumbing department of your store.
Most every store has an Old Roy. See, Roy was a master plumber for years, even owned his own plumbing business. There isn’t a flush valve, copper elbow or fancy fitting Roy hasn’t seen or installed. Most owners and managers beam with pride about Old Roy, illustrating how vastly superior their team’s subject knowledge is to the pimply faced kids who stock the shelves at the local big box.
Here’s the problem. While Old Roy can install a second-floor steam shower with fancy French fixtures in a few hours, he is also a surly SOB. No one likes to talk to or even work with Old Roy because he intimidates customers and treats fellow staffers with disdain because of their lack of knowledge in the flushing arts.
So, now tell me, how valuable is Old Roy?
This month, we highlight how important it is to seek out people who have a knack for listening, communication, leadership and other key soft skills and how to train and encourage employees to improve in these areas.
Right now, most of you are shaking your head and saying, “Dan, I’m just trying to find someone with a pulse who will actually show up for a shift. Soft skill training is like painting a kitchen when the house is on fire.”
I totally get it. Finding and retaining good people is harder and more expensive than it has been in a while.
But hear me out. Wages are rising. Employees are more transient. The labor pool has changed forever. You can either accept this and start making your operation a place people want to work, or you can cling to the hope that you will suddenly stumble upon a field of unicorn employees who are great with customers, know everything about your products and are willing to work for you at minimum wage—forever.
There isn’t a whole lot of middle ground here.
I’m hearing from more progressive retailers who instead of fighting wage inflation, are accepting it. Instead of railing against the dearth of employees, they are actively seeking ways to create a more attractive workplace. They are investing in their employee pool with wages, benefits and training, and they are betting that this investment—combined with the better quality performance these employees can deliver—will pay off with greater productivity and profits.
Right now is the time to choose whether you will rethink your strategy or continue on this endless labor loop that seems to be getting more and more difficult to escape. Either way, on your way to the breakroom, say hi to Old Roy for me.
Dan M. Tratensek Chief Operations Officer & Publisher
• Super strong
• Aggressive adhesion
• Tested in accordance with UL723
• All-weather
• Use for bundling, patching and repair
• Available in 35 yard and 10 yard rolls
Do it Best provides the freedom to grow your business your way. Better yet, you can reinvest your record-breaking rebate to make it happen. Expand your sales floor to attract new customers. Use powerful Do it Best ecommerce tools to create a dynamic online shopping experience. Maximize your market share with a full store reset. Acquire a new location or build one from the ground up.
No matter which growth strategy is right for you, Do it Best stands ready with the resources, support, and guidance of the only total solution in the independent home improvement industry.
The time has never been better to take the next step in your business growth plan. Call us today at 888-DO-IT-BEST (888-364-8237) or visit doitbestonline.com.
Visit YourNHPA.org/marketplace to view or submit listings to the NHPA Retail Marketplace.
NHPA
a service launched last month by the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA), connects buyers and sellers of independent home improvement businesses.
The Retail Marketplace streamlines and formalizes the process for connecting buyers and sellers— something NHPA has done on an unofficial basis in the past as the association frequently receives inquiries from retailers. NHPA recently worked to connect buyer W.E. Aubuchon Co. Inc. with the seller of Village Hardware in Alexandria, Virginia.
Will Aubuchon, president and CEO of W.E. Aubuchon Co. Inc., says his company is always looking to add to their stores, and NHPA helped connect him with Larry Gray, the now former owner of Village Hardware.
“The program was in beta mode when we did this,” Aubuchon says. “But I will unequivocally say it worked great. For over 40 years, Larry and his family successfully built a reputation of excellent customer service and community support. We are proud to carry on that tradition with Village Hardware, which is now part of the Aubuchon family of stores.”
Aubuchon says his company has completed more than 50 acquisitions, and while they are comfortable with the buying process, that’s not the case for everyone.
“For the seller in particular, this is their whole life and their baby,” Aubuchon says. “So it’s a big deal and a big transaction. We’re all used to selling hardware, but not buying and selling businesses. It’s a whole different world.”
It can take more than a year of conversations before a sale is completed, and the process can be rigorous, according to Aubuchon. This is one reason why he sees value in the NHPA Retail Marketplace.
“It makes sense for NHPA to provide this sort of middle ground, and I’m excited to see where this goes,” he says. “I will check it every day.”
Aubuchon says he hopes the Marketplace will bring together a sometimes fragmented independent community and offer a solution for sellers who are looking to retire and who maybe don’t have a succession plan in place.
“People aren’t getting any younger. The last thing we want as an independent is these stores closing,” he says. “That’s not good for the industry. We want to make it so these independent stores have a future.”
Check Your Email
Confirm your email preferences by visiting YourNHPA.org/subscribe
Stock up on merch for your employees and store at YourNHPA.org/shop
THE NHPA ONLINE STORE has now expanded to include home improvement-themed customizable merchandise, such as adult T-shirts and hats—and even toddler and baby shirts and onesies. Outfit your team or stock your shelves with these fun designs that are tailored toward industry professionals, DIYers and the youngest members of their families.
NHPA NEWS
EDUCATION
Explore the Academy for Retail Development Visit YourNHPA.org/academy for more information on NHPA’s educational offerings.
The deadline to apply for the Leading Your Team course is Oct. 8. Visit YourNHPA.org/fol to enroll or learn more about the Foundations of Leadership program.
DEVELOP AND ENCOURAGE leaders in your organization with NHPA’s home improvement industry-specific training courses for managers. The deadline to enroll in the Leading Your Team course, part of NHPA’s Foundations of Leadership program, is Oct. 8.
This nine-week online course benefits both seasoned and developing leaders, boosting their skills, knowledge and confidence.
As part of the course, managers will complete a real-world capstone project for their business where they will apply the knowledge and skills they have learned toward solving a problem or capitalizing on a missed opportunity in the business.
To learn more about the Foundations of Leadership courses, contact Scott Wright, NHPA executive director of advanced retail education programs, at swright@YourNHPA.org or 317-441-4136.
APPLY TODAY
The deadline to apply for the Leading Your Team course is Oct. 8.
ASSOCIATION
Discover the Benefits
This NHPA training is available to Premier Members. Visit YourNHPA.org/membership to learn more.
