ence Making dollars by turning on a dime

By Carla Waldemar

ARK Dremel saw it coming. Actually, it tapped him on the shoulder-twice.

His first premonition of choppy waters soon to churn the industry was when he found himself a victim of downsizing from his managerial position at Sutherland's, in Kansas, where he'd worked 23 years. Setting out on his own-this time, on the other side of the counter as a home remodelerhe grew to sense a growing hunch that hard times were ahead for this breed of builder, too.

' So, answering an opportune want ad seeking a general manager at Mossman Lumber, a small yard in Louisburg, Ks., proved a bonus for both parties. Second-generation owners Julie and Bob Rand "liked what I brought to the table," recounts Mark with an easy Kansas twang, "and I was attracted by a yard that was family-owned, not colporate."

A yard, launched in 1963, that had done right for itself in this small town, not far south of Kansas City. One that delivered to seven counties and to the big city itself-but, as Mark was quick to observe, one that needed to reinvent itself to maintain traction in the hard times blowins their direction.

Mossman, like many a yard across the country, had focused almost entirely on the pro builder. Mark perceived the need to change that thrust, and fast: The one thing you don't want is to be the last one around to buy into a new idea.

"I got the ball rolling," he says, soon after his sign-on last September. "I saw a good opportunity to grow," he explains, and the Rands, trusting in his expertise, agreed.

Within the space of three months, the center's 2,500 sq. ft. of floor space was completely redesigned and remerchandised to attract new retail clientele. Within a new, open floor plan, aisles were widened, brightened, cleaned. Endcaps multiplied from four to nine. Items were re-grouped to make shopping easier; in fact, shopping baskets were provided. SKUs stayed about the same in number, but, department by department, were more intelligently distributed (with the help of True Value's Plan-o-gram service, available to members via the Web), adding more depth to plumbing, electrical, paint and hardware lines.

Mark paid particular attention to the paint and decorating departments in order to woo women shoppers, who. he's well aware. act as the family's decision-makers in these fields. "We added more eye appeal, made things easier to find"-and thus, in just a matter of months, doubled Mossman's retail trade.

Sure, those folks could just as easily shop at the nearby Lowe's, Depot and Sutherland's-boxes where, Mark laughs, staffers simply "stand and point, like traffic cops." Instead, "we can give our customers the individual attention that the big boxes cannot. Experience is our fort6. The employee who handles our inside ordering," Mark pulls out a quick example, "is a fourth-generation hardware man. Our strength is that kind of expert advice: Whatever people need to help complete a project, we've got the knowledge. And we bend over backwards for our customers.

"Plus," he adds a vital footnote, "our pricing is competitive. We're not the lowest price," he's quick to clarify, "but most d-i-yers don't want the lowest price, they want a fair price. They want value."

Another bonus: "Those retail customers pay in cash, while builders have 30-day accounts."

To further cement the bond with these new retail customers, Mossman offers services like re-keying door locks and cutting keys-up to 30 a day, in fact, which works nicely to drive traffic through the store. The operation also has become an official UPS drop site. In yet another userfriendly move, store hours have been extended weekday evenings, allowing commuters returning from Kansas City to pick up items on their way home. Mark then added three hours to the former noon closing on Saturdays, which already is paying off.

Builders dote on that kind of customer-forward attitude. too. and Mossman continues to serve them better than the next guy. Delivery is free for the pros, Mark says. "PIus, they can pull up right to the door and we load them. At a Depot, they have to