HBSD_0623

THE Tech ISSUE

Can a robot run your business? No. But there are plenty of hi-tech tools to help run it better.

Join hundreds of retailers from across the industry and gain actionable solutions for today’s toughest retail challenges. Get a playbook for success from former Google and Amazon execs and hear from retailers on strategies around cyberthreats, streamlining operations, building customer loyalty and more.

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The ‘One on One’ Video Series

Interviews with industry leaders, including recent episodes with Orgill, Franklin Building Supply and A Few Cool Hardware Stores. Check out more at YouTube.com/HBSDealer.

The E-Book Library Expands

New in 2023, the Decking E-Book and the Outdoor Living E-Book feature experts weighing in on trends and products. Find them at HBSDealer.com/report.

There’s still time to take the 2023 Leaderboard Survey

Tracking the top hardware and building supply dealers is a passion for HBSDealer. Take the annual Leaderboard Survey at HBSDealer.com/Leaderboard. And check out last year’s coverage in our digital edition library.

At Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (PLM), we think beyond insurance coverages to help you find solutions to keep your operations safer. We continuously look for new technologies and research different companies to partner with to provide risk management tools to our customers at discounted pricing.

Whether it be industrial fans to prevent combustible dust build-up in wood manufacturing operations or telematic devices and safety cameras to reduce the risk and cost of accidents in your fleet, PLM is dedicated to helping you find the right solutions to improve the overall safety of your wood business.

From the Editor

Artificial intelligence, in real time

Arecent HBSDealer survey showed that 55 percent of HBSDealer.com readers have heard of Chat GPT, but have not used it. So let’s put it to use—right here, right now.

First step: We log into Chat GPT and type into the send-a-message eld: “Write me an interesting hardware and building supply essay for a ‘From the Editor’ column.”

Chat GPT thinks for a few seconds, and then begins spitting out relevant business-to-business prose:

Dear Home Improvement Retail Executives,

In the bustling world of home improvement retail, where customers are the lifeblood of our industry, the significance of the customer experience cannot be overstated.

Oh my. It’s writing the entire column for me.

It is a driving force that shapes the success and longevity of our businesses. In this From the Editor column, I would like to delve into the importance of nurturing the customer experience and how it can be a game-changer for our industry.

He’s laying it on a little thick. But, he’s not wrong.

In today’s competitive landscape, where e-commerce giants loom large, it is imperative that we differentiate ourselves by offering more than just convenience. We must strive to create a memorable and enjoyable shopping journey—one that customers eagerly embark upon, time and time again. One crucial aspect of the customer experience is personalization. Gone are

Ken Clark Editor-in-Chief

the days of one-size- ts-all approaches. Customers now seek tailored experiences that resonate with their unique tastes and preferences.

Wow. This goes on like this for nine paragraphs. It was created out of thin air in just a few seconds. Reminds me of that famous Arthur C. Clarke quote about technology and magic. (You can Google it.)

By leveraging technology and data analytics, we can gain valuable insights into our customers’ behaviors and preferences, enabling us to offer personalized recommendations, targeted promotions, and tailored services. This personalized touch not only enhances customer satisfaction but also builds a sense of trust and loyalty.

Figures a robot would say that.

Moreover, in an increasingly digital world, the importance of human interaction should not be underestimated. While technology undoubtedly plays a signi cant role in shaping the modern retail landscape, the human touch remains an irreplaceable asset

I’m impressed. That’s very lifelike. How did Chat GPT do that? We type “How did you do that?” into the send-a-message eld.

As an AI language model developed by OpenAI, I have been trained on a vast amount of text data from diverse sources, including books, articles, websites, and more. I’ve learned to generate human-like responses based on patterns and examples in the training data.

For more examples right-here, right-now technology, see our feature on page 28.