IF YOU’RE WONDERING how to reduce turnover among your staff or how to increase the performance of your employees, review your onboarding process. How well a new hire understands your company culture and what is expected of them will have a big impact on how long they stay with you. The training you give them will lay the foundation for the rest of their career with you.
NHPA’s Onboarding Handbook guides you in creating an onboarding process that works for you. The handbook comes as a downloadable PDF that covers topics such as why onboarding is important, best practices, examples from other retailers and a checklist of items to incorporate into a new hire’s first weeks on the job. It can be used by owners and managers who need a formal onboarding program or those who are looking to refresh the one they already have.
New hires can also take NHPA’s Joining a Retail Team course. This online course helps new employees understand the responsibilities of working in a retail environment. It covers the importance of teamwork, customer service and why independent retailers are an important part of the community. It’s designed for new hires in the first few days of their retail job.
Both the Onboarding Handbook and Joining a Retail Team course are available to NHPA Premier Members.
Visit YourNHPA.org/membership to learn more about training and services for NHPA Premier Members. toter.com/professional
The TOTER Pro line-up is ready for duty. Made by a roto-molding process that eliminates weak spots that are evident in injection molded carts, our cans are build for extreme situations and extended service, indoors or outdoors. With useful features like thicker drag strips, robust handles, rugged rims and venting channels, not to mention a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to choose from, Toter Pro is the smart, tough, and dependable choice.
Explore the latest insight into lawn and garden category sales by visiting hardwareretailing.com/lawn-and-garden
1
FIND THE RIGHT SIZE.
Even if your customers don’t own a home, offer small-space garden solutions to help them grow something special no matter where they call home.
2
Steer customers to growing other vegetation as well. Merchandising Instagram-ready flowers can be a great way to boost sales.
NEW INSIGHTS FROM the National Hardware Show
reveal an uptick in gardening, self-sufficiency and food origin awareness is pushing DIYers to grow their own gardens.
Data from seed company Bonnie Plants says 20 million people began gardens in the past 18 months. But many customers are taking their pitfalls to retailers to help weed out problems. Use this data to help recommend products and solutions to keep your DIY garden customers successful and growing superior produce—and confidence—each day.
For more trends from the National Hardware Show, visit nhsconnects.balluun.com.
3
OFFER ALTERNATIVES TO SEEDS
Certain species of vegetable seeds are experiencing a shortage, so teach your customers ways to grow plants without starting with seeds, like with scraps and offcuts
4
EDUCATE THE CUSTOMER
Explain home gardens have a range of benefits, including mental wellbeing, physical activity and the satisfaction that comes from growing your own produce.
SEPTEMBER 13 THRU OCTOBER 11, 2021
Thirty-six $599 cash drawings will be drawn based on purchases with participating vendors. Every $500 purchase in a sponsoring vendor booth earns one ticket.
Send a note to editorial@YourNHPA.org about products you can’t keep on the shelf. Include your name, your business name and reasons why you love them.
Leviton’s SmartlockPro Self-Test GFCI Combination Type-A USB In-Wall Charger meets the latest UL standard for auto-monitoring (self-test) by periodically conducting an automatic internal test to confirm that protected power is available. It features tamper-resistant shutters on the outlets and two 4.8 amp USB charging ports delivering 24W of total power with overcurrent protection. It is available in 15A and 20A models and is compatible with Decora® and Decora Plus™ screwless wallplates. LEVITON leviton.com or 800-323-8920
Ecboo™’s Outdoor Zoom Multifunction LED Flashlight provides up to 60 lumens of light and features a glass breaker, a seat belt cutter, fast flashing strobe mode, red flashing strobe mode, a nut wrench, a precision screwdriver, scissors, a knife blade and a can and bottle opener. ECBOO™ ecboo.com or sales@ecboo.com
The Aromatheraphy Handshower by Moen features patented INLY™ technology that allows capsules to infuse essential oils directly into the shower water. The six-function showerhead includes a 60-inch kink-free metal hose and the Magnetix Docking System which has a flow rate of 1.75 GPM, meeting EPA WaterSense® criteria.
MOEN moen.com or 800-289-6636
Diamond Shine™ Bathroom Cleaner removes hard water stains and limescale from shower doors, toilets, plumbing fixtures, countertops and bathtubs. It can restore porcelain and fiberglass tubs to a like-new finish and has a soft wintergreen scent.
DIAMOND SHINE
“The Cobra Mist stand is easy and fast to install. It begins cooling in seconds. They are great for get-togethers, keeping pets cool or everyday activities outside. With our recent heat waves, they are a must!”
—Mara Kirby-Garcia, Co-Owner, Kinney Bros. & Keele True Value
diamondshinecleaner.com or 833-444-7224
ALTENLOH, BRINCK & CO. U.S. INC. spax.us or 419-636-5715
SPAX® PowerTrim™ Finishing Screws feature t s for faster, easier driving and a unique 4CUT™ point tha ed for pre-drilling. They’re made of carbon steel with a high corrosion resistance dual barrier coating and have a T-STAR plus drive within a cylindrical head.
patented serrations for faster, easier driving and a unique 4CUT™ point that eliminates the need for a corrosion resistance
Orbit’s Flex Cobra Personal Mist Cooling Sprayer uses only 1.5 gallons per hour and can lower temperatures up to 20 degrees by delivering an evaporative mist wherever it is positioned. It can also add extra humidity to the air in greenhouses and uses only a faucet and a hose—no wires, plugs or cords required.
ORBIT IRRIGATION PRODUCTS orbitonline.com or 800-488-6156
Skout’s Honor all natural Flea + Tick Yard Spray is formulated with natural peppermint and cedarwood oil to eliminate fleas and ticks on contact (including their larvae and eggs) and repel mosquitoes in an area up to 5,000 square feet. It repels for up to two weeks when used as directed and is safe for pets, family and home.
SKOUT’S HONOR
skoutshonor.com or 877-805-0399
SHADOW Electric Pop-Up Power by Mockett features a wireless charger on top and quietly raises and lowers to provide access to additional AC power outlets as well as USB charging outlets. The wireless charger operates in both open and closed positions. It includes an anti-pinch sensor to protect fingers or other objects from getting caught in the cap when closing.
