Issuu

S T R I V I N G TO WA R D A M O R E D I V E R S E A N D I N C L U S I V E I N D U S T R Y

Sept/Oct 2020 Vol. 12, No. 6

THE INDUSTRY’S DIGITAL LEADER

Recognizing the

Industry’s Top Retailers

ALSO INSIDE:

Profiles of Beacon Award Winners Latest Lawn & Garden Trends

T&M Hardware and Rental

McGuckin Hardware

THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS

Orgill Helped Us Customize Our Offerings Without Sacrificing Our Independence Why We Like Working With Orgill: • A tailored product selection • Personalized market strategies • The ability to maintain our independence 1-800-347-2860 ext. 5373 information@orgill.com www.orgill.com

“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

Higginbotham Brothers Texas

CONTENTS Sept/Oct 2020 ■ Vol. 12, No. 6

BEACON AWARDS: LEARN ABOUT THE 2020 BEACON AWARD RECIPIENTS

CATEGORY REPORT: LAWN AND GARDEN

Editor’s Note: Chris Jensen Trend Watch: Craig Cope Digby’s Hardware cartoon: Scott Jensen Another Viewpoint: Striving Toward a More Diverse and Inclusive Industry Shop Talk: Hardware Products Review Retail Beacon Winner: McGuckin Hardware Retail Beacon Winner: T&M Hardware and Rental Beacon Award for Community Service: Aubuchon Hardware Beacon Award for Community Service: ToshCo Beacon Award for Community Service: Island Home Center Beacon Award for Community Service: Miner’s Ace Hardware Beacon Award for Community Service: Akard True Value Hardware Beacon Award for Community Service: Wholesale Lumber Company Beacon Award for Community Service: Mazo Hardware Beacon Award for Community Service: Jabo’s Ace Hardware Category Report: Lawn & Garden In the News Upcoming Events Retail Ideas Behind the Numbers The Hardware Connection app is available for iPhone, iPad, Android and Amazon. Download here.

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Connection

THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 3

DOUBT IS Out.

DO IT BEST HELPS MEMBERS LAUNCH NEW LOCATIONS WITH CONFIDENCE.

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More customers, more opportunity. More risk, more challenges. Expanding

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as member-owners Tammy and Scott Moore discovered, Do it Best is ready to support you every step of the way. The Moores started by collaborating with Do it Best on a thorough demographic and market analysis to confirm their chosen location was positioned for growth. Next, they worked with our Signature™ Store Design team to create the ideal store from the ground up. Guided by our market analysis, Tammy and Scott stocked their new location with comprehensive hardware and rental departments, along with a deep selection of outdoor living and home décor, including The Color Bar™ interactive paint department. Since their grand opening, Mountain View Home & Hardware has exceeded expectations, and the Moore family is already looking forward to their next location.

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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX A.O. Smith/Reliance Water Heaters | www.RelianceWaterHeaters.com . . 27 Ace Hardware Corp. | www.myace.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Do it Best Corp. | www.doitbestonline.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 42, 47 ECi Software Solutions | www.ecisolutions.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Epicor Corp. | www.epicor.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23 Ettore Products | www.ettore.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Ganymede Technologies Corp./J3 Point-of-Sale | www.j3pos.biz . . . . 17 Jack Link’s Beef Jerky | www.jacklinks.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Kaba Ilco | www.ilco.us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 18 Mi-T-M Corp. | www.mitm.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Orgill Inc. | www.orgill.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 55 Paladin Data Corp. | www.paladinpointofsale.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Police Security Flashlights | www.policesecurity.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Rescue Sterling International Inc. | www.rescue.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Retail Automation | www.retailautomation.biz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Robert Bosch Tool Corp. | www.boschtools.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 STIHL USA | www.stihlusa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 SureCan Inc. | www.surecanusa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 WD-40 Company | www.wd40.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 20, 36

Connection

91900 Overseas Highway | Tavernier, FL 33070 | www.TheHardwareConnection.com Publisher/Principal: Craig Cope craig@thehardwareconnection.com 804-690-0666 Editor/Founder/Principal: Chris Jensen chris@thehardwareconnection.com 317-514-8864 Marketing & Creative Director/Principal: Dan Akers dan@thehardwareconnection.com 317-797-6609 Founder/Principal: Tom Chasteen tom@thehardwareconnection.com 305-852-6126

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Senior Business Advisor: John Hammond jhammond@thehardwareconnection.com National Account Manager: Dan Beck dbeck@thehardwareconnection.com 518-852-9624 Contributing Writers: Doug Donaldson, Gary Pittsford, John Fix III The Hardware Connection is published eight times a year by The Hardware Connection, Inc. All editorial contents copyrighted 2020 by the publisher. No editorial may be reproduced without the prior permission of the publisher.

THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 5

editor’s note By Chris Jensen

Stepping Up to Serve Communities in Challenging Times

very hardware and home improvement store that stayed open in 2020 deserves an award. As some have pointed out, being an essential retailer during a deadly pandemic is both a blessing and a curse. Trying to keep customers and employees safe while operating short-staffed to meet a surging demand in business with no end in sight—that is exhausting and stressful. Then there are the long hours spent trying to secure both in-demand and regular stock items from an overtaxed supply chain. I like the analogy from one of our 2020 Beacon Award winners. She said, “It’s like being on a treadmill and every day the speed and the incline picked up.” You are all heroes! However, we cannot give out awards to every hardware retailer. For this year’s Beacon Awards program, we are honoring the most retailers in the program’s eight-year history—10. In addition to Retail Beacon winners for Orgill and Do it Best Corp., for the first time we are recognizing eight retailers with the Beacon Award for Community Service. These inspiring retailers went above and beyond to find new ways to serve their communities during a time of crisis.

6 ■ The hARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

I hate to pick out just one winner for special praise, but there is one Beacon honoree whose story is beyond incredible. Tosh Parker and his wife Cassia operate ToshCo in a very remote region of Alaska. There are no roads in or out of their small town, and their store is the only source of groceries and essential hardware items. With the local ferry service out of commission and no other way to secure food, Tosh started taking his 96-foot barge on a weekly 14-hour journey to Juneau. He’s still making that exhausting boat trip every week or two to provide much-needed food and supplies to their town. Getting an award for community service doesn’t begin to cover that extraordinary commitment. Turn to page 51 to read Tosh’s amazing story, as well as the nine other Beacon Award profiles. Also in this issue, we continue the conversation with an article contributed by Ace retailer Gina Schaefer on what diversity, equity and inclusion mean to her business. Don’t miss this thought-provoking article starting on page 14, and perhaps do an honest appraisal of how your business approaches this topic. n www.ThehardwareConnection.com

TREND WATCH

By Craig Cope

Finding Something to Look Forward To

ver the past few years, my September article served as a recap of that year’s Hardware Conference. Since Shanti, my wife and co-host, and I began transitioning the management of the event from Tom and Dale Chasteen in 2015 there has been a series of firsts. In the first two years, the hotel began major renovations to achieve JW Marriott status. This forced us to host a portion of the Conference in a pavilion on the beach, dubbed “Hardware on the Beach.” The changes in venue challenged our behind-the-scenes logistics and space requirements required to host the industry’s largest independent dealer conference. In 2017, Hurricane Irma forced us to postpone the event to December. We were already in Marco Island preparing for the Conference and watching a monster storm take direct aim at our house, office and then Marco Island itself. For us, this was the “perfect storm.” This would be the first time the event was postponed—although there have been a few close calls during the 32-year history—and the first time the

8 ■ THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

event would not be hosted in Marco Island, Fla. In 2019, we moved the Conference from its traditional dates the week after Labor Day to the third week in August. We had just finished extending our contract with the JW Marriott through 2023 and then came news the new dates conflicted with another industry event. So we immediately started negotiations with the hotel to move the dates and ensure no impact on our room rate, which remains below $200 for the next four years. I remember thinking 2020 was going to be a year of no more firsts. After all, what else could happen? As the popular social media meme goes, “hold my beer.” I had just finished attending the Orgill Spring Market during the last week of February and while the coronavirus was a topic of discussion, it had not fully impacted the United States yet. March 1, 2020, would bring the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in New York City, which quickly became an epicenter for the virus. Shortly after that, Ace Hardware announced its Spring Convention would move to a virtual market. At www.TheHardwareConnection.com

TREND WATCH that moment, I knew we would have yet another first—a year without The Hardware Conference. Initially, we explored moving to a virtual platform, mainly to recognize and celebrate the 2020 Beacon Award winners for their achievements. After evaluating the available platforms, we quickly decided no virtual option could replace the three-day learning, networking and celebration of this great industry. Lastly, no platform can create the ambience of a five-star beachfront resort overlooking the Gulf of Mexico with its amazing sunsets—period. Next year’s Hardware Conference will also be another first, as we will be recognizing two years of Beacon Award winners. Our intention was always to bring this year’s winners to next year’s Conference, whether or not we did a virtual award show. It just didn’t seem right to host a virtual award show and not give these welldeserved honorees the full Hardware Conference experience. For many of our past winners, their trip to Marco Island was the first family vacation, a greatly needed break or a no-excuses reason to take an often postponed vacation. I suspect that next year our 2020 and 2021 winners will be more than ready for a break after everything 2020 has delivered. Next year’s Hardware Conference is scheduled for August 13-15, 2021 at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach 10 ■ THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Resort. We will open up registration on our website the first week in November with our traditional full refund policy should the event have to be canceled again for any reason. Next year’s format will also be changed to accommodate two years of Beacon Award winners. We will split the award programs over two nights (Friday and Saturday) to provide the winners the appropriate amount of recognition for being a Beacon Award honoree. Next year will represent the ninth year The Hardware Connection and The Hardware Conference have honored the best of the best dealers who represent the future of the hardware industry. Saturday has traditionally been our live auction, where dealers in attendance have the opportunity to purchase the participating vendors’ booths with all the proceeds benefiting the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. We have raised more than $1.2 million and have no intention of stopping our support of this great cause. Giving back is at the core of what the Hardware Conference stands for and we will determine the best way to ensure the children continue to receive our support in 2021. We look forward to seeing you in Marco Island perched high above the white sand in the Presidential Suite, as we watch yet another beautiful sunset together from the outdoor terrace. Until then, be well and be safe. ■ www.TheHardwareConnection.com

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Another Viewpoint

By Gina Schaefer

Striving Toward a More Diverse and Inclusive Industry

have come to accept that my efforts regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) will never be complete. However, we have tried to make it a way of life since we opened our first location in 2003. Over the years, we have worked to strengthen our interest, which to me means having a diverse employee base and leadership team that reflects the cities in which we operate. DEI is not just a Human Resource function. I believe it needs to be initiated, championed and supported by the leaders of the company, so that the entire team knows they are valued and that it’s important to the company as a whole. When the protests started in D.C., one of the first marches (and many subsequent ones) came down the street in front of my office, which is in our original store. Without hesitation my husband said, “Let’s invite the staff and customers to go outside and join in.” So we did—and every one of our guests and employees walked outside in solidarity. It isn’t enough to say you believe in DEI—we need to actually try and live it, which is a constant learning process.

14 ■ The hARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Gina Schaefer (back middle) celebrates International Women’s Day at Logan Hardware with key staff members.

AttrActing Best teAm memBers The first thing we did almost two decades ago was remove the obstacles from employment. Long before “Banning the Box” became a thing, we took it off our employment application. When I speak to business owners about hiring returning citizens (after incarceration) someone always asks, “How can you trust “them?” I love this question, because I can launch into my stories of favorite non ex-offenders who www.ThehardwareConnection.com

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Another Viewpoint stole from us or had bad customer service skills. Level the playing field and the field becomes that much brighter. By studying and implementing best practices regarding unconscious bias in hiring we also broadened our prospects. Just like asking age or marital status on an application has historically created a layer of bias interviews, a business owner can ensure that their hiring practices are also more equitable by requiring more than one person to host each interview, which allows for a broader opinion base. We celebrate our team and invite our community to do so as well. My office is based in our original location and has 26 team members—15 of those employees are in some type of recovery program. That is not something we are quiet about—we shout anniversaries from the rooftop if the celebrant wants us to. Building a foundation of support is as important to building a strong corporate culture as it is to that team member’s character building and growth. Our folks in recovery come from all walks of life—drugs and alcohol do not discriminate based on age, gender, race and sexual orientation, so we won’t either. Everyone has heard the expression “what gets measured gets done.” Each year our HR manager reports to our CFO (my husband) and me some key metrics on hiring. This year we have 301 employees and we measure areas such as: 16 ■ The hARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

A Few Cool Hardware Store employees get ready for Pride Week at Logan Hardware. The store is located along the annual DC Pride Parade route.

