Scoring in the Lumber Bowl

Returning after college to the home team-the yard his grandfather had purchased 60 years ago when just a college kid, himself-by 2003, Mike lusted for another victory. He spearheaded the push for renovation. "I wanted to show the community that, just because Lowe's was coming to town, we were not going tofold uP and quit," he asserts. "We decided to remodel, to step uP to the Plate and compete." He loved not only the yard but the whole idea of working closely with his family-his father, mother and uncle were onboard, as well as a sister and brother-in-law-and he wasn't about to let them down.

It worked. "Competition onlY makes you better," Mike is convinced. "It acts as a wake-up call. We cashed in on the excitement." Sales at Tahlequah have shot up since the big box opened."

ll rfrrs SxtNNer KNows a thing or IYItwo about nailing the comPetition. Mike grew up in Tahlequah, Ok., where football was big and Mike was big on football. His prowess on the high-school team won him a football scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, where he held a starting position on the offense line, sending his team, the Sooners, on to win two Big 12 championships as well as invitations to the Orange, Cotton and Rose Bowl playoffs.

So when Lowe's let it be known they, too, were on the offense, sending its scouts to build a big box just two blocks away fromhis father's store, Tahlequah Lumber, Mike traded his helmet for a hard hat of another sort and led the remodel that not only kept Tahlequah Lumber in the game but positioned it as a winner.

By going into overtime, Tahlequah was able to flaunt its new makeover three weeks before Lowe's oPened, stunning folks with a comPletelY revamped exterior and the addition of 8,000 sq. ft. of new retail sPace in whatwas once a storeroom. "We added lighting and lost the old racetrack design, moving every gondola two or three times," he laughs in retrospect.

New lines were added, too, including items like paint and appliances, to draw the all-important decision-makers of town: women. A newly added design center scored a hit with the ladies, too. In all, stock increased by 12,000 srus, including manY new items needed by home remodelersboththecore base of contractors (Tahlequah's accounts were 7 5Vo pto) and new do-it-yourselfers, whom the staff of 70 were prepared to walk through projects, from fixing a toilet to adding a deck. tMike'stcam of ernployces isn't a bunch of bcnch warmers: thcy're in thcrc. _tiving thcir all. "lt's a closc-knit group. like family," he maintains. In 1'act. ftlLrr couples have manied aftcr meetins in the staff roont. Crcdit is due to his managemcnt style. which, he claints. he lcarncd on the football field. "l was part of'a collegc tcam with a new coach rvho s()t evcryone on thc same pagc. We wrtrkccl fbr thc conrmon goocl no indiviclual attitudes or personalitics. That," hc says, "is how I learned to be a lcader." lIe marriccl just over a year ago, but his sister beat him down the aisle ancl has added a toddlcr to the fanrily rnix. "She runs intoour mcctings and steals the show." beams her proucl unclc. "Shc's already adding to thc business I"

And if these homeowners felt the project was too big or burdensome to handle, voilh: installers at the ready for jobs such as insulation, and an onstaff cadre of handymen, including a plumber, carpenter and garage overhead-door expert, eager and able to tackle anything from ceiling tiles to toilets.

A profitable rental departmentlaunched when Mike's grandfather got tired of folks forever borrowing his ladder and startedcharging a fee-now stocks everythingfrom power tools to Bobcats and front-end loaders, ready to help out. And, thanks to a fleet of trucks ("Too many! And toomuch insurance!" mock-moans Mike, who cannot give them up, of course), contractors are well-served with speed delivery, to the tune of 35 or 40 runs a daY. "We don't force them to have tothink way-far out," professes Mike. "They can call ourguys' cell Phones on Friday night or early Monday morning. It's all about relationships. In fact, they come in on MondaYs to compare how they spent their weekends. They socialize together."

Tahlequah, a town of 22000 about an hourfrom Tulsa, didn't have a huge stock of custom homes sitting empty when the recession rolled around. Consequently it hasn't been hit as hard as the rest of the nation. Nonetheless, the irony of a recent victory doesn't go unnoticed bY Mike. For years he'd pushed and pushed his parents to open a second location. "I was the instigator; we finally decided to move ahead when the right location might come along. My sister and brother-in-law had justjoined the company, very capable PeoPle, so at last it seemed a sood fit."

So they signcd thc papers on a littlc yard in Pr1,or,,1-5 miles away-just as thc reccssion lnnounced its prescnce.

This time, thc rentodel rcquired was even more exten sive. "We scrapcd up carpct. laid new tiles. Put in u new computer system. Movcd the lsupply your own adjcctivel gondolas five or six tirncs. Doubled the lntount of lighting. added 15.000 ncw products'-evcrythingfrorn paint fo appliances. in what was now 2-5,000 sq. ft. of retail, including a new clcsign center. "And it's doing well," Mike is pleased. and relieved, to add. "Sales were up l0% the I'irst full year." an increase of S I million.

That incrcase is credited, in part, kt incrcased profit-tuning. "l'm a stickler for margins," Mikc declares. "lt's a big driving fbrcc. I don't want to leavc money on tl're table. We're not the lowest-pricc. but we offbr service and quality. and I really feel that that's what counts with most people. We'll really help you out with a product. Fol instanec. if you have a problent u,ith a power tool, we'll takc care of it-no nccd to cail an 800 nr-rmbcr."

Speaking of powcr tools. Tahlequah recently hosted a series of Friday night evcnts fbr a women's gmup that wanted to learn how tcl usc the darned things and drove in-store traffic to new heights along the way.

Bctter \lart planning ir thircl location.

(larla Waldemar cwaldenrar@corncast.net