DOUG MOCKETT & CO.
mockett.com or 800-523-1269
BLUE BEAR® products are the solution to your customers’ cleaning and renovation needs! Made with American-grown soybeans and not harsh chemicals, our paint strippers, cleaners and removers get the job done while being better for people and the planet. No one should have to risk their health to upcycle a dresser, replace carpet or tackle tough cleaning jobs. Let us show you what BLUE BEAR can do!
To stay informed about new innovations and trends, subscribe to the twice monthly Hot Products newsletter at hardwareretailing.com/subscribe
Soldier Boy Beef Jerky is a veteran-owned company making premium meat snacks using tested family recipes. The jerky is made using a slow smoke process with all-natural spice blends. Sales of Soldier Boy Beef Jerky support K9s For Warriors.
SOLDIER BOY BEEF JERKY sbjerky.com or 855-725-3759
– including
At Mi-T-M, we pride ourselves on building mighty, damn good equipment and, we’ve been doing it for 50 years. When you purchase equipment with the Mi-T-M name on it, you are buying dependable equipment that is designed, built, and tested by good people.
The TWINTIER® RB611T ties #5 x #5 to #9 x #10 rebar combinations faster and more safely than hand tying. An enclosed magazine protects the tie wire and internal mechanism from debris. It dispenses the precise amount of wire needed, reducing wire usage and waste, thereby cutting production costs.
MAX USA maxusacorp.com or 800-223-4293
In 1971 the first Mi-T-M pressure washer was built by owner and founder, AJ Spiegel in Peosta, Iowa which is still home to Mi-T-M today.
Flow-Control Gas Can
Scepter® SmartControl™ fuel containers feature a simple spout and flame mitigation device. The squeeze-controlled flow rate makes filling everything from lawn mowers to recreational vehicles cleaner and safer. SmartControl gas cans are available in 1-gallon, 2-gallon and 5-gallon sizes.
SCEPTER
scepter.com or 855-857-3252
Dearborn®’s True Blue® FLEX is a flexible and adjustable tubing that serves as an alternative to rigid PVC designed to overcome residential and commercial jobsite obstructions such as floor joints, misaligned and offset drains and severely sloped walls. It is available in 16-inch and 24-inch lengths and is made with integrated locking features that reduce the number of tools needed for installation.
OATEY
oatey.com or 800-843-7584
Installed using existing wiring, Swidget’s 20A smart-ready outlet accepts Swidget Smart Inserts for control, additional functionality and real-time power monitoring. It can be used with heavy-duty appliances and is suitable for kitchens, workshops, laundry rooms and more. Inserts are available for Wi-Fi control, air quality, temperature, humidity, USB charging, motion sensing and more.
SWIDGET
swidget.com or 855-202-1144
The Forney Easy Weld 140FC-i is a portable flux-core wire welder. It features infinite voltage and wire feed speed control. It uses a 140-amp output and .030-inch flux-core wire that allows users to weld up to ¼ inch of mild steel. The Easy Weld 140 FC-i does not require gas and runs off standard household power with a 20-amp breaker.
FORNEY INDUSTRIES forneyind.com or 800-521-6038
Constructed with 1680D ballistic polyester and extra webbing around the pockets and handles, CLC Molded Base Bags offer extra strength to hold heavy tools. The molded bottom base is attached with double-stitched tape binding and the bags include a padded shoulder strap, ergonomic carrying handles, large metal zipper pulls, heavy-duty hardware and multiple pocket arrangements for tool organization.
CUSTOM LEATHERCRAFT goclc.com or 800-325-0455
Kapro’s 510 Optivision™ blade for horizontal oversized dual-scale (imperial reading in all conditions. casing, an impact-resistant abrasion-resistant blade, measurement stability 10-foot (3m),
n™ Tape Measure series features a double-printed and vertical reading and marking. Its triple-colored imperial and metric) gradation provides clear ns. It includes a 10-foot drop-tested polycarbonate tant mechanism, a nylon-coated carbon-steel e, magnets on a double-sided end hook for y and an auto-lock mechanism. It is available in , 16-foot (5m) and 26-foot (8m) lengths.
kapro.com or 920-648-2900
It lasts
- 20+ years in the harshest environments
- The original high performance acrylic. When have you ever seen it fail?
Easy to use
- Paintable
- Quick wash out resistance
- Soap and water clean up
- Guns easily
- Elasticity - As homes move, it stretches instead of cracking.
- Adhesion - Great adhesion, even to vinyl.
- Durable - ASTM C920 Class 25 rated.
- UV resistant - Great for exterior and interior projects alike.
Plastic Packaging ...ensuring a longer shelf life and that cartridges won’t get soggy in the truck.
Freeze-thaw Stable Formula ...so you don’t have to worry about product in the warehouse.
Dripless Cartridge ...avoid having to clean up extra sealant that drips out of the tube.
10.5 oz Fill …goes further than competitive brands.
Seal Outside
- siding lap joints
- transition from siding to brick, stone, or stucco
- transition from garage door to siding
- around windows
- around doors
- around exterior vents & pipes
Seal Inside
- crown molding
- trim
- countertops
- sinks & toilets
- showers & tubs
Big Stretch comes in clear and 12 colors to match popular trim colors.
Learn how DiSC personality profiles match up with various soft skills in the “Tell Me More...” podcast at YourNHPA.org/tmm-pod
BY LINDSEY THOMPSON
From a young age, most of us are taught to be polite, work together with others and use our words to solve problems. These attributes, called soft skills, are important for our everyday human experience, and they’re also essential in any workplace setting. However, several recent studies have found that employers believe some of their employees lack these critical skills, and it’s having a negative impact on their ability to do business well.
Wiley Education Services and Future Workplace surveyed 600 human resources leaders in 2019 and found that 64 percent of the respondents believe there is a soft skills gap in their company and 42 percent believe that gap is making their companies less efficient and costing money.
On the following pages, learn from two retailers who have made soft skills a key part of their company cultures and discover their best practices for improving soft skills in your own business.
NHPA’s Joining a Retail Team course teaches employees other crucial retail skills. Enroll at YourNHPA.org/membership
When reading applications or interviewing, you can clearly see if an applicant has hard skills—experience in a trade, proficiency in software programs or bilingualism—but soft skills are harder to pick out.
According to job posting platform Indeed, soft skills are “abilities that relate to how you work and interact with people.” Some common soft skills in the workplace include written and verbal communication, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking and empathy. Other less common, but still important, soft skills are project management, business acumen and handling complexity. So, what do these skills look like in a retail setting?
