etitive ligence The lace to be: the wave

how we always did things to how we needed to do them," he declares. "On day one, I sat down and took a look at the industry and, more important, our immediate area."

ITATHER knows best. we were .l-' instructed in the long-running TV sitcom of the Fifties. And for many years, Rob Szafraniec's father-owner of Cragin Industrial Supply Co., Chicago, Il.-did, indeed, know how best to run his business. as did his own father and grandfather before him in this northwestern, blue-collar section of the city. But in recent years, Cragin's well-established niche as an industrial supplier began to crumble as many manufacturing accounts moved out of town.

Rob had left the aisles where he'd filled in as a high-school kid to complete a degree in mechanical engineering and carve out a lucrative career in engineering sales. "I loved it; I was very successful," he states.

Yet, when out of the blue he received a phone call from his folks mentioning that they were considering selling the business, you know what he said? "Wait a minute. Maybe we should sit down and talk."

You guessed it: He took over the operation in late 1999, admitting that

By Carla Waldemar

the proposition "had always been in the back of my mind, though it had never been a [family] requirement. It gets in your blood. But until that fateful phone call, I'd previously given it no thought."

The clincher: "No matter what, you can't beat working for yourself."

He quit his sales job and came back home. armed with a five-year strategic plan to reposition the business and spur flagging sales. "The industry was changing so much, and in particular in our area, so that was the discussionhow to redevelop ourselves, which is always hard on family," he allows. "Today we've come full-circle," once again actively courting the consumer trade, "but it's been a pretty long road. My great-grandfather started it as a neighborhood retail store," but as the 'hood lost housing to manufacturing sites, "we became a supplier to industrial/commercial contractors. It got to the point where we actively deterred retail by adding a certain dollar minimum for orders."

Since taking over, Rob has remodeled the store to attract a wider range of contractors and then, yes, remodeled a second time to welcome back the retail crowd. "One of the biggest obstacles we faced was changing from

The first item on his agenda was to revamp the showroom, a soft freshening that expanded it from 1,000 to 2,500 sq. ft. "Everything had been behind counters, so the contractors weren't able to put their hands on it. That worked in the old days, when they came in for coffee and to trade stories, but not now. I opened it up to show products."

And he brought in new product lines-items like power tools and fasteners to better suit the needs of general contractors. "I also expanded our mechanical and chemical products, added portable cement mixers and tools," he says.

More important, he culled his list of vendors. "In many cases, we had multiple vendors for the same item, whatever was the flavor of the day that came in the door. There was no direction to it, and for a long time, that didn't really matter. But these days, you really need a true identity," he swears. "Now, we really pick our core vendors, going for strong brand-name recognition. We're partnering, we're developing relationships. And we tightened up on purchasing, which was a big part of our initial success. (By the end of 2001, sales had grown 107o.) With our customers, we've learned to say 'no' a bit more-to be smarter about how we use our time."

A little dead wood on his staff of 14 was left to fall away, but most were eager to embrace the changes. Rob also hired a couple of new outside salespeople to expand customer service and spread the word that Cragin had repositioned to serve the general contractor. Sales to the pros continued to grow and stabilize the operation.

"Wc rverc al$ ar s pfettY tcchsavvy, alrvays vcr\ strong." Rob savs. but cvcn hcrc. thcrc r','as t'oclnt for irnprove rncnt. Hc strcanrlined the back ol'l'icc: hc inrplcnrcntcd bar-cctdc scanning, tightcr invcntory controls. account rccording, and automated orclcring. "Norv rve could really u'atch ouf tuflts."

Malgins rneanrvhile maintainccl tlic-ir hcalthy 40% level. "We nevcr u'elc thc cheap guy: rvc rvott't scll on price." Rob insists. "Wc're colllpctitivc. but u'e don't try to bcat Hotttc Dcpot" on stickcrs. But hc's "vay ahcad of them u'ith thc procluct knoivl ed-ee and custontcf scrr"icc hc prtr r ides plrr:. l|ee rlt'lirr'r'1 e rctt itl thcse davs of scll'-corrtbr-rsting l'ucl costs. Dcspitc nro l)cpots. a Lorrc's. ancl a Mcnarcl's riitliin a nrilc or t\\'o. he's not conccntcd. "'l-hcrc's ntt other inclepcnclcrtt arourtcl." hc poirtts otrt. "s(). n()[ tlr:rl kirrtl rtl Pt'essLtrt'."

Thc orrly constunt in Rob's stratcgic plan is thc constalrt need ttt changc. "'l'hrcc ycars ago. u'e lookcd at oursclves again. Thc contractot' side rl'as going strong. so rvc looked at tl.tc ncighbrlrhrxrd. Five years back. it nas pfctty roLrgh vandalism and theft bi loiterers in thc store, so wc turnecl anay fror.n retail. But it's changing. Tlie city clid a lot to clean up thc arca. And along the nerv Metrotrack nearby. der,clopers are building conclos. rvhich are attracting Yuppics. So rve saicl t<r oursclr'es. 'If we'r'e cver eoing to clo it. *'e'd better do it norv. ahcacl ot thc \\'a\,enot pliil' catch Lrp.'

"We'r'c bccn a Do it Bcst nrcr.nbcr fbr 2-5 1'cals. so ths liclpccl us l<xrk at the rvholc rctail thing. Wc urtclcrtook a rrltole ttcrt slltlrt f,'olll tell()\itli{)l). il projcct that crpanrlccl space trott.t 1.5{}( ) to (r.5{X) sq. ll. it) es.ettet.;.t rvholc ncrv builcling. rihcrc pcople can rcaclily fincl thc ploclucts the\' \\'ant on thcir orvrr. Wc acldccl hundreds of SKLJs and a hugc ncrv paint departr.nerrt. Wc kncrv rvc needed a POS s1'stcrn. too. Bcfirrc. fbr retail. it rlor-rld takc so long to ring up, so we streamlinccl it: rvc had to do it to rnake the rctail tracle pay off-and, it's nice to havc somc cash business to help cash flon'."

"We're fbcusing morc on thc rctail side. 1'ct we're not moving arvay front our contractors." Rob insists. "sirnply strengthenin-c thc rctail ancl kccping ()ur e\istitts e,,tttnt\'t()r' itetll\. .iu\t blending tl.rcm in. Alrcacly. thnrLrgh rvord of mouth. thcrc's becn a vcry healthy increasc o1'rvalk ins. But it's helping our existing corltlactors. t()(). They'rc telling us, 'l ncvcl kttcn' lott c:rrriccl....' Ancl lvc -jLrst lcarnctl tlritt there r ill bc a t-50 horrtc tlcvcltlpttrctrt goin-e right in across thc strcct."

Here's thc skill sct lrc counts tt.tttst vital: ''Kccl'r \olrr cycs o1-rclt attcl stay ahcacl. l-alk to 1'lcoplc ancl scc i.vhat's goins on. 'fhis busincss is all Inarkctbasctl. so knorr r"'ho 1,ot-tt cLrstomer is." antl it's ccrtainlv not inclustrial an) urorc. Prilclairns Rob rr itl.r confirlcncc: "Wc nracle the right decisicln l'ir.c lcals ago. defi nitell I We're ahcarl ol'thc uavc." Richt nherc hc Iovcs to sut'f.

A fitrtrtt'r ulunl-wittrtirtq LIJill trtrtlc rtttrgtt:irtc ttliIor, CurIu ll trItlt'trttr ttriIL': .fi'ctltrt'rttlt on thc ittdtt.stt'\'. (-ont(t(t lt(r (tl t .rtt I d c tn u r (!i t ntl. r r.(' ( ) n t.