550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60631 (773) 992-4450 Fax (773) 992-4455 www.HBSDealer.com

BRAND MANAGEMENT

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT John Kenlon (516) 650-2064 jkenlon@ensembleiq.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ken Clark kclark@ensembleiq.com

LBM EDITOR Andy Carlo acarlo@ensembleiq.com

HARDWARE EDITOR Tim Burke tburke@ensembleiq.com

ADVERTISING SALES & BUSINESS

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Amy Platter Grant MIDWEST & SOUTHERN STATES (773) 294-8598 agrant@ensembleiq.com

REGIONAL MANAGER Greg Cole

NORTHEAST & GREAT LAKES STATES (317) 775-2206 gcole@ensembleiq.com

DESIGN/PRODUCTION/MARKETING

SENIOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR Colette Magliaro cmagliaro@ensembleiq.com

ART DIRECTOR Bill Antkowiak bantkowiak@ensembleiq.com

PRODUCTION MANAGER Patricia Wisser pwisser@ensembleiq.com

MARKETING MANAGER Kathryn Abrahamsen kabrahamsen@ensembleiq.com

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES LIST RENTAL mbriganti@anteriad.com

SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS contact@HBSDealer.com

CORPORATE OFFICERS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jennifer Litterick

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Jane Volland

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Derek Estey

CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER Ann Jadown

CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER Joe Territo

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Levi Smith, CEO, Franklin Building Supply

Steve Sallah, CEO, LBM Advantage

Tom Cost, owner, Killingworth True Value Brad McDaniel, owner, McDaniel’s Do it Center

Joe Kallen, CEO, Busy Beaver Building Centers

Permissions: No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Home Depot vs. Lowe’s: Q1 recap

RETAIL GIANTS DEAL WITH LUMBER DEFLATION AND COMP-SALES DECLINES.

Lowe’s produced some negative numbers in its first quarter, chief of which was a 4.3 percent same-store sales decline. The Mooresville, N.C.-based home improvement giant lowered by about $1 billion its full year sales outlook to a range between $87 billion and $89 billion.

But in its rivalry with The Home Depot, Lowe’s scored a valuable point: Lowe’s comps bested Depot’s 4.6 percent decline. That’s the first comp-store victory for Lowe’s since the pandemic-induced home-improvement-sales explosion of late 2020.

The recent first quarter 2023 story at both giants was one of sales below expectations, driven by lumber deflation and unfavorable weather. But those plotlines are just part of the story. In terms of net sales, the first quarter was the third best first quarter in the history of Home Depot, and tied for second-best Q1 ever for Lowe’s.

(And for Depot, there is a huge gulf between the Q1 of 2019, the fourth best ever at $28.3 billion, and the latest first quarter of $37.3 billion.)

At The Home Depot, Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising reported a trend of “consumers pulling back on big-ticket and some discretionary-type purchases.”

Other highlights from the Home Depot earnings call include the following:

Four of Home Depot’s 14 merchandising departments posted positive comps: building materials, hardware, plumbing, and millwork.

Sales leveraging digital platforms decreased about 2.9% compared to the first quarter of last year. And 45 percent of online orders were fulfilled through physical stores.

Big-ticket comp transactions, or those over $1,000, were down 6.5% compared to the first quarter of last year.

“After a couple of years of unprecedented demand in the home improvement market, we continue to see softness in

big-ticket discretionary categories like patio, grills, and appliances that likely reflects deferral of the single-item purchases in pull forward,” Bastek said.

At Lowe’s, which didn’t feel quite the same impact of lumber deflation as did its rival, comparable pro sales were slightly positive in Q1 with broad-based strength across multiple categories. Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising, shared the following:

Five of Lowe’s 14 merchandising categories were positive: building materials, rough plumbing, paint, hardware, and appliances.

Lumber, which felt steep price deflation, had the highest unit comp in the company, “reflecting strong pro demand,” Boltz said.

Online sales accelerated in the first quarter with 6% comparable sales growth, representing more than a 10% sales penetration, the company said.

Lowe’s also pointed to a strong farm-and-ranch play, in which some 300 additional stores by year-end will have a wider offering of farm, ranch and outdoor products.

Stat of the month no. 2

An estimated 100,000 appliances break every day.

Source: Lowe’s

Lowe’s Executive Vice President of Merchandising added the following color: “With our improved online capabilities like easy scheduling and order tracking, we continue to see more and more of our customers getting comfortable completing their purchases online,” Boltz said. “In the U.S., we estimate that roughly 100,000 appliances break every day. So, our investments in fast appliance delivery and a seamless omnichannel shopping experience positions us well as the go-to destination for these urgent and often nondiscretionary needs.“

Wood Finishing Mastered

Old Masters crafts its stains and finishes in the artisan tradition, creating wood finishing products that celebrate the master craftsperson, with the skill and talent to create timeless wood pieces that last.

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Ace buys service brands from private equity firm

GROVE MOUNTAIN SELLS UNIQUE INDOOR COMFORT HOLDINGS TO THE CO-OP.