Written and verbal communication are straightforward; they are how your employees interact and communicate with customers and
each other. Teamwork and leadership are also easy to spot among your staff. Some employees are naturally more adept at showing initiative with projects, leading a team and working well with everyone.
When a retail employee can design a creative merchandising display, handle difficult customers or think outside the box when work issues come up, that’s an example of critical thinking in action, says Susan Zhu, senior researcher with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Retail employees are often given explicit directions about what to do in a situation, but if the situation is not straightforward, the employee may have difficulty taking charge and solving problems. Those employees who can handle outside-the-box situations are showing they can handle complexity.
“It’s fine when things are going well, but when there are unplanned situations or emergencies, an employee who is unable to deal with complexity and ambiguity will not know how to act in those situations effectively,” Zhu says.
Maybe you haven’t been formally calling these attributes soft skills, but you do know these qualities are important in your employees. And if you’ve found a lack of these skills in new job candidates or your own employees, you’re not alone.
In the 2019 Global Skills Shortage Report published by SHRM, 75 percent of employers from around the U.S. who were surveyed believe there is a shortage of hard and soft skills in job candidates. The survey asked respondents to name what specific soft skills they feel are missing in employees, and SHRM organized those skills into three categories: problem-solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity; ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity; and communication.
The gap may not always be an employee’s fault, however. Zhu recommends considering the work context when looking at any potential soft skills gap.
“Some workplaces may say, ‘My new hires are not solving problems or coming up with creative solutions.’ But it’s possible that those workplaces didn’t create a culture or environment for people to feel comfortable voicing new ideas,” Zhu says. “I think that’s an important issue to consider as we talk about the skills gap in general. It is up to companies to provide the necessary training and development for their employees.”
Fortunately, there are steps business owners can take to improve soft skills among their employees and create a culture that encourages learning and using these skills.
As a coach for his kids’ sports teams, dedicated community volunteer and small business owner, Jon Phillips understands firsthand the importance of soft skills. He works with local police departments to build relationships with urban teens and teach them basic skills, including soft skills, to find a job.
During the hiring process, Jon Phillips looks for certain experiences on an application and during the interview that can be strong indicators a candidate has soft skills, such as a military background or volunteer work.
He encourages everyone—from the kids he coaches to his employees—to develop and use their soft skills.
Phillips owns two Phillips Hardware stores outside Albany, New York. Soft skills are imperative to him as a business owner, because customer service is at the core of his company’s brand and culture; the Phillips Hardware company motto is “Phillips Hardware, where it’s all about service.”
During the hiring process, Phillips looks for certain experiences on the job application and during the interview that can be strong indicators a candidate has soft skills, such as a military background or volunteer work.
He’s immediately drawn to job candidates who grew up or worked on a farm or are involved in sports and extracurriculars. Phillips also looks at other life experiences.
“Maybe they didn’t play sports or were involved in a lot of extra activities, but helped raise three of their siblings,” Phillips says. “Those are the kind of experiences that tell me this person has the soft skills I’m looking for in an employee like teamwork, problem-solving and communication.”
Gold Beach Lumber, which has seven locations in Oregon and over 140 full-time employees, also understands the importance of soft skills and includes training in developing soft skills in its new employee onboarding and training program.
the Screen
Soft skills are important even when you’re not face-to-face. See how employees use soft skills digitally at hardwareretailing.com/digital-soft-skills
Source: Society for Human Resource Management Subject Matter Experts
Dean Kruschke, vice president of finance and administration, developed the program with owner Ryan Ringer and the company’s management team.
“We wanted to reduce employee turnover and give our employees an opportunity to become productive team members in a short amount of time,” Kruschke says. “Our new interview and onboarding process is a longer process now, which is harder for us, but it allows us to recognize soft skills in job candidates and make sure we’re putting the right people in the right positions.”
When looking for soft skills in job candidates, younger generations can get a bad rap. Kruschke believes that many younger candidates are actually better at some soft skills, including compassion and creating a healthy work-life balance.
“We’ve found that in addition to a good salary and 401K, younger employees most want time off to pursue outside interests, to feel pride in their employer and to work for a company that fits their values,” Kruschke says. “It’s important for us to develop soft skills in our company so that younger generations can see what we offer; working with us is not just about the salary.”
Once Gold Beach has found the right candidate, the company’s 90-day onboarding and training program plans out a new hire’s schedule by the hour for their first 90 days and includes a focus on developing certain soft skills. The first week includes training on how to be a good team member and work in a diverse environment with different groups of people.
“Lumberyards have a reputation of being rough and tumble and often lacking in any gender or cultural diversity,” Kruschke says. “Diversity is important to us and is a key to our success, so we want our employees to work and thrive in a diverse environment and respect others who might be different from them.”
Kruschke also uses a soft skills training resource from a well-known fast food chain that teaches employees about showing compassion to customers and fellow workers.
“Compassion is the soft skill we emphasize the most because we want our people to care about other people,” Kruschke says.
“We’re trying to make people’s lives better by leading by example, finding teaching experiences and lifting people up rather than putting someone under your thumb.”
—Dean Kruschke, Gold Beach Lumber
The staff at Gold Beach goes through training to learn soft skills such as servant leadership and compassion, which help them better serve their customers.
The program has been successful, not only in retaining employees but also improving employees’ soft skills.
“After employees complete the program, we find they’re better team members, interact well with customers and fellow staff and have the hard and soft skills to help our customers,” Kruschke says. “They are also much happier because they know how to do their job and do it well.”
Phillips says he has created a set of best practices at Phillips Hardware to guide employees, and he also trains his managers how to teach soft skills to employees. He encourages managers to take the time to correct slip-ups when they happen.
“When a manager hears an employee call someone ‘dude’ instead of ‘sir,’ I want them to correct that misstep then and there, giving the employee guidance and advice on a better way to address a customer or handle a situation,” Phillips says.
When an employee receives a question they can’t answer, Phillips encourages them to find another employee who can help, but then stay and learn from them, seeing how that more experienced employee handles the question or situation.
“It’s about being willing to learn,” Phillips says. “If you don’t know the answer to a question and have to get another associate, rather than just walking away, stay and learn from your co-worker.”
Phillips also emphasizes vulnerability with his employees. During training, Phillips and his managers let their employees know that failure is an option, as long as they learn from their mistakes.
“We want them to be vulnerable so when they do make a mistake, they can own up to it and learn from it,” Phillips says. “If you make a mistake, don’t make excuses. Be vulnerable and willing to admit you messed up but that you will try to do better next time.”
At Gold Beach, soft skills development starts at the top as well. The management team teaches and leads by example, taking on a servant-leadership mentality.
“We’re trying to make people’s lives better by leading by example, finding teaching experiences and lifting people up rather than putting someone under your thumb,” Kruschke says. “I view my role in the company as one of leadership, teaching and trying to help people to succeed.”
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Drawing Customers In
Introduce customers to a new niche by hosting a holiday event. See how at hardwareretailing.com/small-biz-saturday
BY LINDSEY THOMPSON
The holidays are a time for gathering with family and friends, hosting parties and celebrating the season. Getting together with loved ones will feel even more special this year following the canceled events and socially distanced gathering from the last year and a half.
Your customers know they can count on you for tools, paint and plumbing. By adding the right products, you could also be the go-to spot for all of their holiday entertaining needs.
Hardware Retailing spoke to four retailers who shared why they offer unique niches that cater to entertaining, including gourmet food, cookware, party rentals and formal rentals, and how those departments have increased overall sales for their businesses.
On the following pages, learn best practices for merchandising and marketing these niches and how to bring these products into your own store to help your customers check off their holiday party lists.
When the holiday season rolls around, customers flock to Northeast Jackson Revell Ace Hardware in Jackson, Mississippi, to stock up on gourmet food items for parties and gift giving. Lisa Rooks, who co-owns seven Revell Ace Hardware stores with her husband Joe, opened the Revell at Home department in the Northeast Jackson store in November 2017, realizing a lifelong dream of owning a kitchen and housewares store.
In the four years since Revell at Home opened, Rooks has learned what it takes to be successful in the gourmet food niche. It starts with choosing brands with deep product lines and picking a variety of products. She says she chose one specialty food vendor because it offered a wide assortment of food products that would appeal to her customers, including jellies, pancake mixes, syrups, relishes and olive oils.
“When I was opening Revell at Home and purchasing products, my husband said, ‘If you’re going to buy, buy big,’ and recommended I purchase enough products for the department to look full,” Rooks says. “If you’re going to sell tea, for example, choose several different types to sell and the accessories to go along with the tea.”
Offering a wide assortment of food products gives customers choices and can tie into housewares products you’re already selling, leading to add-on sales. For example, Rooks sells popcorn makers to go with the local popcorn she stocks and specialty pancake pans that pair well with the pancake mixes and syrups sold in the store.
Taste and appearance are other important factors Rooks considers when choosing gourmet food products. Prior to the pandemic, Rooks hosted product tastings and cooking demonstrations so customers could try before they bought; she hopes to resume those events this holiday season.
“I also look for high-quality product packaging because I’ve found a product’s look helps it sell,” she says. “The packaging should make the food appetizing, even in the container. This is especially important if you’re giving the food product as a gift.”
Look for Local Items
Choosing local brands allows you to support other small businesses, and many customers appreciate homegrown and homemade items. Selling local items also cuts down on your shipping costs, as the vendor can often drop off the items instead of shipping them.
on of varied representative
Versatile and delicious, Stonewall Kitchen Lemon Curd can be used as a spread, topping, filling and more. “The lemon curd is perfect as a simple spread n toast or a fancy afternoon tea filling for tarts,” says Revell co-owner Lisa Rooks. “Stonewall Kitchen is one f my favorite vendors because they have a deep, aried product line. I’m able to work with one sales epresentative for a wide range of food products.” stonewallkitchen.com
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In southern Louisiana, traditional holiday cooking often takes on a Cajun twist, and Brasseux’s True Value Hardware is ready with a wide selection of cookware, including several lines of pots and pans, cooking utensils and accessories. At Brasseux’s, which has locations in Abbeville and Maurice, Louisiana, cookware is the third best-selling department. That success can be traced back to owner Gerrod Brasseux, his love for cooking and the culture of food in Louisiana.
Both Brasseux’s Hardware locations are situated in the heart of Cajun country and close to the Gulf of Mexico, where seafood and Cajun cooking reign, so Brasseux stocks specialty cookware like seafood broilers, fryers and griddles. Brasseux says they also stock restaurant-grade pots and skillets for professional chefs, but home cooks are the main audience in this department.
“We cater to home chefs who love food and enjoy cooking,” Brasseux says. “Before I bought the hardware store, I had always wanted to open a meat market, so this is my way of sharing my love of cooking with others.”
To bring people in the door, Brasseux, whose dad was a restaurant owner, hosts cooking classes throughout the year. In November, the Maurice store hosts holiday cooking classes featuring turkey and traditional Thanksgiving sides. Those cooking classes not only bring in customers, but have led to another niche category for both stores—cocktail accessories.
The store was serving beer and wine during the cooking classes because they are private events, but Brasseux wanted to up the ante with signature cocktails. So, he reached out to a Charleston, South Carolina, company that made cocktail mixes and added its products to the stores. He has also added locally made cocktail mixes, frozen drink mixes and accessories like tumblers, rocks glasses and ice cube trays.
“During the holiday season and around Father’s Day, we sell an Old-Fashioned cocktail kit with a glass, silicone ice cube tray, cocktail mix, cherries and bitters,” Brasseux says. “It’s a great gift for guys.”
Embrace the Local Cultu
Choose cookware product fit into the local food cultu and seasons. The holidays bring an increase in cookware sales at Brasseux’s Hardware, but so do Southern eating seasons, including gumbo and jambalaya in the fall and boiling season in the late spring.
The Oyster Bed Le Petite Pan individual gather all the comes with Parrain’s Cajun is probably my designed Hardware
ster Bed Le Petite Pan features six al cooking wells for oysters and a reservoir to he juices or hold garnishes and sauces. It a burlap storage bag and a package of jn Butter Seasoning. “The Oyster Bed y favorite cooking item. It’s a specially pan for chargrilling oysters,” says Brasseux’s ware owner Gerrod Brasseux. “It’s beautiful and theoysterbed.com
Whether it’s a simple soiree or an extravagant family gathering, if a customer is throwing a holiday party, Roselawn True Value in Roselawn, Indiana, probably has what they need. The store specializes in party rentals, renting a wide variety of party and entertainment items, including tents, tables, chairs, helium tanks and drink dispensers.