1. What percentage of our employees are women—36.54% 2. What percentage are African American (34.55%) and White (43.19%) 3. How many of our leadership team is female—16 out of 36 Once we know where we are, we can take action where we think we should. This isn’t always an easy conversation, but unless we are willing to talk about it nothing will change. We measure to keep ourselves accountable. If we don’t, who will?

who Are we AttrActing As customers? When I opened our first location, I read that 70 percent of home improvement decisions are made by women. Yet no one (still) can tell me how many women actually own hardware stores. Ask your www.ThehardwareConnection.com

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female associates or leaders how often a customer asks them “if there is a man who can help them with their product question.” It’s embarrassing that it still happens. So, we actively expect our teams to attract and be helpful to customers from all demographics. If women are making the decisions, then they should be able to get help from a woman in a hardware store and the industry should count us. “Like begets like” is something that resonated with me when I was learning about how executive teams and boards work. For example, if an Upper: Dominic Robinson and Davon Betts with a customer at Waverly Ace in Baltimore. Lower: Manager Tim Hamm takes care of a customer at Logan Hardware in Washington, D.C.

executive team is made up of all white doesn’t necessarily make our jobs any men, they are infinitely more likely to easier. Working on DEI is like working only attract and therefore hire white your job all the time—it rarely happens men. Like begets like. If my team is made naturally, it requires intention and it’s up of Black women, gay men, someone our corporate responsibility to future who speaks Spanish and so on, think leadership growth. about how much more comfortable my I reached out to Chris Jensen, who customers will be if they want to identify is editor/principal of The Hardware with who is helping them and how that Connection, because I was proud of same approach could help grow your a recent article in the magazine that business. We try to make conscious deci- explored diversity as a topic. (To read sions when purchasing and merchandis- that story on Tony Powers of Intown ing to lend support to young businesses, Ace, click here.) As communities cope particularly those started by women and with explaining to their children why people of color. Black Lives Matter and must have a We might have a slight advantage of voice and place in our country, a magaHalf Page Hardware Trade Ad Artwork R2.pdf 1 3/30/20 4:07 PM being in diverse urban areas, but that zine that historically hasn’t had a diverse

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customer base hit it head on and was willing to continue the conversation. I would encourage all retailers to take a deep dive into their own metrics, biases (we all have them) and explore how we as hardware retailers can help grow a new diverse base of leaders and owners. Gina Schaefer is the co-founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores, with 13 Ace Hardware stores in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md., and Alexandria,

Another Viewpoint Va. She is a past board member of Ace Hardware Corp. and serves on the non-profit boards of House of Ruth, Jubilee Jobs and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Gina has received many accolades for her accomplishments including: Women Who Mean Business Award by the Washington Business Journal in 2009, honored by Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of its Women Worth Watching in 2013, SmartCEO’s “Brava Award” for Top CEO in the Washington, D.C. area in 2014; and Washington Woman of Excellence Award by the Washington DC Commission on Women in 2016. ■

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Our New retail reality e-COmmerCe Paves the way FOrward

There’s been a 129% year-over-year growth in eCommerce orders. Have you adjusted your retail strategy accordingly? eCommerce has changed the retail landscape. Offering an online storefront is no longer optional. Keep these tips in mind as you move forward in our new retail reality. 1. Your eCommerce site has to integrate with your POS solution. Period. Tying your eCommerce site to your POS ensures that every piece of sales information is accurate and up to date. Connect them, and product 22 ■ The hARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Epicor is a Proud Sponsor of the Beacon Awards

descriptions, pricing, and available inventory will stay in sync. 2. Customers expect to shop retailers whenever and wherever they want. Your customers have always trusted you to be there for them. Now, that comes with the expectation that they can buy anywhere—from their laptops, mobile devices, and in-store. 3. Online storefronts have gone from “nice-to-haves” to essential business tools. Social distancing is a fact of life today. Another fact? Your customers still need the products they’ve always

learN mOre abOut ePiCOr eCOmmerCe sOlutiONs by CalliNg 888-463-4700 Or emailiNg retail@ePiCOr.COm bought from you. An eStore can keep revenue flowing and set you up for future online sales. 4. Shoppers expect mobile eStores to be easy-to-use and consistent with desktop versions. Few things frustrate customers like a bad online purchase experience. Be sure to choose a dependable eCommerce solution from real experts. Also make sure your site looks the same across laptops and devices. 5. With social distancing, BOPIS and curbside pick-up can keep your business moving. During social distancing, curbside pick-up can keep customers returning. When your physical store’s open, shoppers who buy online and pick up may decide to buy more. You’ll even save on shipping and carbon emissions! 6. Online shoppers want product information, images and links to related items.Your customers are used to shopping online and getting everything they need to answer any questions that come up. Be sure your eCommerce solution puts it all at their fingertips. 7. Shoppers expect an eStore to mirror the experience they get inside your physical store. You know how it works—you give customers a

fantastic instore shopping experience and they come back for more. Now is no time to let them down. Think about making your eStore match the instore experience they love. It may be time to ask yourself: can you afford not to invest in eCommerce now? At Epicor, we can help set you up to sell online quickly—so you can serve your customers when they need you most.

abOut ePiCOr Epicor Software Corporation drives business growth. We provide flexible, industry-specific software designed to fit the precise needs of our manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industry customers. More than 45 years of experience with our customers’ unique business processes and operational requirements are built into every solution—in the cloud or on premises. With this deep understanding of your industry, Epicor solutions dramatically improve performance and profitability while easing complexity so you can focus on growth. For more information, connect with Epicor or visit www.epicor.com. The hARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 23

k l a T Shop H

S REV T C U D O R P ARDWARE

By Craig Cope

IEW

Product #1: Wd-40 sPecialist line Wd-40 WD-40® is not only one of the best-known brands in the hardware channel, but in the world. WD-40 MultiUse Product can be found in eight out of 10 American households and more than 176 countries and territories worldwide. Capitalizing on the iconic blue and yellow can with a red top, WD-40 is updating its Specialist® line packaging. Initially launched in 2011, the Specialist line is geared toward trade professionals and features lubricants, penetrants, greases, cleaners and degreasers. The line has been further expanded throughout the years for numerous uses. Water Resistant Silicone Lubricant, Protective White Lithium Grease and Rust Release Penetrant Spray are all widely used by pros. We had the opportunity to test the Penetrant with Flexible Straw and Gel Lube of the Specialist line. Penetrant is designed to penetrate deep into crevices and threads

and seems to break the rust bond that holds stuck parts together. Additionally, the Penetrant leaves a layer of protection to keep rust and corrosion from coming back. The Flexible Straw is a perfect feature for this product and provides access to hard-to-reach places sometimes referred to as a knucklebuster. Click here to see the Penetrant with Flexible Straw in action. The Gel Lube is a thick gel lubricant that provides long-lasting lubrication and won’t run or drip. It provides similar benefits as WD-40 Multi-Use including moisture displacement and water resistance. It has also has been independently tested to prevent runs for up to one

24 ■ THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

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We turned EAS into EASY.

k l a T p o Sh E PROD HARDWAR

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Now offering RF systems, Sensormatic has the EAS option right for you.

It used to be about the technology – RF vs AM vs RFID. Now Sensormatic provides solutions in all three technologies. With a variety of install options such as overhead, concealed, door mount and traditional pedestal, Sensormatic has it all. Sensormatic is your one-stop destination for everything EAS including detachers, deactivators, and a broad selection of labels and tags, such as the popular InFuzion tag. With more than 50 years of industry experience and innovation, Sensormatic experts can help you select the system with the best ROI today, and connectivity and expansion for tomorrow. One company, everything you need – easy.

year in a salt spray and humidity chamber. Since the gel stays where sprayed, it is perfect for vertical surfaces and does not fling when applied to moving parts. Click here to view a demonstration of WD-40 Specialist Gel Lube. Our testers used the Penetrant and Gel Lube in a host of applications including automobile, marine, locks and hinges. All testers reported Penetrant with Flexible Straw performed exactly as described and the flexible straw allowed for uses where a traditional straw just cannot reach. The Gel Lube received the most comments, which centered around its ability to not run or drip. One tester commented she always hated spraying interior door hinges, since traditional lubricant runs and may stain the door and/or floor. One tester referenced confined spaces where your

CMY

Please visit us at www.Tek4retail.com/sensormatic Copyright © 2020 Johnson Controls. All rights reserved. SENSORMATIC SOLUTIONS and the product names listed in this document are marks and/or registered marks. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

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metal surfaces regardless of shape or orientation—like under a car suspended on an overhead lift. It’s this unique feature that initially caught our eye. The ability to adhere to metal surfaces is just one of the benefits of the Magnetic ToolMat. The mat comes in three different sizes to better match the working surface. The largest is Product #2: 19.5’’ x 8.85’’, the one in the middle Magnetic toolMat is 18’’ x 6.5’’ and the smallest is Master Magnetics 12.5’’ x 6.75’’ and each size is only .25’’ thick. Each size also features Master Magnetics has released a flexible Magnetic ToolMat™ designed reinforced grommets and a sewnin handle, adding to its portability to hold tools, parts and nuts/bolts. and uses. This product has virtually However, it also adheres to ferrous

head is near so the spray inevitably gets on your face. If you currently do not carry the line or are searching for additional products to attract customers, take a hard look at the Specialist line in the new cans. For more information, go to www.WD40.com/specialist.

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endless applications, since it is made of durable synthetic leather to resist rips, grease, oil and other common shop chemicals. It’s the product picture that piqued our curiosity and when the sample products arrived at the office we had to check it out ourself. We immediately opened one of the boxes and hung it on a cement wall with a metal electrical conduit. Not only did the Magnetic ToolMat firmly grab hold of the conduit, it also held a 16-ounce claw hammer. After a successful quick trial, we immediately got it into the hands of our testers for their review. Similar to WD-40, our testers used the mats on a host of different applications and the automobile and marine uses stood out. Our mechanic tester raved about having quick access to tools next to www.TheHardwareConnection.com

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his working area, which saved time and reduced the number of times he had to bend down. Our marine tester noted how the mat securely held different nuts/bolts and eliminated the potential of falling overboard. He also went on to describe how he attached a line through the grommet holes to retrieve a tool he had previously dropped overboard. While not intended for “magnet fishing”—yes that’s a thing—it saved him from replacing his ratchet. The Magnetic ToolMat is a great product for the pro or DIYer with so many uses. It also makes a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season. Click here to see the product video. Go to www.magnetsource.com for more information. ■ www.TheHardwareConnection.com

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Retail Beacon Award From left to right: Barry, Dave, Dee, Jason, Vicki and Everett Hight represent four generations of the family behind McGuckin Hardware.

McGuckin Hardware Boulder, Colo. By Chris Jensen

hen a fisherman with an entrepreneurial streak named Bill McGuckin started McGuckin Hardware in Boulder, Colo., in 1955, his retail philosophy focused on a belief in personalized service and selection. Sixty-five years later, some things never change. McGuckin’s is still run by the same family. In 1960, Dave Hight joined his father-in-law as a partner in the business. Dave and his wife Dee (McGuckin) Hight took over the business in 1966 after Bill passed away. Today, the business is run by Barry Hight (Dave and Dee’s son), along with his wife Vicki and their son Jason Hight. Barry is president and Vicki is vice 34 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

president and office manager, while Jason is the store manager. The store’s 65-year tradition of exceptional service is so established that a book has been written about it called “Behind The Green Vest,” which came out in 2015. McGuckin’s “Green Vest” concept is well known around town and through much of the hardware world as a symbol of exceptional service. All employees wear www.TheHardwareConnection.com

green vests and they often tie it into their advertising and promotions. “Dad’s mantra was always ‘Get ‘em in, get ‘em out fast,’ and that has been a key ingredient to our success,” explains Barry. “Find someone in a green vest who can help.” “It’s just the basics of customer service,” adds Vicki. “We recently had a group meeting in the parking lot, separated for social distancing. We reiterated how Dave always talked about how we’re providing a service to the community.” The company employs 220 people and the store covers 58,000 square feet of retail space. In addition to core departments, McGuckin offers automotive, botanical, craft and hobby, pet supplies, extensive housewares, sporting goods and a fully staffed shop for any kind of work that customers need to have done. McGuckin Hardware has always been in the same shopping center. They expanded the original location three times until 1972, when they moved into an old furniture store and added a lot of square footage. In 1978, they moved across the parking lot. In 1992, they added more space so they could expand into categories like housewares and sporting goods. www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Left: McGuckin Hardware in Boulder, Colo., features a 58,000-square-foot sales floor. Right: McGuckin Hardware features 18 departments offering nearly 200,000 items.

Years ago, they began downsizing the warehouse. The Hights just closed on a new warehouse that is smaller—13,000 square feet compared to the former airplane manufacturing plant they used that was 48,000 square feet. “We used to do a lot of factory-direct orders, but vendors can get us stock to Orgill’s warehouse in Hurricane, Utah,” Barry points out. McGuckin Hardware is also on the leading edge of e-commerce, with its new website. “During all this COVID craziness we unveiled a new website working with Orgill and Tyndale Marketing to develop that,” Barry says. “That helped our curbside service and brought a more robust catalog to the web. We have such a unique blend of items. COVID comes along and we’re doing more in one day online than we used to do in four or five months.”

ADJUSTING TO THE NEW NORMAL They took a huge hit in March when the stay-at-home order took effect. “We scrambled to keep up with everything. We were on pins and needles that we’d THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 35

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be deemed essential,” explains Barry. They were able to get curbside service going in a few days, which proved popular right away. “We never closed, but people quickly realized the extent of the situation,” Vicki says. They were giving out homemade masks at the beginning made out of heavy-duty Scott towels and staples, along with putting tape on the floor and spraying down carts. They shut down three of four entrances. “We started taking the temperature of all employees who come in, which we still do,” she notes. With curbside humming, their sales increased 25 percent in April and May even though their customer count stayed low. Gardening and bird seed are in demand, as are DIY products that people are doing on a higher level. Innertubes have been huge. One weekend they put 1,000 innertubes on sale, which unfortunately led to a long line to fill up the innertubes. “As things started to break, we were selling five-gallon containers of isopropyl alcohol for local businesses,” Barry says. “We’re known for our support of local businesses, and this was something they needed.” A number of their associates are working less hours now by choice. “We employ a lot of retirees and some had family concerns. Five longtime employees retired and we lost 60 percent of our staff at the start,” Barry points out. www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Upper Right: Bill McGuckin (right) founded McGuckin Hardware in 1955, joined by his son-in-law Dave Hight (left) as a partner in 1960. The two focused on personalized service and selection. Upper Left: McGuckin Hardware has even had a book written about it called “Behind the Green Vest.” Bottom: McGuckin donates money to nonprofits like Cultivate, which helps seniors connect with their surrounding communities.

“We normally have 100 to 110 employees on the floor any given day—we were running with 30. We normally have 60 cashiers and were down to operating with three,” Vicki adds. “Our management team worked every day for 12 hours for 70 straight days. Finally, I said OK, it’s time to take a day off.” “I was pulling orders. Vicki was helping curbside. We had a lot of employees who stepped into a different role,” Barry notes. THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 37

Adds Vicki, “We have a lady who has been here 30 years and worked in the garden center. She stepped up so much, she’s now manager of curbside pickup.”

RECOGNIZING DEDICATED SERVICE

cooling stage. Now we are trying to figure out the push back to school in a college town,” says Vicki, who adds that they are almost back to full staff. “Our HR person has been very informed about what’s going on. With a lot of people out, we changed how we do vacation time,” says Barry. “Our CFO and IT manager have been working from home a little, but we’re not a business that can have a lot of people working from home.” According to Barry, “Our employees are so receptive to learn a new task or process and just keep going. Now you know who you can count on. You need the doers. Like Earl, who has been here 46 years. Today he’s selling fans. His family was worried about him, but he’s the poster child for hard work.” Adds Vicki, “We got a PPP loan and have had it forgiven, so we were able to adjust payroll. We decided to give bonuses to people who really stuck it out in early May.” Vicki did something else that speaks to the company’s sense of family and togetherness—she sent out 125 handwritten thank you notes to the associates who were getting bonuses. “Honestly, it felt good to do it for what they did for our business,” she says.

The Hights decided to internally impose restrictive travel for employees and an honor system if in a group of 100 or more. “It’s a trust issue. We just lifted our non-travel policy that we had for a month for out-of-state travel—you had to be quarantined for 13 days,” she says. “We didn’t see our grandkids for three months. We still don’t go to restaurants,” Vicki points out. “What’s important to us is that our customer base feels very safe. They’re greeted by masked employees and they see us wiping down carts. We get a lot of comments that they trust us.” “I think our greatest achievement was keeping mom and dad at home,” Barry says. “Dad worked every day for 65 years. He’s 91 and lives one mile from the store. He’s always asking about the store. We brought him to the store one time after closing and we had dinner in the aisle—he roamed the aisles for two hours. We forward sales numbers to him, because he likes to see how we’re doing.” Dave would have noticed that June and July increased but the customer count was lower. That sporting goods took off in July and that they can’t BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER get keep up with demand for waterThroughout its history, McGuckin ing cans. Hardware has been a major support to “Sales have finally leveled off. We’ve the community, including donations, moved past the garden push and fundraising and events. Anything the 38 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

community asks for, the Hight family finds a way to deliver. During the COVID-19 response, they have been a pillar of their community helping customers and giving out multiple donations, including mask donations when available. They take requests and do register roundups and provide tables for various groups to offer services. “Normally we do six to eight roundups a year for causes supporting food, elderly and children such as Meals on Wheels. We change organizations year to year but continue to have a strong relationship with the city and the hospital. We stopped all register roundups during COVID,” Vicki says. When three large carloads filled with boxes of isopropyl alcohol came in, they hid some boxes for the hospital. “Our community service wasn’t always public, but internally we’re very aware that we’re trying to help city government, fire and police departments and the hospital,” Vicki notes. During normal times, special events are their specialty and a way to bring the community together while having fun. They are held almost every weekend, from weekend workshops and vendor-driven events to barbecues and bi-annual tent sales. www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Left: Customers felt safe shopping at McGuckin Hardware, because they are greeted by employees like Barb Beck who are wearing masks. Middle: Special events are normally held nearly every weekend at McGuckin including bi-annual tent sales. Right: Kris Sprigg loads a curbside order.

“We have to look at every event and see if it’s feasible,” Barry says. “We can’t have Grillapalooza or things like that, because serving food is out of the question. We also have no idea what the holiday will look like.” The Christmas holiday season is definitely a thing at McGuckin Hardware. They usually bring in 2,500 live trees. The store features a massive Christmas offering with live music, lots of activities and visits from Santa. “Being in the spotlight is nice every now and then. It’s a lot of hard work and we don’t do it for the recognition,” Barry says. “The store’s success comes down to Dad’s dedication—he built a great business that really respected employees and took care of customers.” Adds Vicki, “To be recognized with an award for community service is nice, because that’s what we do. It’s a big exclamation point for us.” n THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 39

Retail Beacon Award Tim and Mary Post are delighted to see their kids Samantha and Scott join them in the family business, T&M Hardware and Rental.

T&M Hardware and Rental

im and Mary Post bought their first hardware store on their wedding anniversary in 1991. They lined up the kids sitting on the dock behind the store and snapped a timeless family photo. Twenty years later, Tim and Mary opened up the local newspaper to a surprise. There on the page was a familiar photo. Each kid was lined up across the dock at their first store, only now they were all young adults. The photo was captioned, “Twenty years ago my father bought my mother a hardware store for their anniversary. Happy anniversary mom and dad, both in business and in life.”

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Ellwood City, Pa. By Chris Jensen

As Tim puts it, “It doesn’t get much better than that.” Today, the Posts operate six T&M Hardware and Rental stores in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The Do it Best members have taken an interesting path to finally discover what they were meant to do—serve their community as hardware retailers.

GETTING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL BUG Before the Posts could start building their chain of successful hardware stores, they had to gain some life experiences and grow as life partners. Although Tim’s first dream was to be a physical education teacher, he ended up working for a national industrial supply www.TheHardwareConnection.com

distributor. Mary’s background was as an elementary teacher. Tim found he was good at his job, while his company discovered he had a knack for turning around distressed branches. Transfers first to Chicago and then to Los Angeles involved uprooting their growing family, while giving Tim lots of on-the-job learning and confidence. “Working for a commercial supply distributor, I gained a good understanding of the business for when we bought our first store,” says Tim. It was while they were out in Los Angeles in 1986 or 1987 that Tim first thought of a goal to have his own business. He set in motion a plan, transitioning to an outside sales rep job closer to family in Pittsburgh. “In addition to calling on clients, I probably visited 50 or 60 hardware stores to see if this is what we wanted to do,” he explains. “We began a journey with his career turning around distressed branches. We became each other’s confidantes,” Mary says. “Tim was driven more by family to provide for four kids, while I was confident that I could research and find roles that worked for us together.”

TAKING THE PLUNGE The couple started to search for the perfect location to open their store. The search came down to a choice between three struggling hardware businesses. Tim and Mary decided to go with the most underperforming store. It was in a www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Upper: Tim and Mary Post have built a successful chain of hardware stores by working well as supportive partners. Lower: Tim Post never had a doubt that they could turn around the distressed store they bought in 1991.

bleak situation and on the verge of closure with little hope of survival. “I always felt if we could take the bleakest store, it would be easiest to make the most dramatic difference,” says Tim. The Posts felt they could save it, so they invested their entire $65,000 retirement savings into Tim’s most important turnaround project. They closed on the store on their wedding anniversary. Tim had spent years collecting advice about how to run a successful store and he knew one key was to stock it with in-demand merchandise. Their newly purchased store had about $95,000 of THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 41

A MATCH MADE IN hardware. RETAILER BEACON AWARD TIM & MARY POST | T & M HARDWARE & RENTAL Tim and Mary Post spent the first nine years of their marriage building a family — and a family business. They bought their first hardware store in 1991 and through their determination, their commitment and their partnership have grown T & M Hardware & Rental to six thriving locations today. The Posts, along with their four children, have dreamed, worked and succeeded together. As Tim says, “It doesn’t get much better than that!”

BEACON AWARDS FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE We are proud to recognize our Beacon Award for Community Service honorees. Your hard work and dedication enable you to be there for your communities when they need you most.

Renee Zaman, Mazo Hardware Mazomanie, Wisconsin

Joe Burks, Wholesale Lumber Company Clint, Texas

Congratulations to all of this year’s Beacon Award winners. Your commitment to community, customers, and staff defines what sets you apart from everyone else. doitbestretail.com

Earl Van Buskirk, Island Home Center Vashon, Washington

Left: The Post children surprised their parents with a newspaper ad that brought back memories of their hardware journey. Right: The Ellwood City store expanded in 2017.

outdated inventory on dusty shelves when they took it over. In an effort to secure the staple products they now needed, the two traveled to Chicago for the True Value market. They came up with $67,000 of products they wanted to buy. They had already emptied their retirement savings. They tried to cut down to the bare minimum but only shaved off $8,000. In frustration, Tim threw all the work in the trash and ventured out for some air. They ended up at a Denny’s restaurant, where a pivotal moment turned out to be their salvation. Tim and Mary opened their Denny’s menu and something about the tagline on the front cover of the menu made them erupt in laughter: “Moons Over My Hammy.” To this day, whenever the business is becoming too stressful, they take themselves back to that breaking point. At the market the next day, Tim boldly convinced Mary they needed to sign up for a $22,000 computer system to organize the store’s inventory. They weren’t going to give up. The compromise for the computer system became integral to their success. Tim never had any doubts the store would be successful. “On one of my first www.TheHardwareConnection.com

days in the new store we just bought, a gentleman came in who was a chemical plant buyer. He asked if I was there to close the business. I said no, I’m here to grow it. He ended up working for us later.” Mary adds, “We learned to rely on each other, particularly in the early years. One of the things we determined early on, when one of us made a decision the other supported it. We knew they had made it in the best interest of the business or the family. We never tried to purposely sabotage the other but reconcile the issue so we could move forward.” In the fall of 1993, Tim’s older brother, Roger, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It proved to be another pivotal moment in the evolution of their business. As Tim recalls, “I had been working another job since 1991. Roger was staying with my sister, who was one and a half hours away. I’d visit every week, traveling up and down the highway thinking about how the store was stagnant, because we had difficulty finding people who would make decisions and stick with it. I finally realized life is too short and there’s no guarantee.” Tim’s brother passed away in February 1994 and with that tragedy THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 43

came a new resolve. Tim and Mary both quit their jobs and went all in with their dream to build a successful hardware business.

a hardware store. It would be their first ground-up location.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Tim and Mary’s four children— Samantha, Scott, Jenna and T.J.—all EXPANSION AND GROWTH worked in the business while growing up Tim and Mary’s decision to invest more time in the store quickly paid off. In and then left to pursue outside interests. Scott returned to the business in 2012, the first year of managing the store full but not before fulfilling a task for his father. time their sales doubled. “I asked Scott to go to the Do it Best In 1996, they added 2,500 square feet market as a prospective store owner. I for rental to go with their 5,000-squarewanted him to make sure he was certain foot store. In 2000, they got into party this is what he wanted to do,” Tim recalls. rental. “I said we’re creating a threeTaking over some of Tim’s responsibillegged stool: hardware, rental and comities, Scott’s role is to oversee the rental mercial/industrial. If one segment goes business and grow their proprietary vendown, another goes up,” Tim explains. In 2001, they switched their co-op affili- dor programs like Stihl, Channellock, Yeti and Milwaukee. ation to Do it Best and Tim and Mary Business was good and the family was renamed their store T & M Hardware & Rental Inc. They felt it was a good reflec- content focusing on driving growth in the communities they now served. But then, tion of their partnership. After 13 years of growing their single as Tim recalls, “divine intervention” struck and T & M Hardware & Rental was store, Tim and Mary took on another about to get bigger. turnaround project. The store they purSamantha, their eldest daughter, was chased in Harmony, Pa., was close to working in Washington D.C. learning a bankruptcy, but they were confident range of marketing skills. However, she they could build it up. didn’t have a passion for the industry Their third store in East Palestine, she was in. During a visit home, she Ohio, followed in 2008, which was not a asked her parents if there was room in turnaround situation. A family tragedy the family business for her. forced the owners to sell a store in prisAs luck would have it, the Posts had tine condition that had only been operatbeen approached a few weeks earlier ing for 11 months. Their fourth store came about in 2010 about a hardware store that was about to be liquidated just outside Pittsburgh. They when the Posts realized the two hardturned it down. But now with Samantha ware stores in New Castle had gone out expressing interest in coming home, of business and left the town without 44 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Stay-at-home orders were addressed differently by each state. “Early on we made the decision to institute policies across the whole company,” Mary explains. “Taking temperature in Ohio was the first mandate, so we were borrowing thermometers so each store could have one.” Although employees were concerned The Posts credit the support and programs from Do it Best with helping to make their about their family, Mary knew it was all of business successful. them working in the essential businesses they purchased the business and moved who were at greater risk. “The first few weeks were the hardest because of the Samantha into an apartment above the fear and then it got easier. We made sure store she would now be managing. we had enough masks, gloves and clean“Samantha is involved with payroll, ing supplies—we didn’t want our employaccounting, human resources and marketing, taking on some of Mary’s respon- ees to be afraid,” she says. They were pleasantly surprised to dissibilities,” Tim points out. cover the pandemic led to double-digit T & M Hardware & Rental’s business sales increases. “Big boxes had to limit was in full swing and their sixth store people to 50 in mid-April, so we were brought their journey full circle. When Tim and Mary viewed this location, some- slammed,” Tim points out. “We thought it would be busy for a few weeks, but it’s thing seemed all too familiar. This hardstill going strong today.” ware store was one of the stores they had considered for their first purchase 25 years ago. As they inspected this store, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT they looked back on all their success. The The Posts have always been comfirst time they considered this store, their munity-oriented, getting as involved as sales were around $450,000 annually. In possible with various nonprofit groups the ensuing years, their company-wide and organizations. “Whatever you need, sales had reached nearly $7 million. come see us. We can commit time or hardware or rental products,” Tim says. “We’ve been involved in a number of DEALING WITH COVID projects over the years. We want to be In the year of COVID, the Posts have part of something that makes a differdiscovered another complication to operating stores in two different states— ence, where we can help out.” In 1998, Tim spearheaded the develthere are new rulings coming out opment of the Kids Created Kingdom every day for Ohio and Pennsylvania. www.TheHardwareConnection.com

THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 45

way to approach the challenges Do it Best faces. I can’t just be limited to what happens to our region. You’re dealing with all areas of the business on a much higher level. It’s been very helpful and allowed me to put some of those steps they’re taking into our business,” he explains. There is no doubt in Tim’s mind that Do it Best has been very instrumental in their success. “At Do it Best, the company phiTim rallied the community to build a playground in Ellwood City in 1998. losophy permeates over every employee. Not every company has that philosophy. playground in Ellwood City, rallying the We feel we have a partner that’s in it for entire community and school kids behind the long haul for us,” he says. “The co-op programs and support from Do it Best a meaningful project that has left a lasthave been a big part to make our busiing impact. ness relevant to the community.” “Our philosophy is one of what do Tim states that he is overwhelmed by you need from us? If funds are low, we’ll write a bigger check. You want people to the interest in their business and humbled to be considered for the Beacon feel you’re approachable,” Mary says. Community involvement has taken on Award. “This award does not define the end of our industry careers, but gives a new dimension during the pandemic. us a platform to look back and reflect on The Posts were especially concerned about the devastating effect on local res- being part of a great industry where you taurants. They donated tents to some so can live out your dream,” he says. Mary seconded her husband’s they utilize for outside dining and stay in business. They also began buying lunch thoughts, saying, “We truly feel we have been blessed with the American Dream. for their staff from a different local resThe life we have led for the last three taurant each week. decades, taking a risk and investing in ourselves, our community and our family. LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM Tim was elected to the Do it Best Corp. We have been able to achieve this success with the help of so many employees, board in 2016, an experience that has our co-op and bankers, who allowed us to given him a different perspective on his do what we really love doing. This award business and the industry. “My mindset has always been to make is a great way to round out our family life, plus it’s gratifying to have two children sure decisions are made that are in the best interest of the family. That’s the same who want to continue on the tradition.” n 46 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Do it Best Corp. Congratulates its 4 Beacon Award Winners

T&M Hardware & Rental — Retail Beacon Award Owners: Tim and Mary Post

Wholesale Lumber Company — Community Service Owners: Joe and Jody Burks

Island Home Center — Community Service Owner: Earl Van Buskirk

Mazo Hardware — Community Service Owner: Renee Zaman

BEACON AWARDS: The Industry’s Awards Program Honoring the Best Retailers

By Chris Jensen

Beacon Award for Community Service Aubuchon Hardware Westminster, Mass.

Aubuchon Hardware, a Century Club retailer founded in 1908, operates 104 stores in New England and upstate New York.

ubuchon Hardware was founded in 1908, so this is not their first pandemic and definitely not the first crisis the Century Club retailer has faced. “We’re a fourth-generation, familyowned private business and there has been a remarkable tradition handed down from my great-grandfather to me,” says President Will Aubuchon IV, one of seven family members in senior roles. “We are all committed to leaving things better than we found them and it’s important to do things the right way. There is a resilient culture in the family—we are in it for the long haul.” The company operates 104 Aubuchon Hardware stores in five New England states plus upstate New York, so they have a lot of different communities to serve during challenging times.

Aubuchon drafted a special message and recorded a video to explain the company’s COVID-19 response, offering encouragement through the difficult times and emphasizing their focus on helping employees and customers. He also shared many more messages internally with their 1,500 employees such as this video thanking them for their dedicated effort. “It was quite scary in those early days, because so much was unknown and the communities were relying on us as an essential business,” Aubuchon recalls. “Our key message was to stand behind our employees. Safety is our number one priority, because the community depended on it. We rallied around doing important work in our stores and following our core values of taking care of each other.”

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www.TheHardwareConnection.com

SAFETY FIRST Like all retailers, Aubuchon developed new safety protocols without a playbook and then had to roll those out to 104 stores. “We installed hand sanitizer stations for each store at the beginning at a huge cost. We had to get PPE, gloves, safety glasses, even face shields, making a huge investment in masks for all employees,” he explains. They developed procedures for social distancing and wiping down all surfaces. They invested in an outside cleaning service for all stores seven days a week, which led to deep cleaning in the stores. To simplify the challenge of operating in so many different towns and states, they followed the most stringent requirements and enforced company-wide wearing of masks and temperature checks, urging associates to stay home when sick. Their focus on safety has paid off, according to Aubuchon, who reports that so far they have only had one positive case. Maintaining full staffing was definitely a big issue at the beginning. “We erred on the side of caution initially. We were proactive at reducing store hours and hired temp positions to support team members dealing with the extra demand,” Aubuchon says, adding that they are not at full staff yet but are back to regular hours. One of the first goals was to get employees to use their paid time off, www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Left: Aubuchon has seen a huge increase in BOPIS (buy online pickup in store), which is complemented by its curbside service. Right: All Aubuchon employees were issued masks early to provide an atmosphere of safety.

recognizing that they were starting a marathon crisis. The company also more than tripled what they would normally pay out for recognition pay bonuses. “It is very difficult to be a hardware store employee this year due to the virus concerns. Our stores are a place where you feel supported. We’re in this together— that’s a core value,” Aubuchon says. At the beginning, pandemic-driven unknowns quickly turned into a windfall for Aubuchon Hardware. “So many people and businesses are suffering—there are winners and losers—but the independent hardware channel has been on the winning side,” Aubuchon notes. “Sales are strong, especially lawn and garden and paint,” he adds. “We’ve had a very significant increase in average ticket size and a meaningful increase in customer count, which has been hard to come by. When you have both in a positive trend it produces significant gain.” THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 49

Left: Large signs were used to encourage social distancing. Right: The company Facebook page found fun ways to promote awareness of new services and safety protocols, like posting pictures of “hero” employees wearing capes.

family. “We tip our hat to our vendors and wholesale partners for supporting us this year despite not being able to have our annual golf tournament. We can still make a meaningful difference with our support,” Aubuchon says. In 2019, the company started challenge grants. Each store would pick a local nonprofit to support and challenge customers to join the cause, with the Foundation matching donations up to $5,000. “Customers were very generous and we ended up donating $105,000 to local charities,” he says. In 2020, they made a proactive decision to support five different COVID-19 relief funds and donated over $100,000 to those relief funds throughout the various communities they serve in the Northeast. “Winning the Beacon Award means a lot and is a great honor for the whole team,” says Aubuchon. “The award is in recognition for all our dedicated employees who answered the call to serve the communities we operate in during challenging times. On behalf of our entire team, we want to thank The GIVING BACK TO COMMUNITIES The Aubuchon Foundation was started Hardware Connection and the sponsors for this award.” n in 2008 by the third generation of the Aubuchon Hardware has invested heavily in e-commerce for many years, so they were somewhat prepared for the tremendous surge in web traffic and BOPIS (buy online pickup in store). “Our web revenue is up 1,500 percent for the year,” Aubuchon says. “We’re launching contactless curbside service, so customers can just check in online when they arrive without calling.” Aubuchon points out that the company handled its own distribution for 90 years, getting out of operating a warehouse a few years ago. “Through this pandemic, it’s been a challenge for all distributors to keep goods flowing and we didn’t have to wrestle with that,” he says. We would’ve been lower on the totem pole with vendors.” He adds, “Orgill is a great partner. When we were in distribution, they were always very responsive if we had supply challenges. We grew significantly in our relationship. Orgill offers a lot of innovative and forward-looking programs.”

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www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Beacon Award for Community Service ToshCo Gustavus, Alaska

osh Parker, who along with his wife Cassia owns ToshCo-Icy Strait Wholesale in Gustavus, Alaska, made national news earlier this year when it was revealed the lengths he went to keep their remote small town supplied with food and other essential items when the supply ferry shut down. He simply used his own 96-foot supply boat and made the arduous 14-hour journey himself every week. Click here and here to read more about this amazing story from CNN and The Hustle. We interviewed Tosh Parker about his fiercely independent and resilient business. What makes your store unique in the marketplace? We are the only grocery, hardware and lumber store in our small town of 450 year-round residents. There are no roads in or out, so everything has to come in on a boat or in a plane. What is the history of the business? We started the store 10 years ago with $3,000 in inventory from Costco. The local grocery/hardware store at the time was charging nearly $12 for a gallon of milk when you could buy a gallon of milk 50 miles away (by air) in Juneau for $3. I figured there had to be a better way, www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Tosh and Cassia Parker, who own ToshCoIcy Strait Wholesale in the remote Alaskan town of Gustavus, have put in a herculean effort to keep their community stocked with food and essential items during the pandemic.

so we built our own shipping company to bring products into town. How long did you have to make the 14-hour commute by boat to provide supplies? We’re still doing it, believe it or not. We were definitely surprised it struck such a cord and received so much coverage. I suppose in the midst of seemingly endless bad news it was something positive for people to latch onto and that’s why it resonated. Even though the state ferry started running again, COVID reductions, breakdowns and major budget issues have made the ferry so unreliable that we’re still having to run the landing craft every two weeks to fill in. This winter the ferry will be shutting down for a couple of months due to budget issues from COVID, so we’ll be out there yet again making sure the town stays supplied. It’s going to be another long winter. What impact has the coronavirus had on your business? Sales are

THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 51

down because a major part of the local economy is tourism. While we only have about 450 year-round residents, our population normally swells to 1,0001,200 in the summer with multiple lodges, summer residents and independent tourists. That didn’t really materialize this year. The lodges and summer residents are a big part of our annual sales. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, what steps did you take to provide the community the relief they needed? Essentially, we scrambled to source scarce products from all over the U.S. to make sure we had enough for the community. When none of our suppliers had toilet paper, we started calling companies with large warehouses and buying their personal business backstock if that’s what it took. What measures have you adopted to keep the store sanitized and customers safe? We were one of the early adapters of Lexan dividers between our customers and staff, even before most stores down south started installing them. We also created physical barriers to help maintain separation wherever possible and of course increased our sanitation protocols. We look forward to the day when we can rip out all the obtrusive barriers and dividers and have normal interactions with our customers again. What % of sales comes from hardware products and what are your top-selling hardware categories? The store is very small (9,000 sq. ft.) and hardware is our second-largest 52 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Every week or two throughout the pandemic, Tosh Parker has made a 14-hour boat trip to Juneau to bring back food and whatever else the community needs.

category after grocery. The top-selling category is plumbing. There is no city water or sewer here, so everyone has their own well and septic. That equates to a lot of plumbing to maintain between your well, pump, pressure tank, filters, softener, lift station, etc. How difficult has it been to source products, especially grocery and food items, from all over the U.S. during the pandemic? We are the only local place to buy food and sourcing it was difficult. That being said, the minute we caught wind of potential scarcities we went into overdrive sourcing goods from all over the U.S., even from non-wholesale companies who for one reason or another had some supply of their own. We were quick enough on the trigger to make sure we didn’t run out of most supplies during the frenzy of the pandemic. ToshCo never ran out of basics like toilet paper. Some locals were even shopping for items here and shipping them to friends and family down south who couldn’t get them in major metropolitan areas, so we honestly fared fairly well here considering. How have you stepped up your delivery service to provide products to people under quarantine? Alaska www.TheHardwareConnection.com

ToshCo sells groceries, hardware, lumber and other essentials in about 9,000 square feet of space. It is the only place in town to buy groceries.

instigated both interstate and even intrastate travel bans early on and those who could travel were mandated to quarantine upon arrival. In addition, many residents went into self-imposed quarantine and wouldn’t leave their homes. That became incredibly challenging, because people would email orders and our already overworked staff would have to pull all of those orders, coordinate payment and coordinate delivery. If we’re out of an item the staff would have to contact the customer and try to work through a substitution. Hardware was especially difficult. It was incredibly time consuming and I remember one time looking at the email as

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Making sure the store is stocked with fresh produce, meat and toilet paper requires long hours and lots of dedication, but ToshCo never lets the community down. The staff pulls phone and email orders long after the store closes and delivers to people in quarantine.

THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 53

Left: ToshCo employees wear face shields to stay safe. Right: Tosh Parker’s 96-foot barge, dubbed the Claim Jumper, heads to shore with its valuable cargo.

orders were flooding in having no idea where we would get the manpower to pull them all. The staff stepped up and made sure the orders got filled and between my wife Cassia (who’s really the one keeping the store going now), myself and the staff, we would run around for hours after closing making home deliveries. We also created a drop-off point on the front porch of the store, where customers could come and pick up their orders once they were pulled if they weren’t in travel-restricted quarantine. That helped alleviate some of the pressure of home deliveries of every order. We’re still doing some home deliveries today, but fewer than in the beginning. How have you used Facebook to keep customers informed about availability of grocery, hardware and LBM products? At times we will use Facebook to let people know when the boat will be arriving and a sampling of some of the items we were able to source. Recently, we’ve started a Facebook series to give people some insight into what’s all involved in making this work in such a remote environment, which we plan to continue for a few months. Have you been able to maintain full staffing? So far there have been six positive cases in Gustavus. I took a test six days ago and am still awaiting 54 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

the results of it, which makes it difficult to coordinate work when you don’t have confirmation. Thankfully, no family or staff have tested positive and we’re doing everything we can to keep our staff safe. We have been able to keep 100 percent of our staff during this period. What sort of community service involvement does ToshCo have in a typical year? ToshCo sponsors many local events from softball to fireworks. Some of those didn’t happen this year, but we still put on a large fireworks show for the town on July 4th to help raise spirits a little. Talk about the role Orgill has played in helping your business be successful. Orgill has been really fantastic to work with. Of course, they experienced many of the same shortages every supplier did, but whatever they did have was delivered on time and correctly. Of all of our vendors, Orgill is by far the best at accurately delivering exactly what we ordered if it’s in stock. What does it mean for your business to be honored with the Beacon Award for Community Service? It’s certainly an honor to be recognized. For us it’s just another day taking care of our community and we certainly didn’t seek any accolades for doing it. It’s just part of the job. n www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Orgill Inc. Congratulates its Three Beacon Award Winners

McGuckin Hardware— Retail Beacon Award Owners: Barry and Vicki Hight Aubuchon Hardware— Community Service Owners: Aubuchon family; President Will Aubuchon IV ToshCo—Community Service Owners: Tosh and Cassia Parker BEACON AWARDS: The Industry’s Awards Program Honoring the Best Retailers

By Chris Jensen

Beacon Award for Community Service

Island Home Center & Lumber – Vashon, Wash.

Earl Van Buskirk has owned Island Home Center & Lumber in Vashon, Wash., for 32 years.

better service for the residents who needed them. They implemented new cleaning routines to keep staff and customers safe, doubling the outside cleaning service that came in. They put up plexiglass shields and encouraged employees to wear masks and gloves. With all the new policies and procedures implemented, Van Buskirk further encouraged his employees to set an example as leaders in their community. “I encouraged my team to wear masks early on. Most did, then it became required. A few weeks later, it was required of customers,” he points out. “We’ve given out PUTTING EMPLOYEES FIRST several thousand masks and had very When the pandemic hit, Van Buskirk had to quickly make some adjustments, few who refused to wear them.” Keeping his team informed has been even as business was taking off. He decided to take care of his 50 employees a top priority, and Van Buskirk tried to communicate stability. He emailed as the first priority in order to provide

ashon Island is a short 15-minute ferry ride from Seattle—a city that has been hit hard by the coronavirus. When stay-at-home orders were issued early on, Vashon Island residents focused even more on shopping local instead of venturing to the mainland. “We’re the second-largest store on the island, and people here are very eager to support local,” states Earl Van Buskirk, who was born and raised on the island. He has owned Island Home Center & Lumber for 32 years.

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www.TheHardwareConnection.com

them twice a week to make sure they were updated on policies, procedures and the latest CDC guidelines. He talked to his five department managers throughout each day. He allowed employees who did not feel safe at work to stay home. “I had one employee who’s susceptible and wanted to stay home and four people that worked from home via remote computer access doing purchasing and coordinating sales for contractor sales,” Van Buskirk points out. “We’re doing our best to protect our team and our customers.” When the coronavirus hit, Island Home Center began to see contractor sales decline dramatically. However, as those sales declined, retail sales began to soar for the Do it Best member. “In mid-March, the state shut down contractor business, so that side dropped 45-50 percent for three months,” Van Buskirk explains. “Our contractor business came back in late May and we almost made up the decrease in June and July.” He adds, “Our retail customer counts were up 10-12% in March and April and our average ticket went up 40 percent as people were buying a lot more stuff. Our garden center and paint business were way up.” www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Left: Owner Earl Van Buskirk (front left) focused on employees first before deciding the best ways to support the community and keep customers safe. Right: During the stay-at-home order, Vashon Island residents were forced to shop local for essential items like cleaning supplies.

Since Van Buskirk received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, he was able to continue paying all his employees even during the lull in contractor business. He has also paid out three bonuses so far for employees who have worked through the pandemic.

EXTENDING A HELPING HAND To prioritize safety, the store figured out how to conduct a “touchless sale.” Customers can call or order online and pay for their order before they reach the store. Employees then package their order and load it into their car without customers having to set foot in the store. Transitioning to Epicor’s iNet platform will make the e-commerce and inventory control process go even smoother, Van Buskirk says. Island Home Center is more than a retail hardware store or a pro lumberyard, and Van Buskirk is constantly looking for places to fill needs. “Because of our location, we can do things that yards can’t do on the mainland,” he says. THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 57

Left: Owner Earl Van Buskirk has made sure the needs of island residents are met. Right: Plexiglass shields were installed early on to keep employees and customers safe.

With 30,000 square feet of retail space and a 30,000-square-foot warehouse for LBM, Island Home Center will do between $12 million and $13 million in sales from 35,000 SKUs this year, according to Van Buskirk.

The business was doing $350,000 in annual sales with three employees when he bought it back in 1988. It had been in the same family for 65 years, so Island Home Center is coming up on its 100th anniversary. Van Buskirk had previously spent 18 years at a wholesale LBM company based in Seattle, so he had been in hundreds of lumberyards over the years and learned what didn’t work from the failing ones and what does work from the successful ones. He has been a Do it Best member for 28 years, and says the co-op has done a good job sourcing products for them during the pandemic. “Do it Best is our first and best choice for most products and has been very good for my business over the years,” Van Buskirk says. “I’m 74 years old and I’ve never seen anything like this pandemic,” he adds. “Very unusual times. I feel fortunate that we’re an essential business.” Van Buskirk was surprised and honored to hear Island Home Center was named a Beacon Award winner for 2020. “Any time you’re recognized it means your team members are the reason. We’ve had our challenges this year, but they’re the ones who make my business be successful and that’s why my company has won an award,” he says. n

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www.TheHardwareConnection.com

They are big on housewares and sell a lot of unusual items such as feed for animals, apparel, sporting goods and fishing supplies. The store also sells beer, wine and liquor, which has been up 200 percent since the pandemic. When local first responders were in need of masks, they donated a large quantity of their own stock. When their island needed a location to administer drive-through testing, Island Home Center donated tents so people could get tested without having to leave their cars, along with propane tank heaters and propane for the medical team. The store has hosted several blood drives in the parking lot. “We support Rotary, do a lot with the local schools and churches, give to kid sport teams in the community and help the food bank as much as possible,” Van Buskirk says. “During the pandemic I’ve had local restaurants cater meals to our team.”

CONTINUING TO GROW

By Chris Jensen Paul Filice is president of Miner’s Ace Hardware, with nine locations in California.

ealing with a pandemic is especially challenging when you operate nine stores in nine distinct California communities. However, Miner’s Ace Hardware— which has been operated by the Miner family since 1956—has found a way to shine while in the midst of an expansion project that is doubling the size of its Los Osos store. “We have families who have shopped our stores for generations. Miner’s is a local fixture and part of the neighborhoods and communities it serves. Our mission is to be a place where employees want to work and customers want to shop and we take this very seriously,” explains President Paul Filice, whose father-in-law Mike

Miner is a second-generation co-owner. “In fact, we still have our first employee we hired working in our hardware department— Wally Lewis has been a part of the team for over 62 years,” he adds. With hardware stores deemed essential, Miner’s Ace quickly discovered customers were using the time during the shutdown to work on home projects such as painting, planting gardens and organizing garages. “We experienced both an increase in customer count and average ticket,” Filice says.

Beacon Award for Community Service Miner’s Ace Hardware Grover Beach, Calif.

OPEN AND HERE TO HELP When the coronavirus hit, Filice’s first thought was how to remain safe with nearly 500 employees spread across nine store locations. “We allocated

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The store’s safety policy was posted at the entrance, end cap headers and register areas.

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The Miner and Filice families have maintained the tradition of family ownership. From left to right: Giacomo Filice, Amy Filice, President Paul Filice, Celia Filice, CEO Mike Miner, Angelena Filice, Susie Miner and Bethany Miner, director of human resources.

all our stock of cleaning supplies, wipes, hand sanitizer and other PPE to our teams in order to remain open. Second, we allowed our staff to purchase any product we had before it hit the sales floor. Any time we receive essential product the business took what it needed to remain safe and open, then the employees had a chance to get what they wanted, then we reached out to local hospitals and eventually schools,” he points out. Filice adds, “We communicated, ‘We are open and here to help’ early in the shutdown when there was so much uncertainty regarding who was open and at what capacity they were operating.” Within a day or two they had giant banners up with their “here to help” message along with emails, social media posts and print ads. Customers responded with messages of gratitude on Facebook. “We realized that in this time of isolation people needed to still feel connected—our nursery, associates and stores were able to provide this for our customers and community,” Filice says. All Miner’s Ace stores adopted a long list of safety measures designed to keep employees and customers safe. One employee was stationed at the front entrance offering masks and cleaning/ collecting carts, beside a large sign that noted face coverings were required. 60 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Plexiglass shields were installed at every register and help desk. Social distance and directional floor stickers were put in place, with hand sanitizer near the entrance, at work stations like the paint desk and at each register. In addition to requiring all employees to wear face masks and cleaning/disinfecting high-touch surfaces throughout the day, Miner’s Ace enforced queueing when its stores hit their safe social shopping capacity. Introducing curbside pickup service also helped them manage in-store customer traffic. Keeping up staff morale has been a constant goal since the beginning. “We have worked hard to let our team know we appreciate their hard work and dedication. We have lunches delivered to the stores and have provided ‘Hero Pay’ to staff,” says Filice. Miner’s Ace has monthly prizes and parties the stores throw for their staff. “Every year we have a giant company picnic, but this year we had to cancel the event. In lieu of the party, we are going to have lunch delivered to the stores along with a company t-shirt, hat, backpack and some other swag to celebrate our team,” he points out.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY Once the pandemic hit, Miner’s made a shift in its community service initiatives and focused on the needs of students as they entered into a period of distance www.TheHardwareConnection.com

learning. They donated $30,000 to local schools to buy tablets and mobile hot spots for students in need. “We are all active in many parts of the community, serving on boards, coaching sports teams, involved in PTO/PTA associations and Rotary. It’s what makes small town America a great place to raise a family and wonderful spot for a hardware store,” Filice says. Safety masks became very hard to get, if not impossible. “We were a bit surprised when some of our B2B customers that were medical facilities were asking if we could supply them. This is when we started to realize the situation was a bit desperate. We were able to get several large shipments secured. Once they came in, we became a source for our local medical community. We made several large mask donations to local hospitals and medical facilities from our supply,” he says. As the shutdown dragged on, Filice says they became aware how lucky they were to be deemed essential. Restaurants in particular were hit hard. “We ran a couple of different promotions on our social media in which we purchased $100 gift cards to local restaurants. We asked our customers to let us know what their local favorite restaurant was in hopes we could help start a conversation that would highlight local restaurants,” he says. “It was a big success. The local restaurants were extremely grateful for both the promotion they got online and the gift card purchases.” A local farm, Talley Farms, reached out to Miner’s as they were developing a local www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Upper: Miner’s Ace made large donations of masks and other essential items to local hospitals and medical facilities. Lower: A long list of safety measures and cleaning protocols were adopted to keep customers and employees safe.

harvest box program and wished for their stores to be a pickup site. “We went from a few boxes a week per store to hundreds of boxes, with some stores needing to have pickups on two different days,” he says. “Not everyone that picks up their harvest box makes a purchase, but some do, and it is a great way to get people to walk our store, see our displays and product.” Filice adds, “We are humbled to be recognized with a Beacon Award. Community involvement has been part of our recipe for years. ‘Give back to the community that enables our success’ is one of our core values and something that our business and family take seriously.” n

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By Chris Jensen

Beacon Award for Community Service Akard True Value Hardware Zionsville, Ind.

eigh Ann Akard has so many community service initiatives going on throughout the year, that it’s a wonder she has any time left to run her two stores, Akard True Value Hardware and Akard’s Back to the Bricks Village Hardware in Zionsville, Ind. She has a big heart and a generous spirit and is not someone who can stand by idly when she sees a need. The third-generation retailer also has trouble saying no to the local charities and nonprofits that hit her up for support. Leigh Ann is not one to just write a check—she’s active, involved and blessed with infectious enthusiasm for each cause.

CARING FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY Akard’s has been supporting The Caring Center for a number of years, which provides food, clothing and other essential items to the needy. “They needed donations to support families 62 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Leigh Ann Akard, the third-generation owner of Akard True Value in Zionsville, Ind., found time during the pandemic to open a second pop-up store in the business’ original location on the Brick Street.

in crisis, so we set up a tree in the store to benefit them. The Caring Center has been going crazy with food needs this year. Same thing with Hope for Heroes to support homeless veterans. We react when there’s a need,” Leigh Ann says. The main store serves as a collection point for Sew 2 Serve, with people dropping off masks and fabric to make masks. They have also held two blood drives this year instead of the usual one. One of Leigh Ann’s favorite groups to support is the HAWK Foundation, which provides free seasonal events to help families who have members with special needs. “Our VIP carnival for the HAWK Foundation had to be canceled, but we’re www.TheHardwareConnection.com

determined to make sure our Christmas event happens this year,” she says.

RETURN TO ROOTS Leigh Ann opened up a pop-up shop in early May that is a return to roots for her business. Her grandfather, JJ Akard, bought Zionsville Hardware in 1955, which was then located on the Brick Street, as Zionsville’s Main Street is affectionately called. Her father, Steve, purchased the business in the late 1970s and then moved it one mile away to a 25,000-square-foot space in the Boone Village Shopping Center. With the business celebrating its 65th anniversary this year, a fortuitous event happened. The store’s original space on the Brick Street became available, so Leigh Ann decided it made sense to open up a pop-up shop there as a salute to her family’s legacy. “My dad had to move to the current location to compete with the big boxes. Even though we’ve been there now a long time, people still didn’t know who we were,” Leigh Ann explains. “So, we had to come ‘Back to the Bricks.’ We didn’t get to have a grand opening or celebrate our 65th anniversary, but www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Left: Akard True Value lit up its store front with Christmas lights and tree in March, encouraging people throughout the town to do the same as a way to spread cheer as a stay-at-home order took effect. Right: Leigh Ann Akard started the “Be the Light” campaign to keep up the community’s spirits and to support local businesses during the pandemic.

we’ve had more one-on-one contact with customers in this pop-up store.” The main store features a 25,000square-foot sales floor that includes a standalone rental center. To Leigh Ann, the store is about giving kids and retirees a job and those employees become family. It has an integral place serving all the needs of the community, not just supplying hardware for projects. “You see what’s happening out there and ask how you can be involved,” she explains.

LEARNING TO PIVOT When the coronavirus hit, Leigh Ann wanted to make the best decisions for her staff first. When the stay-at-home order was issued for Indiana, Akard’s was short-staffed and swamped with customers who had nothing better to do than wander around the store for an THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 63

hour. “People just lost their minds at the beginning. There are no best practices that are not hazardous. It’s like playing Russian roulette every day,” she says. She sat down with her management team two to three weeks in and said she wanted to reward the staff now—either a dollar amount or a three-day weekend. “You need to give encouragement at the beginning. That helped with morale. Then I made sure everyone got back- toback days off,” she explains. Leigh Ann tried to use humor and post fun videos early on, but people were being so hateful with their comments that she had to stop. “Everyone knows what’s going on with masks and it’s a highly emotional issue. I finally took the approach to be where the customer is at with masks,” she says. Akard’s focused on social distancing and sanitizing everything, and they figured out on the fly how to offer curbside pickup and delivery. “We have the ability to shift and to pivot. COVID will take out those retailers that don’t know how to pivot, while stores that make changes will be better positioned to shine later on,” she says. “My word of the day is gratitude. We are so grateful to be an essential 64 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Left: Akard’s “Back to the Bricks” Village Hardware store has evolved into a neat way to commemorate the business’ 65th anniversary by returning to its roots. Right: Throughout the year, Akard True Value supports dozens of charities and nonprofits such as The Caring Center, which provides food, clothing and other essential items to the needy.

business during a pandemic,” Leigh Ann adds, “We try so hard to meet people’s needs and sometimes there’s no way to please everyone. We’re operating as normal as possible in abnormal times.” She said it was awesome to see her team work so well in such adverse conditions this year. “It’s like being on a treadmill and every day the speed and the incline picked up,” Leigh Ann points out. They implemented a full computer upgrade and installed a new phone system while opening a new store during a pandemic, despite the fact Akard’s is still short-staffed. “Epicor has been great to work with, and we’re positioned well now with our technology,” she says. “Winning the Beacon Award for Community Service is a huge affirmation that we’re doing a good job. I can’t think of a time this would be more meaningful. It shows our foundation was firm. We were just doing what we felt we should be doing,” Leigh Ann says. n www.TheHardwareConnection.com

By Chris Jensen

Beacon Award for Community Service

Wholesale Lumber Company – Clint, Texas

etermined to come out of this pandemic as a stronger retailer, Joe Burks concludes that it’s all about planning, protecting the community and building trust. “It’s nice when your morals and business goals fall into sync without need for adjustment of either,” he says. “If customers and employees do not feel safe, it is going to have long-term consequences.” Burks and his wife Jody operate Wholesale Lumber Company in Clint, Texas, plus a second store six miles away in Fabens, Texas. His mother, Alma, owns the family’s original store in Socorro, which is managed by his younger sister, Jerri Burks. Jody, a retired fifth-grade math and science teacher, makes sure their customer service stays up to par. That has been more of a challenge during the pandemic. Joe made an educated guess early on that the coroUpper: Joe and Jody Burks operate Wholesale Lumber navirus was here to stay for a while, and he wasted Company in Clint, Texas, a family no time taking decisive action. “I started researching business started by his late father Tom in 1974. early and before we even had a case in El Paso, we had Middle: You need big signs if you employees wear face masks,” he says. Around the time El Paso had its first case of want to get people’s attention about something important, COVID-19, they hired a full-time cleaning person dediaccording to Joe Burks. cated to a continuous loop of disinfecting the high-use Bottom: Joe Burks made sure areas of the store. They intend to continue doing that to keep his 21 employees even when the pandemic ends. “Having a clean store updated as new procedures always makes an impression,” Joe says. were enacted. www.TheHardwareConnection.com

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Left: Joe Burks says a complete remodel in 2018 has made his store better equipped to serve the community during a pandemic. Right: The staff at Wholesale Lumber has stepped up to keep the store clean and sanitized.

The Do it Best member started employee temperature self-checks, limited the break room to one occupant, installed a hand wash station at the store front, put in social distancing signage and floor markings, installed plexiglass shields at the cash registers, started keeping cash registers manned all the time and required all employees to wear cloth masks. Joe and Jody also revisited their sick leave policies and prohibited sick employees from coming in, making sure everyone knew the consequences for doing so. “Our staff is definitely uneasy about all these changes—it’s a lot to take in—but I made a point not to sugarcoat things. I worry for myself, my employees and the community,” says Joe, who holds weekly meetings with their 21 employees to keep them informed of updated policies. On the planning side, they updated their employee manual, added authorized signers on accounts, added to the pool of store key holders, started some cross training between jobs and wrote out an informal document of emergency “what ifs” to share with the staff. 66 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

“When our first county stay-at-home order came out, we blocked half of our parking spots to limit peak traffic in the store and allowed only one person per vehicle in the store,” reports Joe. “During the biggest rush we had a person at the gate to let in one car at a time and would have 15 cars on the road waiting to get into the lot. It is much nicer having customers wait in line in their air-conditioned cars than elbow to elbow on the sidewalk.”

MASKING UP On the first day the CDC recommended the wearing of cloth masks, Wholesale Lumber Co. made them mandatory for everyone coming into the store. Joe had already spent several weeks gathering materials for masks. He had two ladies volunteer to make 1,000 cloth masks. They also came up with a lowtech mask made out of a blue shop towel, two rubber bands and four staples— several thousand of those were made. They set up an area to sanitize and then bag the homemade masks. “It is by no means an N95 mask, but some sources claim that as a nonwoven fabric it is superior to cloth,” he says. “And if nothing else, it does make www.TheHardwareConnection.com

a swell dust mask for those customers who still need those.” While the vast majority of their customers have been understanding of the need to wear masks, Joe says it’s easier to manage if you can hand them one. “With the level of service expected in a hardware store, social distancing can be hard on the sales floor. That customer who comes in holding a plumbing part still needs you to get close enough to look at it and tell him what he needs. I still stay on my crew about keeping their distance, but I think the cloth masks add an extra layer to that,” he adds. With safety protocols in place, Wholesale Lumber has found another way to make a difference in the community during the pandemic. “We’re going to do some small business grants to help make local businesses safer, supplying them with materials to handle a pandemic like sneeze guards. If you’re down to 25 or 50 percent capacity you’re probably not investing in projects like this, so there’s a need,” Joe says.

ADJUSTING TO THE NEW NORM Burks began working in the family business at the age of 10, and he is proud to carry on his father’s legacy. He is also trying to live up to the high standards set in the Clint store by his sister, Tina Bearden, who used to run that store before she passed away in March 2017 after a long illness. “She never met a stranger and brought out the good in everyone she met,” Joe says. www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Joe enlisted the help of Do it Best to give the Clint store a major facelift, spending 2018 remodeling the 45,000-square-foot facility. The space devoted to hardware doubled to 18,000 square feet, which proved fortuitous when the pandemic created previously unseen demand for products. “The remodel has put us in a much better position,” says Joe. “It widened aisles and gives a better flow of traffic. We’re getting ready to remodel the Fabens store and we may rethink a few things based on what’s happened during the pandemic.” According to Joe, business is absolutely exploding—up 57 percent in the second quarter. “It’s terrible to not want more business, but we’re at capacity now. Things are finally starting to calm down, but we had some growing pains,” he says. Now, the biggest challenge is finding enough lumber. “We’re in a low-income area and have people building their own house,” he explains. Do it Best has never been more of an asset to his business, Joe says, giving the Clint store the right upgrade and keeping his stores supplied during a pandemic. Burks says they are honored and humbled to win the Beacon Award for Community Service. “We’ve always been community-oriented. It’s really nice to be noticed that I was on the ball and started early while others were in denial about the virus,” he says. n THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 67

Beacon Award for Community Service Mazo Hardware Mazomanie, Wis.

“I

By Chris Jensen

As owner of Mazo Hardware in Mazomanie, Wis., Renee Zaman has found new ways to serve her community.

don’t like to do something without heart.” That is how Renee Zaman describes her mission as owner of Mazo Hardware in Mazomanie, Wis., which has been particularly evident in the year of the pandemic. All the good feelings that come with a hometown hardware store are embedded in the culture of Zaman’s store. She is lovingly known as “The Hardware Queen,” right down to the crown she occasionally wears for fun on the sales floor. The former pre-school teacher took over ownership in 2009 and infused her playful, spunky personality into the store operations. She is at the store seven days a week to answer any questions her customers may have and provide the support her staff needs. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it threatened the upbeat atmosphere at Mazo Hardware, but Zaman was

determined to find a way to provide her community the relief it needed. Not only did she adapt to maintain safe business practices, but she went above and beyond to get even more involved in her community. The impact her essential business has had on the community has not gone unnoticed, and Mazo Hardware has become a symbol of uplifted spirits in Mazomanie.

68 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

IDEAS BEGIN TO SPARK When news of the pandemic began to spread, Zaman waited in anticipation for what would happen to her business. Hardware stores across the country were deemed essential, which meant she had a huge responsibility on her hands. Plexiglass shields were installed at all registers, although Zaman insisted on calling them their “sneeze shields” to bring laughter to the situation. They

Left: The team at Mazo Hardware follows Owner Renee Zaman’s lead with a positive, can-do attitude about operating during a pandemic. Right: Renee Zaman embraces her role as “The Hardware Queen” of Mazomanie, Wis.

wondered if there would be a safe place to cast their ballot in person. That’s when Mazo Hardware stepped in with a solution. One morning, Zaman entered the store to see her longtime employee Joe Kliebenstein. He had a prototype for a plexiglass configuration that could be used for so much more than their registers. As they began talking about their new “sneeze shields,” they developed an idea for a way to extend a helping hand to the community’s election situation. Mazo Hardware got busy producing plexiglass shields, then sold them at cost to eight polling locations so that voters could feel safe while they cast their votes. In the coming weeks, Zaman and THE VOTE MUST GO ON Mazo Hardware continued to support Mazo Hardware was well underway their community. offering curbside pickup and keeping “I got an email from the local hospital their customers informed about their safe business practices through social media. and they needed PPE and other items. So, we donated masks, gloves, rain suits They continued to drive traffic to their and sanitizing cleaner,” Zaman says. 6,500-square-foot store with fun quirky She adds, “People understand I care videos describing all the ways they were about them fiercely. I have a young sinadapting to COVID-19. They created a gle mom on staff and child care is very safe environment for their employees and customers, but their community had expensive, so we alter her hours creatively so she can still make a living.” even more important needs to be met. At one point, Zaman was operating Mazomanie citizens were in the midst of the spring primary elections. Many voters without 10 of her 16 employees. “I had to

placed six-feet distancing placards on the floors and employees were asked to wear masks and gloves. They developed cleaning routines that involved sanitizing every area in the store hourly. As masks became increasingly difficult to secure, Zaman and her team thought of ways to make their own. They figured out how to fashion a mask with a vinyl shield made out of materials stocked in the store. A local doctor’s office, impressed by the design, ordered 10 for his own office. Mazo was already making a difference, but Zaman and her team didn’t want to stop there.

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THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 69

Upper: Owner Renee Zaman goes over new safety protocols with Assistant Manager Justine Myers (left) and Manager Yvette Peterson (center). Lower: Drawing on her background as a preschool teacher, Renee Zaman has forced herself to become more knowledgeable about the hardware business every day.

mistake you can make,” she points out. “I had a consultant tell me we’d never make it and that I should file for bankruptcy. I figured it out, because I’m persistent.” She adds, “I’m using things I learned get by with two new people and one oth- from my early childhood education. It er person helping, with the phone ringing took all of my skills such as be a good listener, ask questions and learn someconstantly. I worked nonstop for three thing new every day. I challenge myself months without a day off,” she says. With families looking for creative ways to be more knowledgeable.” If one thing has been clear as Mazo to spend time together indoors, Zaman Hardware has adapted to the COVID-19 strategically selected fun products and created specific end caps to prompt fam- pandemic, it’s that Zaman made sure ily fun activities. The store’s promotional she and her team never lost their posivideos remained silly, quirky and a good tive, can-do spirit. They didn’t just see a need and provide it for their community, laugh for all their customers. Paying close attention to what was they lifted the community’s spirits. Zaman could not have foreseen the selling fast, Zaman had to work extra changes that were to come, but she hard to find sources for in-demand proved no matter the obstacle, the team items with her sales up 30 percent. at Mazo Hardware would commit to put“I spent a bunch of time looking ting a smile on their customers’ faces through catalogs to find stock,” she and being part of the solution. says, adding that she relied on Do it She is humbled and speechless about Best as well as other sources to stay being honored with the Beacon Award. fully stocked for her customers. “Me getting this award matches the passion I have for this community. I’m not A LASTING IMPACT here to make money, but to help my felZaman had no dreams of one day low human beings. This award is the best owning her own business, especially reflection of what I’m trying to accoma hardware store. “I’m not a detail perplish with the business” she says. n son and I hate shopping. I made every 70 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Sponsors:

Co-Sponsors:

Thank You to the Beacon Awards Sponsors Community service has never been more important than in the challenging times we now live in. This year’s Beacon Awards honor retailers that have risen as true pillars of support for the communities they serve. The Beacon Awards are made possible by the generous support of sponsors who

recognize the importance of honoring retailers who represent the future of the two-step channel. This year’s Beacon Awards were sponsored by Epicor, Ettore, The Hardware Conference and The Hardware Connection magazine. They were also co-sponsored by Do it Best Corp. and Orgill Inc.

Beacon Award for Community Service Jabo’s Ace Hardware Coppell, Texas By Chris Jensen

ome hardware retailers seem to have stumbled onto the path accidentally, while for others—like Bill Jablonowski—life’s adventures seem to keep pointing them toward the hardware retailing path. For Bill, who operates three Jabo’s Ace Hardware stores in the Fort Worth, Texas, area with his wife Renae and son Zach, his path started when he began working at Elliott’s Ace Hardware in Wisconsin while in high school. He ended up working there through college, then immediately applied for a job at Ace Hardware corporate after graduation. “Working at Elliott’s was great and I fell in love with the business. I grew up cutting my teeth in one of the best Ace stores in the country. I applied at Ace so I could follow my own path and not follow my dad to be a banker,” Bill explains.

72 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Bill and Renae Jablonowski and their son Zach operate three successful Jabo’s Ace stores in the Fort Worth area.

During Bill’s 16 years at Ace, he got involved in the Pace computer system, followed by roles as district manager, project manager, then corporate manager of business development. “I learned every aspect of opening a store,” he says.

PUT UP OR SHUT UP The seminal moment came when Bill was on his annual fishing trip with some buddies. “One of my close friends finally said, ‘Why don’t you stop talking about it and put your money where your mouth is and open your own store?’” Bill and Renae spent nearly a year trying to find the right location in Texas—to be close to family—then scraped together all their money to buy Coppell Ace Hardware in June 2005. “I knew I couldn’t do it without Renae. I knew we needed to draw www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Left: The stores required face masks early on and now sell designer masks for $48. Right: Prominent signage reminds customers that Jabo’s Ace stores are open and essential.

females into the store and she could do that,” Bill says. Renae came from an insurance background, but she also had worked at Pier One. “I had merchandising and gift experience, so I had ideas to go beyond hardware,” she says. Renae’s creative knack for finding and sourcing products people want to buy would blend well with Bill’s knowledge of how to organize and operate a hardware store, but first Bill had to survive one more fishing trip. “We moved to Texas in June and then our fishing trip was two weeks later. I said I’m not going to change anything with the store for six months. But there’s nothing to do but think on a fishing trip. I came back and we’re tearing the store up—I was on fire,” Bill recalls. As Renae picks up the story, “He comes back and is going in five different directions with the layout. I had a vision of where we were going. Within two and a half months after the reset, we were in the black. The store was doing $1.8 million and now it’s well over twice that,” she says. In 2005, their son Zach was 14, so he got an early taste of retail life, followed by their youngest child Caitlyn. Their oldest child, www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Alyssa, turned into a cashier in the first store right out of the gate. Zach now oversees marketing for the business. “It’s been immensely gratifying to see Zach grow into his role with the company,” Bill says.

STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE Bill and Renae knew they didn’t want to operate a typical store. “We’re never comfortable being normal. Our mantra is to continue to change within the store, always present something new to the consumer,” says Bill. They developed and expanded The Cove Gifts, which helped turn the store into a one-stop shop. Their primary mission is to ensure customers leave the store saying “Wow,” and carrying unique items and a broad selection combined with exceptional service is a good recipe for success. Once the Coppell store was up and running, Bill and Renae opened a ground-up store in Keller in 2007 that could be molded to their prototype, followed by the acquisition of a third store in Fort Worth in 2008. That store is now doing three times the volume. “One of the shifts was implementing more premium brands like Benjamin Moore, STIHL and Traeger,” says Zach. THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 73

Left: Staff wear shirts that encourage social distancing. Right: Jabo’s Ace raised over $110,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network hospitals last year.

Big Green Egg followed in 2012, then YETI in 2014. Renae notes that they specifically seek out brands that give back to the community and also sought black-owned businesses. Adds Zach, “We’re proud to have black and LGBQT businesses. We want to be a store for everyone.”

ADJUSTING TO THE NEW NORMAL Like most hardware retailers, the Jablonowskis have found operating during COVID to be both a burden and a blessing. “Team safety is number one so the customers feel safe. We still do temperature checks on every shift,” Bill points out. They found a local source for hand sanitizer, while a neighbor was able to secure masks for them. “Everybody’s selling masks. You have to innovate, so we went for decor masks right away,” Renee points out. “Now some even have chains to hold it when you’re not wearing it. We sell $48 designer masks every day.” Business was flying high when the pandemic hit and now it’s flying higher. “Paint is up 80 percent. We have a huge grill department and that has exploded during the pandemic, because people are staying home,” Bill offers. “Cove Gifts carries something for everybody,” Renae points out. 74 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

“Birthdays weren’t canceled. It’s helped fill the void. We’re the only ones with gift items beside the grocery or convenience store. We’re big on special orders, like a personal shopping service.” They changed how the business operated with curbside service, which has been very well received, according to Zach. “We upgraded our Wi-Fi to use Ace’s mobile app. Epicor’s technology is helping us operate more efficiently and productively,” he says. Internet sales are up 430 percent at the Keller store, while customer counts are up 15 percent across the three stores. Their overall business is up 36 percent. “Our employees were amazed at the bonus they got this year—some were in tears,” Bill says. From a community standpoint, they support churches, Keller Women’s Group, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and baseball teams. They held a curbside Egghop this year for Easter. Their biggest cause is to support the Children’s Miracle Network hospitals—they raised over $110,000 for CMN last year. Bill says it’s an honor to be recognized with the Beacon Award and they are very appreciative to be named. Adds Renae, “It’s an honor to serve our customers. We try to keep improving the stores for them.” n www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Connection

RepoRt on Business Conditions ARound the CountRy

Part II: How t tHe Hardware Industry Is CoPIng wItH tHe PandemIC

March 2020 Vol. 12, No. 2

the industRy’s digitAl leAdeR

Retail RebiRth: Independents

E XC L U S I V E R E P O R T: S U P P LY C H A N N E L U P D AT E O N C O V I D - 1 9

April 2020 Vol. 12, No. 3

tHe Industry’s dIgItal leader

R e ta i l e R s s p e a k O u t a b O u t M a s k-W e a R i n g p R O t O c O l

May/June 2020 Vol. 12, No. 4

THE INDUSTRY’S DIgITAL LEADER

S T R I V I N G TO WA R D A M O R E D I V E R S E A N D I N C L U S I V E I N D U S T R Y

July/Aug 2020 Vol. 12, No. 5

the he industRy’s Ry’s digital leade R leadeR

Thriving in Former Chain Sites

Sept/Oct 2020 Vol. 12, No. 6

SPECIAL REPORT: Rising Up to Battle the COVID-19 Threat ALSO INSIDE: alSO iiNSiDe: NSiD De:

6 Planning Topics for Family-Owned Business Succession How is Coronavirus Impacting the Industry?

How Can Your Business Get Relief from the Coronavirus CARES Act? How to Retail During COVID-19

Developing a

UniqUe identity

A Ray of SunShine in Challenging TiMeS ALSO INSIDE:

ALSO INSIDE:

Remodeling/Housing Market Outlook Report on Business Conditions Around the Country

Farm and Ranch Retailing Report Social Media Marketing Strategies in Times of Uncertainty

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ALSO INSIDE:

Profiles of Beacon Award Winners Latest Lawn & Garden Trends

T&M Hardware and Rental

McGuckin Hardware

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caTegorY rePorT

LAWN AND GARDEN TRENDS Sales of Wild Bird Food (Independent Hardware Channel) 12 Months % Change vs. Year Ago Wild Bird Food: Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.5% Wild Bird Food: Dollars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.9% Source: Vista Information Services, div. of Epicor Software Corp.

Unit Sales Breakdown for Wild Bird Food Total of 845 Items with Sales Total Category Top 5 Items % of Unit Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.5% Top 10 Items % of Unit Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.4% Top 20 Items % of Unit Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.7% Top 30 Items % of Unit Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67.4% Source: Vista Information Services, div. of Epicor Software Corp.

Seasonality of Sales of Wild Bird Food (Index=100) 200 170 140 110 80 50

200

171

170 140

133 87

110

July Aug. Sept. Oct. 2019802019 2019 2019

139

103

Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March Apr. May June 2019 2019 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020

Source: Vista Information Services, div. of Epicor Software Corp. 50

Wild Bird Food Share of Sales by Type (Latest 12 Months) Mixed Seed Blends Straight Sunflower Seed 0 10 20 Suets Straight Thistle/Nyjer Seed Hummingbird Food Pressed Seed Other Straight Safflower Seed Dried Mealworms

54.3% 30

18.1%

11.4%

3.8% 3.5% 3.3% 2.1% 1.8% 1.5%

76 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Source: Vista Information Services, div. of Epicor Software Corp.

Manufacturers and retailers use Vista’s retail POS and Consumer Panel data to better sell to their customers. Go to www.vistainfoservices.com.

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

lawn & garden Merchandising

Top Left: Outdoor Supply Hardware is returning to Orchard Supply Hardware’s roots as a nursery. Middle Left: Hagan Ace Hardware promotes edible gardening. Lower Left: General Hardware & Lumber in Winfield, W. Va., merchandises pots and gloves on an end cap. Top Right: Succulent plants are displayed at Harleysville Ace Hardware in Harleysville, Pa. Middle Right: Jed’s Hardware & Garden in Holden, Mass., features bright colors in its nursery. Lower Right: Steinacker True Value in Vermilion, Ohio, operates a seasonal garden center. www.TheHardwareConnection.com

THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 77

lawn & garden ProducTs

gTa 26 garden Pruner

FeaTherliTe® hose

• The first battery-powered garden • FeatherLITE® Garden Hose is designed to pruner of its kind on the U.S. market solve the most basic and common probfeatures ergonomic design for maxilem with a garden hose—kinking. mum comfort and control, rubber • This strong and durable hose is made in grips to minimize vibration, toolless the U.S.A with an exclusive polymer combar and chain replacement, retractpound that is lighter than traditional PVC. able chain guard and trigger switch • Offers innovative Smart Hose® technololockout to prevent activation until gy that uses a two-part process to reduce depressed. kinks. Exclusive spinning male coupling • LED display makes it easy to know allows the hose to unwind itself during how much battery is left, while the hose setup, while exclusive inner tube AS 2 battery offers a long run time. incorporates an internal rod and two inner • The 4-inch guide bar offers toolfins that run the length of the hose. These less removability and is designed interior components work to prevent to allow users the ability for precitwisting and kinking as well as maintainsion cutting and pruning, and its ing a continuous flow of water through size makes it possible to get to those the hose. hard-to-reach spots. • Features a Guard-N-Grip 2.0 Connector • The ¼ PM3 saw chain allows users that allows for a secure, leak-proof conto make smooth cuts with low nection to any faucet without use of a vibration. wrench. STIHL Flexon Industries www.stihlusa.com www.flexonhose.com 800-467-8445 800-327-4673 78 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Recent Features From The Hardware Connection July-August 2020: Dealer Profile: Developing a Unique Identity—Read the inspiring story how Tony Powers turned a parttime job at Intown Ace Hardware 35 years ago into an ownership stake in 1996. His hard work and ideas have helped turn the Decatur, Ga., store into one of Ace’s “Coolest Hardware Stores on the Planet.” July-August 2020: Down on the Farm: Farm and Ranch Segment Showing Strong Growth—The farm and ranch segment continues to enjoy strong growth. Discover how farm and ranch retailers are taking their business to new heights while meeting the unique needs of their customers. May-June 2020: Dealer Profile: A Ray of Sunshine in Challenging Times— Learn how Michael Wynn of Sunshine Ace Hardware in Florida has stepped up to take care of associates, neighbors and the whole community during this challenging period while maintaining high standards for 11 top-performing stores. April 2020: Special Report: Rising Up to Battle the COVID-19 Threat—Discover how hardware and home improvement retailers are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and finding new ways to serve their communities. March 2020: Retail Rebirth: Independents Thriving in Former Chain Sites—See how independent retailers around the country are taking advantage of sites abandoned by chains to open thriving stores. February 2020: Attracting the Next Generation of Customers—Discover how Circle Hardware in Texas has used digital marketing tools like geofencing as an efficient and affordable way to reach the next generation of tech-savvy customers.

Click here to see our archive of past issues.

IN THE NEWS NEW STORES: •

•

count manager. • Do it Best Corp. hired Stephanie Aubuchon Hardware opened Lyons as electrical associate a new store in Monroe, Conn., merchandise manager and Kelly that formerly housed Stepney Dwire as associate merchandise Hardware. manager. They also promoted Greg and Christa Yandell are Nicole Kepler to paint supplies opening Hendersonville Ace merchandise manager, Ryan Hardware in Hendersonville, Tenn. Stopher to hand tools merchandise Fergus Home & Hardware has manager, Stacey Thomas to acquired The Country Store of associate building materials Fergus Falls in Minnesota. trader, Cherie Jacobs to store Keim has acquired Mount Hope development manager and Jessica Hardware in Mount Hope, Ohio, Waggoner as merchandising from Lehman’s. systems and pricing manager. US LBM has acquired Maner • Ace Hardware International Builders Supply, which has Holdings, Ltd., has appointed three stores in Georgia and South Macedonio Garza as the Mexico Carolina. Country Manager to lead Ace Rocky’s Ace Hardware has International’s initiative to expand acquired Washington One-Stop in into Mexico. Washington, N.J.

KUDOS TO:

WHOLESALERS IN THE NEWS:

• Frager’s Hardware in Washington, D.C., is marking its 100th anniversary. • O’Hara True Value in Ottumwa, Iowa, is celebrating its 80th anniversary. • Sunshine Ace Hardware was named ‘Best Hardware Store’ in Naples, Fla., for the 18th consecutive year.

• Ace Hardware reported record second quarter 2020 revenues of $2.28 billion, an increase of $591.6 million, or 35.1 percent, from the second quarter of 2019. Net income was $138.9 million for the second quarter of 2020, an increase of $85.1 million from the second quarter of 2019. • Do it Best Corp. reported record net profitability and record rebates for the fiscal year ending June 27, 2020. Total sales were $3.6 billion, net profit was up 12.6%

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: • Larry Roewer joins Harvey Gerstman Associates as national ac80 ■ THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

www.TheHardwareConnection.com

The new company’s combined and the rebate to members was sales of $11 billion will come from $128.4 million. Sales through the a network of 550 distribution and warehouse were up 11%. manufacturing locations in 42 states. • Ace Hardware International Holdings, Ltd., a subsidiary of Ace Hardware Corp., announced IN MEMORY: it will expand into Mexico with a • Peter Kelly, longtime owner of franchise model. Ace International Kelly’s True Value Hardware in is opening an office in the city of Newburyport, Mass., and former Monterrey and establishing a large board member and chairman of network of local companies and TruServ and Servistar Hardware, vendors to ensure the success of passed away July 20 at the age Ace Hardware franchisees in Mexico. of 76. He joined his father in Lunt The primary area of franchise and Kelly’s Hardware in 1971 development for Ace will be in and later started Kelly’s Taylor Mexico City with a projected opening Rental. He is survived by his wife of the first store in mid-2021. Cherylann, sister Carolyn; children Jeffrey, Wayne, Lisa, Jonathan and Katherine; stepchildren Matthew OTHER NEWS: and Heather; seven grandchildren • Epicor Software Corp. has been and three great-grandchildren. acquired by Clayton, Dubliner and • Chick Evans Jr., co-owner and Rice (CD&R), an investment firm, vice president of Chicks Lumber in a $4.7 billion deal. Click here for Co. in Chattanooga, Tenn., passed more details. away July 15 at the age of 57. • Briggs & Stratton Corp. filed for • Joe Oliva passed away July 23 at bankruptcy protection with plans the age of 84. He and his wife Joyce to sell its assets to KPS Capital operated Rainier Hardware in Partners LP, a private equity firm. Rainier, Ore., for 42 years until 2017. • Paladin Data Corp. rolled He is survived by his wife, three out its Summer 2020 Release, children, six grandchildren and which contains new features and three great-grandchildren. integrations that enable retailers to streamline operations and optimize new customer demand. ORGILL CEO LEADS DISCUSSION ON • Builders FirstSource has merged EVOLVING TO NEW REALITIES OF BUSINESS with BMC Stock Holdings to As part of Orgill’s first-ever online form the nation’s largest supplier buying event, e-Volution, which took of building materials and services. place August 24-September 4. President www.TheHardwareConnection.com

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incorporated into dealer markets in the future. During the presentation, Moore led several real-time polls to gauge dealer opinions. One poll asked what they miss most about not being able to attend a dealer market in person. The most popular Orgill CEO Boyden Moore gave a Zoom response was: talking in-person with presentation during their e-Volution online vendors (34%), followed by seeing and buying event. touching new products (29%), networking with peers (26%) and consulting with and CEO Boyden Moore led a Zoom the Orgill team in Retail Services (5%). presentation for dealers that gave an Moore detailed the many ways Orgill update on how the company is evolving has strived to keep employees and to the new realities of business. customers safe over the past several “Our team and vendors have worked months. “We’ve had 79 confirmed cases hard and have done a great job over of COVID-19 since the pandemic began the past few months in preparation for among our roughly 5,500 employees. this event. We have over 1,000 vendor We’re pleased that so far all of our employ‘booths’ and more than 9,500 registered ees have recovered. We haven’t needed to customers for the event,” Moore said. “We’ve seen more than a thousand meet- shut down any of our distribution centers throughout the pandemic so far,” he said. ings scheduled with vendors so far, and Click here to read the full story. heavy engagement on the site. During the first two days this week, we tracked more than 6,000 of you on the e-Volution DO IT BEST TO ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR site, setting new sales records on Orgill. E-COMMERCE ADVANCEMENTS com in the first days of the event.” Do it Best Corp. announced the Moore said they specifically did not planned introduction of multiple new want to call it a virtual dealer market, say- e-commerce features during its upcoming it would be a stretch to think that they ing fall virtual market. These new, fully might pull off what happens at a dealer integrated features will build off a commarket in any kind of virtual way. “We prehensive e-commerce strategy that named it e-Volution, because we built new continues to strengthen and streamline technical and e-commerce tools to facili- the capabilities Do it Best provides its tate this event and we are evolving to the members and their online and brick realities of business during this pandemic.” and mortar customers. He added that the innovations Built on the MOCE e-commerce Orgill built for this online event will be platform, the four key enhancements 82 ■ THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

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will include providing online shoppers same day in-store pickup of orders placed online; the ability for members to sell both items stocked by Do it Best and items that members stock that aren’t bought through Do it Best on their MOCE websites; streamlined curbside pickup; and the co-op’s custombuilt Pick N Pack mobile app. Do it Best is working with POS providers to offer full integration of all these features. “As always, our focus is on developing and delivering solutions that are relevant, robust and turnkey—which is why we are so excited about sharing these new features with our members during the fall market,” explained Rich Lynch, vice president of marketing at Do it Best. “Our team and partners have worked tirelessly to ensure that our e-commerce offerings are in sync with shifting consumer dynamics. Launching these enhanced shopping features will drive growth for our members’ stores, as well as increase convenience and ease of experience for their customers.” Driven by a three-pronged e-commerce strategy that focuses on traditional retailers, e-tailers and online shoppers, the co-op serves unique member businesses with the products and distribution agility necessary to enhance consumer shopping experiences in a digital world and across all touchpoints. The Pick N Pack app, for example, is streamlining the online order retrieval and fulfillment process for the stores www.TheHardwareConnection.com

where it’s currently being beta tested, saving time for employees and shoppers and improving order accuracy. The 2020 Do it Best Fall Market will take place online from Sept. 13-18.

HOUSE-HASSON FOCUSES ON RETURN TO NORMAL PERFORMANCE House-Hasson Hardware has decided to cancel its Fall Virtual Market in October so the company can focus on improving performance on everyday business. “The pandemic is causing record sales at hardware outlets across the country. The result is that supply chains are stretched to the limit. Fill rates and delivery schedules are nowhere near what we want and expect. We are taking steps to correct the situation while trying to fill every order we receive,” said President Don Hasson. He added, “We seek to return to our normal performance of 96 percent service level and on-time delivery. We expect it will take the rest of this year to do so. The main variable will be for our vendors to return to their normal fill rates.” House-Hasson will have a road show in October featuring warehouse specials and drop-ship door busters. “The next key point will be increased emphasis on our January market at the Opryland Hotel. This will be the first major in-person hardware show in the country between now and then,” Hasson said. That event is scheduled for January 28-30, 2021. ■ THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 83

UPCOMING EVENTS SEPTEMBER Ace Hardware Digital Fall Convention September 9-12 Blish-Mize Fall Virtual Market September 17-28 Bostwick-Braun Fall Virtual Market September 17-18 Do it Best Virtual Fall Market September 13-18 Home Hardware Fall Virtual Market September 13-20 Horizon Distribution Virtual Expo September 9-11 Mid-States Virtual Fall Rendezvous September 23-25 Monroe Hardware Fall Market September 11-13, Greenville Convention Center, Greenville, S.C.

OCTOBER House-Hasson Fall Virtual Dealer Market--Canceled Replaced with October Road Show featuring warehouse specials National Hardware Virtual Show October 12-15 Wallace Hardware Fall Virtual Dealer Market September 21-October 25

NOVEMBER

PACOA Fall Dealer Market September 12-13, Queens College Fitzgerald Gymnasium, Flushing, N.Y.

Distribution America and PRO Group Virtual Executive Planning Conference November 17-19

True Value Company Fall V-Union September 29-October 1

STAFDA Annual Convention & Trade Show—Canceled!

For a complete listing of calendar dates, click here. 84 ■ THE HARDWARE Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

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retail ideaS

Stepping Up to Serve in new wayS dUring covid When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt earlier this year, many essential businesses that remained open, like Josephs’ Hardware & Home Center in Fort Collins, Colo., saw what was needed and were quick to implement safety precautions to protect their employees and customers. One issue that is making itself more clear as the pandemic continues is the loss of local tax revenue due to the substantial decrease in sales transactions in most communities. Owner Matt Chavez knew from the outset that shelter in place mandates represented an opportunity to not only grow his business but to contribute to the local economy as well. With more people at home working on projects, he developed innovative strategies to provide customers and employees with a safe shopping experience that adhered to local health guidelines. Josephs’ Hardware & Home Center implemented an innovative homemade tally system that let customers know when they were at their 10-person limit. “One of my employees suggested doing something like an abacus, so that’s what we came up with,” Chavez says. “We’ve had the tally board up since April 3, the same day we instituted our mask-required policy. Customers have www.TheHardwareConnection.com

Josephs’ Hardware & Home Center in Fort Collins, Colo., devised an innovative tally system to let customers know if the store was at its 10-person capacity. Photo by Bethany Baker/The Coloradoan.

generally liked it, since they can tell at a glance whether it’s okay to come in.” The Do it Best member immediately built sneeze guards and put them up on all counters, and made sanitizing solutions and towels available throughout the store. “Of course, we’ve had a few customers refuse to wear masks, but we have stuck to our policy and have gone out of our way to help people without masks at curbside, outside the store, to get what they want,” Chavez says. Luckily, Chavez has been able to maintain full staffing, and sales and customer counts are both up doubledigit percentages. The effort put into his store, along with the sizable increase in DIY home projects, contributed to Fort Collins’ tax base looking less horrible in May than April. Sales taxes on building materials, garden equipment, and supplies were up nearly 25 percent month over month, and building permit applications were up more than 57 percent, helping stabilize the local economy. THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020 ■ 85

retail ideaS As the impact from COVID-19 continues to play out, retailers like Chavez know that they are offering something that big-box stores can’t match, which is the passion for the local community and the ability to do their part to protect it. “We took the ‘essential’ part of our business to heart, and worked very hard to help people with curbside pickups and free deliveries,” Chavez says.

roUnding Up for cHarity Independent hardware retailers have thrived during the pandemic due to their ability to identify opportunities and then quickly adapt to better serve their communities. Rick and Kathy Craig own Craig’s Hardware, a Century Club retailer in New Brighton, Pa., that dates back to 1909. The Craigs recently found a way to address two different challenges with one innovative solution.

The first challenge hit Brighton in March when stay-at-home orders were issued. People were out of work as the economy idled. Nonprofits started seeing a downward trend in financial donations. More recently, a national coin shortage hit retailers at the register, with many asking customers to either pay in exact change or use a debit/credit card to complete a transaction. Seeing these two challenges, the Craigs implemented a new checkout process where customers could choose to round up their purchase to the next dollar and donate the difference to either the New Brighton Library or Twelve Loaves Soup Kitchen. The option has proven popular with customers and provided needed charitable funding, and the Craigs are encouraging other local retailers to do the same for nonprofits in their area. The Craigs started the promotion on July 16. So far, they have raised $313.72 for the Twelve Loaves Soup Kitchen and $120.12 for the New Brighton Library. “We also asked our customers on Facebook if they had change they wanted to part with due to the shortage. The response was overwhelming,” Rick says.

lending SUpport to firSt reSponderS Craig’s Hardware in New Brighton, Pa., has been asking customers to round up their purchases, with the difference being donated to needy local nonprofits. 86 ■ THe HARDWARe Connection ■ Sept/Oct 2020

Public safety personnel in Boone County, Indiana participated in a two-day peer support training in March hosted by the Boone County Professional Firefighters Local 5195. This educational www.TheHardwareConnection.com

a real work of art Neil Schneider, owner of J&M Hardware and Locksmith in New York City, recently found himself immortalized in a work of art. At the height of the Leigh Ann Akard and Todd Scales sponsored quarantine, Dr. Jeffrey Levine, a friend peer support training for first responders. and neighbor in the Flatiron District, took a photo of Schneider, also known as opportunity allowed 30 participants to “Hardware Guy.” be trained as peer support providers From that photo, Dr. Levine created an for their departments and to also assist artistic portrait showing “Hardware Guy” other departments in central Indiana. Behavioral health issues among first in the store during the pandemic. Dr. responders is a growing challenge due Levine, in addition to being a talented artto the graphic images and trauma they ist, is also a gerontologist and staff physician at a senior citizen facility uptown. experience. This program trains fireHe comes by the store frequently to purfighters to assess their peers for signs of stress that can lead to post-traumatic chase PPE both for his travel on the substress disorder, depression, anxiety and way and for use during patient visits. “We were so pleased to be able to other behavioral disorders. Funding for the course was provided keep him safe. Keeping our customers safe, whether during pandemics, snowthrough a generous donation from storms, blackouts, steam pipe exploZionsville Fire Department Captain sions or just while completing a home Todd Scales and his wife Leigh Ann improvement project, is important to us,” Akard, owner of Akard True Value says Schneider. n Hardware in Zionsville. In 2018, Todd and Leigh Ann lost their son to suicide. Because of their donation, the course was free of charge to participants. “This was important to us, because mental health is such a big issue in public safety departments,” Akard said. “We wanted to do this in memory of our son Stuart and to also help public safety personnel realize that there are people to talk to. We see this course as a first step in creating a community to come together and support each other.” www.TheHardwareConnection.com

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e h t d n i h e B Numbers 208%

Increase in the number of orders placed online and picked up curbside at bricks-and-mortar stores between April 1 and April 20 compared to a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics.

70%

86%

Percentage of U.S. employees who believe their employer has an obligation to notify employees who may have been in contact with a co-worker who tested positive for COVID-19, according to a survey from Kronis.

85%

Percentage of Americans who say they Percentage of smartphone owners regularly wear who bought something in a store a mask or face that first turned to their devices for information relevant to that purchase, covering in stores, accordaccording to a Google survey. ing to Pew Research study. That figure is up from 65% when asked the same question in June.

250,000

Number of U.S. locations that support Apple Pay. There were 30.3 million U.S. users of Apple Pay at the Percentage of online sales increase for end of 2019, according to eMarketer. hardware and home stores since the start of 2020, according to Commerce Signals research. The sales breakdown includes a 17.4% increase instore and 26.7% increase overall.

71.6%

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