Raise high the new bar, retailers

Ken Clark Editor in Chief

It’s not easy being a successful hardware store these days. And we’re not even taking about supply chains or labor shortages. We’re talking about the challenge of competing in an environment of big billion-dollar boxes and the all-Amazon all-the-time consumer mindset.

Here’s how Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. CEO John Venhuizen described the situation back in March at the co-op’s convention in Las Vegas:

The consumer’s shopping experience, Venhuizen explained, needs to be so jaw-dropping good, that “shopping at Amazon.com looks shallow, boring and pathetic by comparison. That’s the new bar.”

And that’s what we’re talking about, beginning on page 15.

Our 12th annual listing of community-focused, service-oriented, growth-minded and innovation-obsessed businesses— one store from each of the 50 states — chronicles the raising high of the new bar.

Take our cover model: Hardman’s Hardware of West Virginia. The company didn’t survive and thrive for 115 years and four generations of family ownership by taking it easy. O.R. Hardman’s original 1907 agriculture-focused business adapted to challenges over four generations. Now, the seven-location dealer provides expertise on everything from STIHL equipment to countertop installation, from home repair to gifts for Mother’s Day.

The Glenville, W. Va. store (on the cover) raised the bar of the shopping experience with a 2019 overhaul and renovation that brought in new fixtures, shelving, countertops and signage (inside and out). The West Virginia All Star features a well-lit power aisle, and a drive-through lumber aisle.

Glenville Manager Eric Squires came to his position in 2018, and led the Glenville remodel effort. “I love working at Hardman’s,” he told HBSDealer.

That kind of enthusiasm is a basic ingredient for a STIHL Hardware Store All Star.

When asked for the business’s greatest strength, Hardman’s Chief Marketing Officer Kimberly Hardman answered quickly: “Our employees.”

She added: “We have quite a few that have been here more than 10 years, and others that are retiring out after 30 or 35 years. That’s something we’re really proud of.

“Our biggest thing that we try to live by is the idea of ‘It’s our family serving yours.’ We think of our employees as our family, but then we also think of our customers as family. And we want to treat them the way that you would expect your family to be treated. With respect, and just take care of them.”

Congratulations to Hardman’s Hardware and the entire class of 2022 STIHL Hardware All Stars. The class varies widely in size and scope, but they’re all raising the bar of retail excellence.

Have you seen All Star performance? Let us know at news@hbsdealer.com.

Eric Squires oversees the Glenville Hardman’s.

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Ken Clark

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TOP WOMEN IN HARDWARE & BUILDING SUPPLY

NOV. 8-9 2022, CHICAGO, ILL. WWW.HBSDTOPWOMEN.COM/2022 CONTACT: AMY PLATTER GRANT agrant@ensembleiq.com, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Levi Smith, CEO, Franklin Building Supply Cally Fromme, VP of communication and culture, Kodiak Building Partners Steve Sallah, CEO, LBM Advantage Wendy Whiteash, EVP of culture, US LBM Holdings Tom Cost, owner, Killingworth True Value Brad McDaniel, owner, McDaniel’s Do it Center Joe Kallen, CEO, Busy Beaver Building Centers

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