Fusek’s accelerates in Indy

PHOTO COURTESY OF RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING

Fusek’s Hardware accelerates in Indy

FUSEK’S TRUE VALUE OPENS SECOND, BIGGER STORE; BUSY OWNER SCORES VISIBILITY, OUTDOOR SPACE.

By Tim Burke

With a belief in owning, rather than leasing, and confidence in Indianapolis, Steve Fusek, owner of Fusek’s True Value Hardware, recently opened a second store in the city.

“We had a soft opening,” said Fusek, “we’ll have a grand opening in the spring of 2022, around the end of March.”

HBSDealer caught up with the busy Fusek — who also serves as business manager for two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato — to ask him why he decided to expand.

“We’ve been wanting to grow for a while now,” the owner said.

For Steve and Sue Fusek, it all came down to finding the right property. “We we’re looking to buy this time. Our original store is a leased space. Buying the property was key.”

Fusek said, “we wanted to be about 12,000 to 15,000 square feet inside and we wanted an outdoor space.”

The outdoor space would solve some things that were lacking at the downtown store, said Fusek.

“We wanted to expand our outdoor, our lawn and garden, just expand the whole offering. We really couldn’t do that at our original urban store. This new location has more of a rural feel to it, which we like.”

The original Fusek’s True Value Hardware, located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis in the historic Lockerbie neighborhood, was established in June 2004 by Steve and Sue Fusek. The 10,000 square foot store was their first venture into retail hardware.

“Hardware was top of the list of most needed elements to make a revived downtown more livable,” the Fusek’s said.

At the new store, the owner said they are getting a great response from neighbors; additionally, there is the much sought-after store visibility he was looking for.

“There is great traffic on Washington Street. We figure about 27,000 cars a day. And people here are happy to see a hardware store in this area,” said Fusek.

“We filled a niche coming in here — there was no hardware store before,” he said.

The new store’s biggest sellers so far are Milwaukee Tool, “our single biggest driver,” he said, along with Benjamin Moore paint.

Size matters as well with this new store.

“We are a well-stocked, well-versed store, not a little store,” Fusek said. “And we went bigger in the plumbing department because there is a need.”

Expanding to a second store in a business climate with significant supply chain issues might seem like a daunting task, but Fusek feels that he’s prepared. “When a customer walks into our new store, they don’t feel a supply chain issue — this store is full. True Value did a great job with inventory.”

Since he’s expanded to a second store, he’s very busy these days, and his ‘new store buzz’ comes right across the phone as Fusek offers up some advice for other hardware owners thinking of growing.

“I’m a big fan of owning property. If things don’t go as you expected, you can always sell, which give you a better ‘out’ if you need it,” he said, “and have a wholesaler who supports you.”

Before he had to run, this busy twostore owner said, “I manage an Indy car driver on the side,” he laughed, “between that and running two stores, that’s enough for now.”

Fusek's Hardware owners Steve and Sue Fusek, who just opened a second store, stand with two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato. Steve is also business manager for the race car champion.

Steve Fusek wanted to own his new store, not lease, and wanted more space inside and out. He achieved that plus greater visibility in Indianapolis.