Atlanta-based private-equityinvestment fi rm Grove Mountain Partners sold Unique Indoor Comfort Holdings to Ace Hardware Corp.

Unique Indoor Comfort, based in King of Prussia, Pa., is a collection of HVAC specialty companies that began consolidating in June 2021, when Grove Mountain acquitted Moncrief Heating & Air, Unique Indoor Comfort of Philadelphia, and Werley Heating & Air. The company added  nine other Eastern region companies in the HVAC space, including Clay’s Climate Control, Detmer & Sons, Canella Heating & Air, A-Total Plumbing, All Phase Electrical, Dick Hill & Son, Carolina Custom, Rye Heating and Air, and Jackson Plumbing and Heating & Air.

A spokesman for Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware told HBSDealer the Unique Indoor brands will join the co-op’s Ace Home Services division.

In its short history, Unique Indoor experienced organic growth of over 20 percent, Google ratings of at least 4.8 and a Net Promoter Score of 80, according to the announcement from Grove Mountain Partners. All owners remained as presidents of their respective companies, a key tactic of the holding company.

“The Unique team has been outstanding, and we are incredibly appreciative of their efforts and accomplishments over the past two years,” said Ransom James, Partner at Grove Mountain.

“Since our initial investment in June 2021, the Company completed nine add-on acquisitions and grew total revenue over 6x,” said John Koch, chairman of Unique and Partner at Grove Mountain. “It’s incredible what a group of people focused on the customer experience with outstanding cultures can achieve in such a short period.”

Said Nate Kukla, CEO. “Now, we are excited to be part of the Ace team which will allow us to leverage their combined financial and operational capabilities and expertise.  Since day one, Unique has been passionately dedicated to an employee-centric, high-integrity, and customer-focused culture. Ace shares in our mission and values and brings a plethora of resources to allow us to continue and grow the business.”

Product Knowledge

Product: Locktop ladder top and Lock-In Tool Bag

Manufacturer: Werner

Knowledge: Customer insights and survey data reveal a high importance for each tool to have a designated storage space on the ladder. The Werner Locktop features multiple storage options—such as a built-in holder for an impact driver—and now it’s built to hold a convenient tool bag at the top. The new Lock-In Tool Bag is compatible with existing Locktop Ladders going back more than 10 years, as well as the upgraded Locktop now available. The combination helps prevent accidents and reduces up-and-down trips to retrieve tools.

MSRP: Ladder price range varies widely; the ACBAG15 LockIn Tool Bag sells for about $50.

Safety fact: 62 percent of accidents on the job happen from carrying materials and not maintaining three points of contact, according to the 2020 ALI Ladder Safety Training and Citations Report.

Nate Kukla, CEO, and the entire management team, including the brand presidents, will continue to lead Unique Indoor Comfort Holdings as the company changes hands.

Unique Indoor Comfort specializes in HVAC.

The Unique Indoor brands will join the co-op’s Ace Home Services division.

Following up on Sustainability

Since the publication of HBSDealers’s “Sustainability Issue” in April, several companies have released corporate social responsibility reports. The companies, and their achievements, include:

Builders FirstSource: 1.3 million trees saved in 2022 through the use of Builders FirstSource manufactured framing components versus traditional framing methods. Also supported local communities with more than $3.2 million in charitable giving in 2022.

Beacon: Reduced emissions intensity 5.7 percent from base year of 2020. Established goal to reduce emissions intensity by 50 percent by 2030.

Masonite: Completed water reduction or reuse projects estimated to save 62 million gallons of water annually. Donated more than 1,200 doors to Hurricane Ian relief efforts in Florida.

Eye on Retail: OSHA and fines

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said its inspectors found several safety violation during a late 2022 sweep of Dollar General stores in Maine, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Among the issues:

Exit routes, doors, fire extinguishers and electrical panels blocked and unsafely stacked merchandise;

Failing to train employees on safe handling of hazardous chemicals and proper clean-up; and

Unsafe electrical cords, fi re extinguishers that were not inspected, crushing hazards, and conditions that would prevent employees from exiting the store safely in an emergency.

The workplace safety failures identified in these inspections add $3.4 million in proposed penalties to the more than $21 million in fines the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed since 2017 after conducting 240 inspections at stores nationwide.

“Dollar General continues to expose its employees to unsafe conditions at its stores across the nation,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker.

Responding to a request for comment from HBSDealer, the Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based retailer offered the following statement:

Mapping the industry

The HBSDealer News map above illustrates the location of acquisitions, openings and closings in the hardware, home center, lumberyard and building supply sectors.

The chart is updated regularly from press announcements, external media reports and original reporting.

Recent updates to the map include the Muncie, Indiana, opening of a Gillman Home Center, the chain’s 15th home improvement store. Westlake Ace Hardware announced plans to open a store in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The map also reflects the closing of Cole Hardware’s Ninth Street store in San Francisco.  Visit the interactive version of the map at HBSDealer.com/map.

“As a growing retailer serving thousands of communities across the country, Dollar General is committed to providing a safe work environment for its associates and shopping experience for its customers. We regularly review and refine our safety programs, and reinforce them through training, ongoing communication, recognition and accountability. When we learn of situations where we have failed to live up to this commitment, we work to timely address the issue and ensure that the company’s expectations regarding safety are clearly communicated, understood and implemented.”

Eye on Retail appears weekly at HBSDealer.com, tracking notable retail issues beyond home improvement.

The spreading threat of organized retail crime

RETAIL SHRINK IS A DANGEROUS, $100-BILLION MENACE. Andy Carlo

Giant Foods, a supermarket chain with 165 stores in the Mid-Atlantic is taking new measures to prevent retail crime. With locations in Washington, D.C.; Delaware; Maryland; and Virginia, the company is hiring more security guards, limiting the number of items that can be bought at self-checkout kiosks, and keeping high-end items off shelves.

Company President Ira Kress told The Washington Post that he’s seen theft rise at least “tenfold in the last five years” and violence increase “exponentially.”

This is just one of the latest retailers who are taking new precautions and stepping up efforts to combat rising retail crime.

“Organized retail crime (ORC) is a growing problem for all retailers and The Home Depot is fighting it on all fronts,” said Evelyn Fornes, senior manager of communications and advocacy at The Home Depot.

in ORC-related activity over the last several years.”

In June, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said the results of a survey showed that more than half (53%) of consumers believe retail crimes such as shoplifting and looting stores have increased in their community since the onset of the pandemic.

The survey also found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of consumers are concerned about gang-led shoplifting in their community, with the figure rising to 75% among consumers who live in urban communities. Three-quarters (75%) of consumers have personally shopped in stores where products were kept in locked cabinets to avoid theft while 79% of consumers believe retail theft impacts the price of goods that they buy.

Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco closed its doors less than a year after opening. And they aren’t alone. The city has witnessed a massive wave of retail crime that has resulted in Nordstrom, H&M, Saks off 5th, and Abercrombie &

A recent NRF survey found that 79% of consumers believe retail theft impacts the price of goods that they buy.

Fitch — among others — all announcing they have left or will be leaving the market in the next several months.

In April, Walmart announced the closing of four of its Chicago stores. In a statement issued by the retailer, Walmart said, “These stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last fi ve years.”

“Organized retail crime is growing as a real threat to the safety, operations, and bottom line of retailers across the nation and now forms a part of the criminal and illicit fi nancing landscape,” said Juan Zarate, global co-managing partner and chief strategy offi cer at K2 Integrity, a global risk advisory fi rm based in New York.

“These concerns have grown in recent years, as criminal groups have become more brazen and violent in their tactics and are using new channels to resell stolen goods,” Zarate said. The new channels include e-commerce platforms.

A report published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce indicated that organized retail crime cost more than $700,000 per every $1 billion in sales — a more than 50% increase compared to the previous five years. Additionally, according to new data from the Chamber, 56% of small retail businesses say they have experienced theft in the past year, and 46% have been forced to increase prices due to shoplifting.

In its annual Security Survey, the NRF said its report found that retail shrink is “an almost $100 billion problem.”

Findings from an Organized Retail Crime study, also issued by the NRF earlier this year, showed that ORC groups largely target everyday consumer goods — which offer a favorable balance between ease of theft, monetary value and ease of resale. Only 11% of the ORC groups examined in the report targeted luxury goods.

The Home Depot says its investigative team — made up of “highly trained associates” — continues to learn new crime prevention techniques on an ongoing basis.

“We’ve increased security measures to address shoplifting and organized retail crime while understanding that we don’t want to impact the shopping experience of our customers,” Fornes told HBSDealer. “We use an ever-evolving playbook of theft-fighting technologies.”

But there is a darker side to retail crime, which has resulted in the death of two Home Depot associates.

This past April, Blake Mohs, a 26-year-old Home Depot employee in the retailer’s loss prevention department, was shot and killed after trying to prevent the theft of electric tools at the retailer’s Pleasanton, California store. The store is located in Amador Valley, a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.

At the Home Depot’s Hillsborough, North Carolina store, Gary Rasor, 83, was shoved to the ground last October after he approached a man wheeling out three pressure washers worth over $800. On Dec. 1, Rasor died from complications caused by his injuries.

In an interview with ABC News, Home Depot’s vice president of asset protection, Scott Glenn, said theft at the big box retailer has been

“growing double-digit year over year.”

“More and more we’re seeing the risk being brought into the stores, and people being hurt or people even being killed in many cases because these folks, they just don’t care about the consequence,” Glenn said.

The Home Depot is a member of the Buy Safe America Coalition which represents a diverse group of responsible retailers, consumer groups, manufacturers, intellectual property advocates, and law enforcement officials who support efforts at all levels of government to protect consumers and communities from the sale of counterfeit and stolen goods.

The retailer has also grown its organized retail crime investigative and broader asset protection teams significantly, Fornes said.

In the Southwest, McCoy’s Building Supply has also witnessed a crime surge in recent years.

“We are cognizant of these situations, and that organized retail crime, if not prevented, can be very consequential,” said David Paul Strom, director of loss prevention and operations support at McCoy Corporation.

Strom says McCoy’s has increased both its store security force and communication between stores in regard to crime. And with some metro markets seeing higher crime rates than others, Strom said the prodealer and farm and ranch retailer has adjusted its loss prevention techniques “accordingly.”

Organized retail crime is not relegated to metro markets either.

“ORC is a problem across the country,” Fornes said. “Not only are there rings that are based in specific areas, but we also encounter ORC rings that travel across the country and even internationally.”

“The issue stretches from cities to the suburbs and even more rural areas,” Fornes added.

“Organized retail crime is growing as a real threat to the safety, operations, and bottom line of retailers across the nation and now forms a part of the criminal and illicit fi nancing landscape.”

—Juan Zarate, global co-managing partner and chief strategy officer, K2 Integrity

Do it Best builds a better path to purchase

Inside a co-op’s ambitious plans for a major omni-channel upgrade.

The challenges of modern retail are building every day. Not only are customer expectations rising, so are the competitive pressures from well-funded online competition.

At Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Do it Best, the writing has been on the wall since even before the pandemic-induced surge in home improvement spending: Simply operating a functional ecommerce website isn’t enough anymore. Either step into the big leagues, or risk being left behind.

“Gone are the days when it’s OK to just put up a sign in your store, calling out your website,” says Allison Flatjord, who took on the role of vice president of ecommerce in January.

The ability for all Do it Best members to meet our customers where they would like to do business is no longer a want, it’s a necessity. With that principle in mind, our new ecommerce platform is set up to take a 360-degree approach at fulfilling that important need. And, honestly, the most important part of the solution to me is that we will continually adapt, improve and strengthen the ecommerce platform to help all Do it Best members exceed customer expectations.

—Scott Jerousek, owner, Farm & Home Hardware

Flatjord is one of the architects of Do it Best’s new plan—part local, part global—for a platform that’s built to win. Among the features:

Member microsites are integrated with doitbest.com, with back-end tasks handled by the co-op’s experts; Unique merchandise and rewards capability online;

A pay-as-you-go, no-initial-cost structure;

Profit from ship-to-home product sales at doitbest.com will go to the nearest participating store, even if that store had nothing to do with the sale.

On the following pages, HBSDealer takes a deep dive into the ambitious program, with insights from some of the co-op’s early adopters, as well as the leadership team who are bringing the platform to life.

Farm & Home Hardware’s father-daughter team of Scott and Taylor Jerousek.

Telling a story that sells

Every business has a story to tell. But for Scott Jerousek, owner of Farm & Home Hardware in Ashland and Wellington, Ohio, there’s no story more important than the one that ends with the customer buying a product.

Jerousek, whose credentials include recognition as 2018 NHPA Top Gun and also as an HBSDealer Hardware Store All Star, says that telling a business’ story doesn’t mean plastering your home page with old-time photos. “It means telling the story of the products that differentiate our business from some of the others, and the service that comes with that,” he says.

He points to the outdoor living category, a strong suit for the rural Ohio retailer. “We need to be able to tell folks our story through different landing pages, through product reviews, and even through staff recommendations. It has to be: ‘These are the products we’re stocking. This is why we stock them. And this is why we think that they can improve your life.’”

That kind of storytelling capability is one of the exciting opportunities of the Do it Best ecommerce initiative. And the ability to be nimble, flexible, and accurate with digital information is one of the keys to unlocking the elite-level omni-channel experience that the co-op is bringing its members this summer.

“Having the ability to easily make some changes or add more content, I think, is going to be huge for us,” he adds. “And that's why we're excited with this new initiative coming out from Do it Best. And a huge part of that for us will be getting the correct inventory online so customers can see if the juice is worth the squeeze.” In other words: if it’s worth placing the order or getting in the car.

Jerousek is a proponent of the idea that in the not-too-distant future, the term “ecommerce” itself will fall into obsolescence, if it hasn’t fallen there already. The better term is simply “commerce.”

“The expectation is not, do you have a website,” he says. “Instead it’s: I want to see your inventory. I want to see product suggestions. I want to see reviews. I want to see videos. I want to be able to link that over and purchase everything right there and either pick it up at the store or have it shipped to my address.

“Ecommerce is definitely not a different part of your business. It’s just part of your business now and an investment that everybody needs to make.”

Introducing a game changer

It’s global. It’s local. It’s a platform built to compete in a modern landscape.

At their 2023 Spring Market in Orlando, Do it Best introduced a powerful new ecommerce strategy that integrates online and in-store shopping into a single customer experience. The key driver is to generate and capture as much online activity as possible—increasing both digital and in-store transactions.

The idea is to not only compete in the increasingly complex ecommerce arena, but to win where it counts most: in the local markets.

“Online retailers like Amazon focus exclusively on having customers order from their website and then ship directly to their home,” adds Vice President of Ecommerce Allison Flatjord. “We see a much better path to winning the sale. We have thousands of amazing store locations across the country within a short drive from our online shoppers’ homes. We provide an in-store pickup experience that offers a more complete shopping journey, including project advice and add-on sales opportunities, while also increasing foot traffic in our members’ stores.”

But if you’re going to advocate an all-for-one ecommerce strategy, it’s got to be backed by a platform with a top-tier level of performance, capability, and reliability. Finding one that checks all the boxes was an exhaustive task for the Do it Best team. They initiated a rigorous RFP process in early 2022 to identify a superior online platform, beginning with top-quadrant ecommerce providers according to Gartner Research, a leading consultant for the IT industry.

SALES BEGIN HERE: Responding to the increased complexity of the ecommerce arena, Do it Best is rolling out a low-cost, high-performance omnichannel platform to help members boost sales online and in-store.

“The platforms we reviewed are considered the best of the best,” says Flatjord. “In our evaluations, we wanted to ensure we could drive substantial sales increases, and that required a platform with proven national-level retail sales performance—a top-tier experience.”

By the end of the review cycle, the group unanimously selected the Adobe platform as the clear winner. “Trusted by retail giants like Nike, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola, Adobe has all the capabilities Do it Best needs to break away from the pack and claim our place as an ecommerce leader,” Flatjord says.

Ecommerce Update

Platform + purpose: a winning strategy for ecommerce

Through Adobe, the Do it Best Ecommerce team had the resources needed to build a central website that translated the power of a large, brick-and-mortar company into an equally powerful online presence without sacrificing its members’ freedom, another key differentiator in a highly competitive field of wholesalers and distributors.

“Our member-owners are outstanding at running their businesses at the brick-and-mortar level, and Do it Best has proven ecommerce expertise,” says Ecommerce Development Manager Corbin Prows. “Bringing those elements together creates unbelievable opportunities to drive even more store sales.”

The result is an all new doitbest.com, a centralized ecommerce website designed to represent every member business through a best-in-class online shopping experience. Members participate in the Do it Best ecommerce program for a small fraction of the cost and time needed

to establish and run their own ecommerce sites. With this new solution, members are able to promote their individual store brands and everything they have to sell through a powerful digital shopping experience—all while saving time and resources that can be redirected to other areas of their business.

“Our push is to make it possible for every store to present every product they have available and make it even easier for customers to find them,” explains Prows. “They won’t have to leave our members’ sites to search for a particular product they need—if it’s not in stock, customers can order it for pickup or home delivery, or find the next nearest Do it Best location that has the item in stock.”

Unifying member businesses in a single ecommerce platform creates a number of efficiencies and opportunities that were virtually nonexistent before.

Keeping up with the customers

With 20 Virginia locations, the combined operation of Taylor’s Do it Center and Pleasants Hardware has the scope and scale to experiment with its omnichannel strategy, and it has been doing so for decades as an early adopter of numerous Do it Best initiatives.

But there hasn’t been an initiative like this before.

Coming soon, and what excites Meg Taylor, representing the fourth-generation of the family business, is an ecommerce platform that “we really couldn't have done on our own, or afforded to do on our own.”

The platform formally launches this sum -

“We work hard to keep up with consumer shopping trends and meet their expectations for a convenient experience both online and instore. Do it Best’s investment in omnichannel capabilities excites us. It provides customers with faster navigation and improves search. It also fully integrates our loyalty program to reward our most important customers for their online purchases in addition to in-store.”

— Meg Taylor, marketing director, Taylor’s Do it Center & Pleasants Hardware, Virginia Beach and Richmond, Virginia.

mer. But key elements of the initiative are already generating excitement for Taylor’s and Pleasants. They include the ability to easily customize the digital storefront, flexibility in offering products outside the Do it Best warehouse, support for content and search engine optimization, seamless shopping with rewards functionality, reviews, videos, and an engine to drive online shoppers into stores.

Many of those elements are not new, but the game changer is the way in which the co-op will shoulder the responsibility for many of the time-consuming and technical aspects of ecommerce.

“Having the resources to be able to do all of this in our business is a significant move as we compete with the big boxes,” Taylor says. “That's why we've been so excited that Do it Best has put such an investment in this area to leverage their efficiencies and create an extremely robust platform.”

At Taylor’s Do it Centers, and more recently Pleasants Hardware, which joined the family business in 2018, convenience has been a major competitive advantage, Taylor adds. And the importance of convenience has grown dramatically during the pandemic, when buy-online-pickup-in-store became a standard operating procedure.

“We're finding that the customer’s journey, whether they complete their purchase online or come into the store, begins online,” says Taylor, who brings a professional background in digital marketing to the family business. “We've been involved in working with Do It Best so closely because we want to make sure that we're meeting our customers where they are.”

Comprehensive store selection

Every one of the tens of thousands of products available in the Do it Best warehouses is represented on doitbest.com. On the members’ custom sites, powered by doitbest.com and often referred to as microsites, every item that’s in their stores is able to be shown through direct connection to the coop’s full product database or integrated through content concierge services from the Do it Best Ecommerce team.

“We wanted a powerful, state-of-the-art platform that supports all of our stores and their entire inventory,” says Prows. “This new platform is a direct reflection of our ability to work together to meet customers’ needs and make more sales for our members.”

Higher performance, lower memberowner cost

High-performance ecommerce systems aren’t cheap, and many business owners are reluctant to make the investment in the initial start-up costs and ongoing fees without assurances of strong results. A unified ecommerce platform removes the cost barrier that might discourage store owners from embracing ecommerce as a central part of doing business today.

“Our platform brings a top-tier service to every Do it Best member, regardless of size or budget,” says Flatjord. “It puts our members in the best possible position to see stronger sales results with minimal investment.”

Powerful, effi cient SEO optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) practices can uniformly be applied across the platform simultaneously, giving every member an enhanced internet presence in one operation.

“Bringing all our members together on one platform increases the natural search rankings of Do it Best as a whole,” says Flatjord. “It increases the SEO value of our site and positions members to be the first and best choice for online customers.”

Investing in a foundation for growth

Building on the momentum of two straight years of record-breaking sales, Do it Best is one of the largest member-owned companies serving the hardware, lumber, and building supplies industry. They credit their success to an aggressive growth plan supported by three pillars: maximizing share of wallet, helping our members sell more out their front door, and adding more new members and locations to the Do it Best family. Their strategic plan includes a $100 million investment in state-of-the-art infrastructure being developed to maximize effi ciency and enhance agility as they respond to members’ needs to drive even more sales in their businesses.

The implementation of a next-gen Distributed Order Management System (DOMS) enhances inventory visibility and product allocation, giving members an effective tool to locate and acquire the products their customers need even more effi ciently. DOMS works in tandem with a new Warehouse Management System designed to provide immediate, accurate-to-the-minute inventory information, making the ordering process faster and more productive. