etitive ligence Rental center becomes newest (profit) driver

By Carla Waldemar

fl O WEST? Sure. that's what \fHorace Greeley advised ambitious folks a hundred years ago. Today, "Grow West" is more like it. That's what a couple of forwardthinking leaders at Port Hadlock Building Supply are doing in Port Hadlock, Wa.

Since Joe Loveto bought the 1,400sq. ft. store in 1984 and Morris James signed on as partner four years later, "Grow the business" has been their modus operandi. (If you're rusty on your high school Latin, in their case it translates as "pathway-no, make that superhighwayto success."

In 1993, a new 80 by 80 ft. addition multiplied their footprint- unfortunately destroyed by arson two years later. But that didn't daunt these hardy Westemers. "It was tough to go though," allows James, "but we completely rebuilt"-expanded, this time, to 12,000 sq. ft., to be exact. The expansion succeeded so well that the partners bought the house next door, primarily for its garage and parking lot, and moved the operation's rental business there.

"We outgrew that, so three Years ago we decided to expand again," says James. The partners bought the property across the street and put up an 80 by 130-ft. metal building that debuted in May 2007 as Hadlock's new, decidedly improved Just Ask Rental Center.

And here's where our story reallY takes off, just as the rental business did. "It was a big investment on our part, but really complements our business well," James offers. "In the first month alone, it grew our monthlY rental business from $1,000 to $50.000.

"For the past l0 years we'd kePt growing it, reinvesting in equipment," he notes-baby steps on the way to the recent quantum leap. To serve its contractors, which represent 40Vo of Hadlock's customer base, the rental center added "lots of job-start items that contractors use occasionally and thus prefer to rent, not own, like Bobcats, earthmovers. And, of course" he unveils perhaps the biggest payoff, "when they rent the job-stan equipment, they're likelY to come back for their full building needs: house packages.

"In the rental center, we sell form ties, anchor bolts, and the remash needed to start foundations. We added a paint department, so when they rent a paint sprayer, they don't have to walk across the street to Purchase their paint." They also added new inventory from Hilti, CaterPillar, Bostitch, Honda engines, Bowmag, Kraft, Scotsco, Bill Goat, and more.

Designing that unique amalgam of rental-cum-retail threw True Value,

Hadlock's co-op umbrella, for a loop. "It was hard for them to understand what we wanted was rental, but retail, too," says James. Thus an 80 by 80-ft. sales floor is centered in the new rental facility, which also provides return and pick-up bays, a paved parking lot, and handicap accessibility. Most of Hadlock's rental equipment, formerly stored outside, now can be parked indoors or under cover.

The whole outfit is kept spankingclean by another innovation-an environmentally friendly, completely selfcontained MTM wash pad, from which "the water comes out so clean you can drink it," James insists, adding, "Pretty neat! We weren't required [by county regs] to do this, but we could see the writing on the wall. Plus, it was the responsible thing to do. And for us. it's very important to be clean."

"When we decided, a couple of years ago, to pull the trigger and proceed," he continues, "we knew it was important to get the right person to manage the center and to invest in their future."

Thus Hadlock drafted Jim Strons. a2}-year vet ofthe rental business, io head its division. He's now assistant manager of the entire operation, overseeing rental manager Mark Walters, who doubles as its maintenance guy.

As another niche-within-a-niche, the Just Ask Rental Center pursues the town's party business, dedicating a 30 by 60-ft. portion of rhe new space to items like a dance floor, tables and chairs, fountains, barbecues and coffeemakers. the domain of a female employee who helps plan weddings and parties. "It's different," James allows. It's also clean, well-lit and well-operated. Formalizing the party business has jumped its rental revenues 217o in the first month alone.

Another unique feature: a purposebutlt 24 x 35 room in the new space that serves as a community center/classroom, perfect for training sessions for its staff of 46. Last week Hadlock used it to host a dinner saluting the local high school's winning baseball team. The space is available free of charge to nonprofit groups such as the Rotary Club, which meets there regularly. It's also utilized for the store's monthly Ladies Night classes in facets like power tools, and electrical and plumbing work-so popular that the town's gents are lobbying for a night of their own.

Good community citizens? You bet. But that good karma is born of good business sense. "People have to walk through the building to get back there," James explains, "so it attracts their attention, builds awareness. It pulls in new people."

So do its contractor events, like summertime barbecues and an annual salmon-fishing trip.

Because there's competition out there, and plenty of it, Hadlock also has improved its contractor services by purchasing a forklift ("one of the few on the area") to improve delivery quality. It has also formed an agreement with one of its mills to secure select structural quality dry Doug fir, "strictly high quality," which delights its builders, too. "It's pulled just for us, and every board is imprinted with our logo," says James, adding, "We want to stand out. We want to keep ahead of the pack."

No marching in place here at Hadlock. Next up on the drawing board is a Lawn & Garden department, plus-wouldn't you know?another building expansion. Some guys never leave well enough aloneand that's their secret to success.

- A frtrmer award-winning LBM trade magazine editor, Carla Waldemar *-rites frequently- on the industry-. Contact her at cwaldemar@ mn.rr.com.