General manager Daren Padgett says the store started offering party rentals in 2017. The store is located in a rural community and area residents have no other options nearby for party rentals for holiday parties, graduations and backyard barbecues.
“We have a large trade area of about 25 miles, with broad customer demographics,” Padgett says. “Party rentals are a way to reach these different people with a service and product no one else in the area is carrying.”
Party rentals experience plenty of wear and tear and can start to look dingy and shabby quickly. Replace worn-out pieces regularly and look for new additions to include with current customer favorites to keep your selection fresh.
Offering party rentals has also brought in customers from outside Roselawn’s geographic area. Padgett says the store has customers from other towns rent from them because it’s the closest place that rents party supplies.
“We’ve also seen more and more customers come from other areas to rent our party supplies because our items are newer than the rental shop in their town,” Padgett says.
While pandemic stay-at-home orders hit the party rental market hard, Padgett says business picked up last fall. During the busiest months—May through July—party rentals can increase store sales by 35 percent.
Padgett says one key to success in this category is setting a goal for return on investment. Keeping up on regular maintenance is also important.
“Keep your party rentals fresh and looking new, and you will continue to thrive,” he says. “Monitor your inventory so you can purchase new pieces and sell older ones before you need to invest more than the unit is worth.”
Gold Medal Products Sno Kone Syrups come in a ariety of flavors, and the newly designed bottle is asy to pour and store. Roselawn True Value sells the yrup to go with the snow cone and slush machines he store rents. “The syrups are great because they ome in so many colors and flavors, such as bubble gum and strawberry,” says general manager Daren Padgett. “With so many options, you can please all he kids at your party.” gmpopcorn.com
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The NHPA All-Industry Conference is live in Las Vegas Oct. 21-23 at the newly renovated Las Vegas Convention Center. The conference is co-located with the National Hardware Show, and it serves as a key opportunity for educational presentations, industry-specific panel discussions and opportunities to learn how to improve your business at the show.
The first keynote speaker is former fighter pilot and tactical leadership expert Dave Rosenberg. In the 25 years since leaving the Navy, Dave has owned and operated multiple companies before
KEYNOTE
starting his consulting firm, Locked On Leadership, which specializes in developing self-directed, highperformance teams. He says his biggest challenge as a naval officer didn’t come in the cockpit of his F-14, but rather as a leader of people. It was under the pressures of combat where he grasped how the right words at the right time can inspire and motivate people.
Learn more about Dave here and attend his keynote, “The Secret to Self-Directed Teams,” on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. at the NHPA All-Industry Conference. Visit YourNHPA.org/conference to learn more and register for the show.
Presenter: Dave Rosenberg, Founder, Locked On Leadership
You’re dealing with a complex employment market. Most of your people are only going through the paces without helping you improve. Meanwhile, you can’t seem to attract the talent you need or hold on to the talent you have, limiting your ability to grow and thrive. The good news is that it’s not you or them. In this session, you will discover the secret that will enable you to transform your team into the team everyone wants to join: A team of self-starters who work well without close supervision, resolve issues before they become problems and consistently crush company goals.
NHPA ALL-INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
See the Schedule
Favorites like the NHPA Top Guns Awards will take place along with panels about supply chain challenges and retail solutions. See the NHPA All-Industry Conference lineup at YourNHPA.org/conference
What have you missed most about live events that you’re looking forward to experiencing again at the NHPA All-Industry Conference and National Hardware Show?
The energy, the people, everything about being in-person. I love connecting with new people and discovering all we have in common. I’m constantly amazed by how we can grow up thousands of miles apart, in different ages and from different cultures, and yet we can always find things we have in common. Shows like this one allow us to create new relationships that always enrich our lives and frequently help our businesses.
What’s one thing retailers will take away from your presentation that can change the way they see their business?
I don’t know if there is one thing. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “No man steps in the same river twice, for the man is not the same, nor is the river.” People who have heard the same presentation more than once tell me there was something new in it, even though the content was the same. The difference is them; they were in a different place in their journey, so they keyed in on something new the second time.
Having said that, there are two things that people frequently comment on. How to hire the right people is high on the list, and the other area I get a great deal of feedback on is how to hold people accountable.
What’s a misconception you often hear about leadership or personal development?
I think the No. 1 misconception is that leaders are born and not made. Leadership is a skill, and just like any other, it can be learned. There are some people who need to work harder at developing their leadership skills than others. Mike Piazza, the former catcher for the L.A. Dodgers, was a mediocre baseball player when he was drafted by the Dodgers. Tommy Lasorda, the Dodgers’ coach, drafted him as a favor to Piazza’s father, Lasorda’s close friend. Piazza put in the work and went on to appear in 12 All-Star games and had an amazing career.
What qualities does a leader need to succeed?
There are three essential qualities that every leader must have: integrity, courage and caring. It’s impossible to lead without them.
“The No. 1 misconception is that leaders are born and not made.
Leadership is a skill, and just like any other, it can be learned.”
—Dave Rosenberg Founder, Locked On Leadership
Integrity is the critical quality, and integrity can’t exist without courage. Simply because our integrity will be constantly tested and it takes courage to maintain it. The question then becomes, where do we find the courage to maintain our integrity. That’s where caring comes in. In the words of Lau Tzu, founder of Taoism, “Being cared about by others gives us strength. Caring deeply about others gives us courage.” Therefore, when we care enough about our team, our customers and our vendors then we can find the courage to maintain our integrity.
What one item would you need to have with you on a deserted island?
I almost said none. I’m not a collector of material things. Then, I realized I do need something: a good book. So I would need an e-book that has a built-in solar rechargeable battery with at least 1,000 titles in it.
What’s a home improvement tip that you had to learn the hard way?
Wow, so many. For me, the most important one is to not set a deadline for completion. I’m very goal driven, and I’ll do what it takes to make a self-imposed deadline. Sometimes this causes me to rush things. Of course, this means I don’t always “measure twice.” So now, unless there is an external deadline, I just make sure I make constant progress, but I take the time to do it right, once. I’m always happier with the results.
E.M. Herr Provides Compassion, Service
Read about the E.M. Herr Ace Hardware team’s efforts to honor veterans at hardwareretailing.com/em-herr
BY KATE KLEIN
Pastors don’t buy hardware stores very often, but Shawn Risinger’s vocations have always involved helping people, so the career switch from preacher to purveyor was a more natural fit than it sounds.
“It’s always about helping people. When the customers walk in, they need feed or a problem to be fixed,” Risinger says. “When you take care of the people, the price and the product will work itself out.”
He bought Eagle Hardware Farm & Ranch in Royse City, Texas, in 2007 when he was looking
to retire from full-time church ministry and needed meaningful work to help him support his mother during cancer treatments. Since then, he has discovered boundless opportunities to use the store for public service.
Risinger sells hardware, farm and ranch products and also offers free workshops to help customers learn how to do their own DIY projects and better care for their livestock. He leads a popular annual Christmas Eve service in the store’s barn that has grown over the years and attracted more than 300 attendees in 2019.
Shawn Risinger bought Eagle Hardware Farm & Ranch in Royse City, Texas, in 2007, and switched from a job as a full-time pastor to running the store, which has provided him with new opportunities to serve.
Risinger also officiates weddings for free in the barn. When one customer asked him to host a memorial service for a family member, he felt honored.
“We’ve achieved what I strive to do, which is to be here for the community,” he says.
Learning customers’ names and helping them with their home projects and animals are the beginning of long-term relationships Risinger and his nine staffers develop with the people who buy from Eagle Hardware. Those relationships are why locals call to ask about store events and products or drop by to show off new pets. They also call to let the team know about life updates, such as a parent getting a cancer diagnosis that will prevent them from visiting the store.
Caring and helping are the Eagle Hardware way.
“That’s who we want to be,” Risinger says.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Risinger purchased the store from its founder, Sue Parks, who started the business to scrape out a small income by reselling a hodgepodge of home supplies she bought at closeout sales and auctions.
Parks kept track of daily sales on a paper wall calendar and displayed products in boxes instead of on organized shelves in the 5,000-square-foot building.
She needed to sell the business to take care of an ailing family member, so she and Risinger worked out an unconventional deal. Parks financed the sale of the building and land to help Risinger buy it.
Risinger built Parks a home on a separate piece of property in exchange for the business. And Parks continued helping at the store.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Bethany Guevara began working full time for her father’s hardware store in 2019 and now manages the growing business.
Risinger culled Parks’ inventory, bought shelving and upgraded the business practices to include using a computer to collect point of sale data. He also started buying from a hardware wholesaler, choosing a mix of new home improvement and farm products to keep in stock consistently so customers would know what to expect from the store. And he began selling a well-known brand of livestock feed.
Within three years, Risinger was ready to expand the store to keep up with customer needs, so he built a 1,500-square-foot addition to the building. A few years later, Risinger added a feed barn to the property for storing pallets of animal feed that didn’t fit in the store.
In 2019, he also added a 2,600-square-foot feed room to the original store building that now functions as a multiuse space.
The operation, which serves a rural community with a population of less than 15,000 people, sells hardware and lawn and garden products, as well as livestock feed, pet food and farm and ranch supplies. About half of Eagle Hardware’s customers are farmers and ranchers, 25 percent are local DIYers and 25 percent are commercial contractors.
The same year Risinger built the feed room, his daughter Bethany Guevara joined the business full time.
Guevara had spent her middle school and high school years working for her dad at Eagle Hardware, but she moved to Seattle after graduating from college and started a career as a teacher.
When she encountered some difficult life challenges, she decided to move back to Royse City to live near her dad and figure out her next steps. At the time, she began helping in the store occasionally.
Guevara started looking for a full-time job in 2019 at about the same time Risinger had two employees leave. Guevara was interested in working more hours at the store and took on the duties of answering the phone and ordering products. She also brought fresh ideas and enthusiasm with her.
EVENTS
Your Special Events Survival Guide
Learn about best practices for hosting in-store events at hardwareretailing.com/events-guide
Soon, she was ingrained in all of the operations and eager to grow the store. She saw opportunities to add more store events and tweak the product mix in ways that have improved business.
Now, she serves as store manager and has given Risinger the capacity to grow some other side businesses. He oversees a small neighborhood of bed-and-breakfasts he constructed near the hardware store and leads a custom homebuilding crew that works in the area.
“It is an absolute blast to have Bethany, my own daughter, do so well at the store. She sees this as more than just a job, which frees me up to do more,” Risinger says. “This is fun to me.”
Guevara’s love for the store and the people it serves has opened even more ways to make Eagle Hardware a welcoming space for locals.
For example, her family-friendly Valentine’s Day dance in the feed room brought in 130 people, some of whom had never been to the store. Seasonal activities, such as pumpkin painting, have also been popular.
The store’s Shop the Barn craft fair has provided opportunities for Guevara to develop partnerships with other small business owners. Because of these partnerships, she has been able to expand Eagle Hardware’s array of Texas-made products, making the store a destination for local goods.
“When they know we’re here for them, they come back. Our big goal is always to grow and serve our community.”
—Bethany
Guevara, Eagle Hardware Farm & Ranch
Royse City is located about an hour from downtown Dallas and has a population that has grown more than 50 percent over the past 10 years. That growth is continuing, so Guevara expects more opportunities for her family’s business to serve and expand.
Many of the new residents who have recently moved to Royse City have young families and want a more rural lifestyle than they found closer to Dallas. The store’s chick, equine, beekeeping and pond workshops always attract small crowds, with many participants attending to learn about livestock care for the first time.
Free events bring new shoppers, but they also create opportunities for the Eagle Hardware staff to develop relationships with new people.
“When they know we’re here for them, they come back,” Guevara says. “Our big goal is always to grow and serve our community.”
A Local Network
Customers may need experts help to create a healthy home. Develop a list of local service providers at hardwareretailing.com/local-providers
BY TODD TABER
Customers are reassessing how they live in their homes. Underlying that shift is a greater emphasis on overall health and how homes impact total quality of life. Bill Hayward has monitored this trend for 30 years, becoming a building scientist to understand how homes could be built stronger and more health-focused. His parents previously owned a hardware store in Culver City, California, and his first job was in its lumberyard. His knowledge of better building
practices and his familiarity with the needs of home improvement operators position him as a valuable resource to help you inform customers on the importance of home purification and recommend products to enhance your inventory.
Discover Hayward’s insights into maintaining a healthy home and the products retailers can suggest to customers to improve indoor air quality, purify the water they use to cook, clean and bathe, and even ensure their new victory gardens yield pure produce.
Improving indoor air quality is an important step to creating a healthy living space. Continued exposure to airborne contaminants like mold, dust and allergens can wreak havoc on everyone in your home or office.
“So much of our health is determined by what we breathe,” Hayward says. “Buying air purification products or simply reexamining how you store certain items can make a huge difference. Regularly replacing air filters with MERV-rated units is a great option.”
DIYer Reminder: Tell customers to keep potentially harmful products like paint, aerosols and gasoline outside the home, preferably in sheds to avoid contaminating indoor air.
Over the past year, many DIY customers started outdoor gardening projects, and educating them on the ways they can create healthy, organic gardens is a potential sales boost.
“The overall health of any home garden is deeply affected by the conditions in which the produce is raised,” Hayward says.
Remind customers not to put gardens, especially raised planters, directly next to exterior walls. Moisture from the garden can seep inside walls and provide a breeding ground for mold.
DIYer Reminder: Encourage customers to invest in organic soil and potting mix to safeguard their gardens.
Retailers can also help customers purify their homes by reviewing the quality of the water they use to cook, clean and bathe.
Hayward recommends retailers tell customers to review local water quality reports carefully. Those evaluations canv help customers invest in water purification systems to improve the overall conditions. Hayward says some water purification systems can be expensive, but there are usually options for every budget.
DIYer Reminder: Tell customers to avoid using water from a rain barrel for their gardens. That liquid can be contaminated before it reaches the barrel, and those pollutants can end up in homegrown food.
Mold remediation supplies RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
HEPA air filters
Bathroom & kitchen vents
Radon-detection kits
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
Raised planters
Organic potting soil
Soil-testing kits
Natural fertilizer
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
Reusable water bottles
Water-filtering pitchers
Water purification systems
Soft-water units
OUTREACH
Share Your Stories
Send your merchandising tips, event recaps, employee morale boosters and other stories to editorial@YourNHPA.org CHECKOUTS
Paint Hardware Design in New York offers
for real estate agents to use as homebuyer
Wallauer Paint Hardware Design in New York has started a new initiative to court homebuyers as new customers and offer support to local real estate agents.
STAFFERS AT THE 1 5 WALLAUER stores are creating gift boxes, each containing a gift card to Wallauer Paint or its affiliated Ace Hardware stores and a coupon good for a free consultation with a Wallauer interior designer. The gift boxes can be customized with a real estate agent’s name on the box and personalized letters from the agent to homebuyers.
The purpose of the boxes is to provide a convenient substitute for gift baskets that agents would traditionally provide homebuyers at closing. Real estate agents can order and customize the boxes, which Wallauer Paint employees fill.
The service makes providing a gift easy for real estate agents and it allows Wallauer to promote itself to homebuyers—a demographic highly likely to need paint and other products the paint and hardware stores sell.
Wallauer sponsors the local real estate association and has the option to provide two seminars per year to association members. During the seminars, Wallauer representatives can promote the paint company’s products and services. The association also publishes a member newsletter in which Wallauer Paint markets its gift boxes to agents.
Evans Ace Hardware in Hamilton, Montana, has a tradition that has won fans among young shoppers. Customers who buy a red gumball from the store’s gumball machine can choose a free treat from the candy counter. The possibility of bonus candy has inspired such enthusiasm from children that one of them wrote a paper for school about getting a winning gumball.
McKeithen’s True Value Hardware, located in Statesboro, Georgia, hosts an annual bucket sale to celebrate the store’s anniversary. Customers buy plastic 5-gallon buckets for $3 and get a 20 percent discount on the products they fit in their buckets. Power tool brands and already discounted products are excluded from the sale.
McKeithen’s donates the proceeds from the bucket sales to Habitat for Humanity, and shoppers often give cash donations to the organization on top of the price of the bucket.
Habitat for Humanity sets up an info table at the store during the sale, a local chainsaw carver demonstrates his art and Boy Scouts set up a climbing wall for shoppers to enjoy.
Store traffic doubles during the sale and McKeithen’s gets to contribute to a good cause, according to co-owner Tom McKeithen.
“It draws attention to the store and gets our name out there,” he says.
Robin Hanson, founder of Roblynn Home Hardware & Home Furniture in Oromocto, New Brunswick, is a civil engineer, so when he decided to open a hardware store, he designed the building himself.
He chose to construct a two-story facility with a downstairs hardware store and an upstairs furniture store, but needed to be sure the building was designed in such a way that customers would be drawn to the second floor.
Hanson’s solution was to build a large double staircase modeled after the grand staircase on the British passenger ship Titanic. His design, with its pine railings and white paint, is simpler than the one on the ill-fated ship but functions as well as he hoped. Shoppers who are curious about the stairs frequently climb to the second floor.
“Having a grand staircase makes people wonder what’s up there,” says company president Tanya Hanson Rocca.
The double staircase leading up to the furniture department at Roblynn Home Hardware & Home Furniture piques customers’ interest about what’s for sale on the second floor.
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Chaps
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Press
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insl-x.com Bonide
gotpestsgetrevenge.com Brushtech
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dutton-lainson.com
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RESOURCES
From Your Peers
For retailer-recommended resources on business strategy, leadership and more visit hardwareretailing.com/resource-review
RESOURCES
2
NHPA STAFF MEMBERS Melanie Moul and Renee Changnon recently read these two books and talked to the authors on their podcasts. Get insights into the books here and head to your favorite local bookstore to get your own copies. Listen to the podcast episodes at hardwareretailing.com/book-pod.
“Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption”
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“Bridging the
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AUTHOR: BRUCE TULGAN
BRUCE TULGAN
Hiring is a challenge already, but hiring people with the necessary soft skills to be successful may seem impossible. In this book, author Bruce Tulgan— who has been researching millennials and other young workers for more than 20 years—offers concrete solutions to help managers teach the basics you may see are missing in your new hires: professionalism, critical thinking and followership.
October 21-23 | Las Vegas
To navigate today’s market, retailers need to be agile and strategic. Join us and hear from industry leaders, subject matter experts and successful retailers who will deliver insights into the current and future state of the industry. Learn more at YourNHPA.org/conference.
