Time to renew

fru Oweco. A rlNy rowN in upstate INew York, county building permits plummeted to 20 last year. This year, they've shriveled down to three as Lockheed, the biggest employer, laid off 700 high-ticket workers. Yet Home Central, a family business since 1973, proceeded to plow a huge chunk of change into a vast renovation project.

Wait, wait. Cancel the call to the loony bin: It's working. That's the verdict of owner Aaron Gowan, who admits he wasn't 1007o convinced this was a good idea. "Yet, after 35 years in the business, and l5 in our cuffent location, it was time." he allows. But still.

"I was kind of ready to hold back, but I remembered my [founder] dad's philosophy that evolution is necessary. and you do it during down times, when you're not super-busy. This was the time to move forward, to be ready for the rebound," Aaron states.

His daughter Kate Whittemore, who returned after college to join the business tn 2004, curtailed a maternity leave to mother the new project. "I pushed and prodded to go ahead," she declares.

"We designed it to attract more women"-the decision-makers in this day and age-"so, with the help of True Value's plans, we created a new exterior, opened up the floor to make for more convenient and efficient shopping, added new lighting and displays, and re-evaluated all our SKUs," adding breadth to existing lines while clearing out the dogs. (This project follows close on the heels of a new, 20,000-sq. ft. warehouse built on the property in 2005, replacing an existing warehouse clear across town. Again, more efficiencies.)

"We'd always been very big on plumbing and electric," says Kate. Now, those arenas are even stronger, augmented by an expansion of the former kitchen & bath showroom to accommodate home appliances. "A mom-and-pop store in town went out of business, so we talked around and decided there was a need," she explains.

The new product niche also plays into existing strong lines of housewares, hardware, tools, paint, automotive needs, decking, roofing, and lawn and garden supplies, along with all that lumber under cover in the new warehouse. (In fact, it's easier to ask what they don't sell-so I did. Flooring and wallpaper were all that sprang to mind.)

Clearly, Home Central earns its name as the go-to for one-stop homeimprovement shopping, where it attracts a 50-50 customer mix of contractors, both residential and commercial, and handy homeowners-the very group driving the surge in remodeling that's currently keeping bread on the table.

D-i-yers got the message about the recent grand reopening via radio and TV advance notices, plus on-the-spot coverage on ribbon-cutting day, which also benefited the town's nonprofit community. Little Leaguers kept the receipts from hot dog and hamburger sales, and the kids also sold gallon buckets, donated by Home Central, for $l to customers who were offered a 207o discount on all purchases they could squeeze into them, as well as chances to win the Weber grill and Poulin mower that served as doorprize draws.

"Once they come in, it's easy to get them to come back," says Aaron about customer retention. "They become very loyal. They like the personal touch; they know all the employees, many of whom have been here 20-plus years and have a rapport with the community. People feel comfortable here, knowing who's waiting on them, and you won't find that in the boxes."

What you won't find at Home Central is outside salesmen. "We've never believed in it: no pounding on doors, chasing people down," he says. "Instead, more than anything else, what draws the pros in is service: knowing we can take care of them, treat them with respect, have a product when they need it, and get it delivered fast"- courtesy of a dump truck for residential driveways and a boom truck for the contractors who need it.

"They don't have to worry whether we have a 10x24," Aaron continues. "They can find it here, plus all those small electrical parts or a paint brush. And that's how we draw new business, too. The fact is, we have materials, while somebody else is out. Even

Lowe's sends customers over...."

Sure, Home Central offers the traditional contractor dinners during the course of a year, but with a difference: These folks vet the vendors involved. "Not just anyone," Aaron emphasizes. "We're kind of selective."

"We recently had a Weyerhaeuser rep describing truss Ijoists, LVLs," adds Kate. "Small contractors are not always aware of lots of the new technology out there and won't need it every day, but when the time comes, now they'll understand it."

Home Central today is central to the family business of 35 employees, with stores acquired earlier in Vestal, 12 miles down the road, and Candor, a rural community eight miles distant. Trucks troll between all three locations on a daily basis, helping each store out with inventory needs and just-in-time delivery-always a savings, but particularly so in a stressful economic climate. "The new renovation also is helping us through it," Kate attests. "We're nleased with the results."

She's also the webmeister who updates Home Central's Internet presence (www.homecentralowego. com), which includes not only info on services. locations. vendor partners, and company history, but a couple of cool videos. The Internet is also a boon for

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net

pro customers who can take advantage of 24[7 access to their accounts.

"It's a great service for them; they can get online and look at their invoices," she explains. "Plus, it's a lot less paperwork for us. Sure, they complained at first, but we're moving them in that direction, and pretty soon, they understand and begin to value it. It's especially necessary for commercial accounts. so we're encouraging them to use it."

"We sell to commercial accounts, like schools, the county, and local industries," adds her father, "but we don't court them. It takes a whole different inventory, like metal studs, which the general builder doesn't need. But if we don't carry things like that, we don't get the job."

And get the job, they do. There have been no layoffs-in fact, says Aaron, "we just hired a new guy." Full staff is needed, Kate agrees, "to keep up with the remodel: more help on the floor, to keep the store neat and not revert to the old-building mentality, with dust on everything."

"We know business will get better," Aaron declares. "We expect things to pick up in spring. And," he can boast, "we're ready!"

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