5 minute read
RING’S END
ing’s End started as a single store operation in 1902, making coal deliveries mostly by horse. Over the years, they expanded slowly, adding lumber and paint as the market evolved. By the 1950s, Doug Campbell was heading up their accounting department, gradually learning the business from the organization’s original ownership. Ten years later, he became a part owner, eventually taking on full ownership in the subsequent years. Today, 120 years later, they are still family-owned and operated, but they are serving the community they love on a much bigger scale.
According to Scott Herling, Doug Campbell’s grandson and director of operations and paint for Ring's End, Campbell truly believed in hard work and family, and everyone else fell behind that, setting the tone for the culture of a company that would grow beyond what Campbell ever imagined. Today, they have a total of 19 retail locations (11 full-service paint stores and eight lumber yards), two distribution centers, a dedicated installation team, and 500 employees. Underpinning this impressive operation are their core values of integrity, passion, accountability, pride, and community— with a stern emphasis on the latter.
“If you have good people and they believe in your process, then it’s going to be consistent,” Herling shares, illustrating the importance of maintaining a standard of service amidst rapid expansion. “Your business is only as good as your weakest location. And your locations are only as good as the people and process you have in place,” he says, adding “and as a leader, you have to stay present.”
But the centrality of people in good business extends beyond just their internal network. For Ring’s End, that’s meant leveraging the relationships built across the ALLPRO and Benjamin Moore communities. There’s an inherent strength in realizing you don’t have all the answers and relying on the vast resources available in this industry. We all have something to learn from one another’s experiences. In fact, Elliot Greenberg, the owner of JC Licht who is also featured in this issue, was Herling’s mentor in his early days with the company.
“The information and knowledge you share [at ALLPRO shows] can drive real value and actionable insights that further your business,” he shares. Benjamin Moore is also a big part of the puzzle, working with the Ring’s End team to inform them of potential incoming supply chain issues and guiding their buying team through product assortments. Herling refers to them as “a real partner.”
About five years ago, Ring’s End set out to develop their ecommerce business, an initiative that didn’t come without growing pains. “We’ve rebuilt it four or five times since then,” acknowledges Herling. “We’re constantly evolving that part of the business because it’s always changing.”
Unique to Ring’s End is the proportion of out-of-state shipping their ecommerce business generates, moving product across the US, with the notable exceptions of Alaska and Hawaii. “That was somewhat complicated to figure out, but we’ve figured out a pretty good system,” Herling explains.
Another aspect often overlooked by larger retailers is the in-network logistics of it all—ensuring invoice numbers are lining up and product is brought to the correct pickup location. “There are certainly challenges, but it’s become such an important added value to our business both for the pro customer and the retail customer. Especially over the last 18 months.”
Another way that Ring’s End worked to reach customers—and an increasingly younger network of contractors—is by pivoting their efforts toward content marketing. “I’m a big believer in video content,” Herling reveals. “We’ve been investing a lot in video. It’s super powerful for telling a story whether it’s highlighting a project or highlighting an employee.”
Herling and his team have also developed a series of how-to videos, which was an idea born to solve the problem of quality control in their window installations. “Windows are often the most expansive thing put into your home. More often than not contractors are installing them not to warranty specification. We’re trying to help contractors to understand how easy it is to install them correctly to avoid issues and to make sure they are covered by warranty if there is an issue. When we did those, we realized we could probably do that with some other things. It helps the pro builder, but it’s also something that a homeowner can be referred to if they are wondering.”
During the pandemic, Ring’s End learned to move with more agility, keeping their customer first approach central in every decision (Herling clarifies that the term customer refers to both internal customers – team members—and external customers). “The lesson learned is that we can get through situations like this, and I think honestly if you listen, learn and work through them as a team, you come out stronger.” Stronger indeed. Herling and the team at Ring’s End are looking forward to continued growth in the new year and beyond. “To get there is to continue to drive performance in our core footprint. We need to keep this business running smoothly, we need to keep generating capital. We want to grow 10% this year, and I believe in setting the same goal across the footprint and seeing how each manager can work toward that goal.”
Congratulations on your milestone, Ring’s End! And if any of our readers are in the Connecticut, South County, Rhode Island, or Westchester County in 2022, look out for the Ring’s End branded craft beer cans, made in collaboration with a local brewery to commemorate their anniversary. Cheers!
Q:
favorite motivational quote ? "WALK SOFTLY, CARRY A BIG STICK" - TEDDY ROOSEVELT
Q: Favorite Benjamin Moore paint color? A: Hale Navy. My wife isn't a fan of dark colors but I am.
Q: Favorite book? A: I read a lot. My favorite book is probably Innovator’s Dilemma. It’s by a Harvard business school professor. It’s all about the innovation curve. I think it’s an important book for people to read. It might not seem relevant to the paint industry, but if you can get past the actual product they are talking about you can see that it’s actually applicable to a lot of things.
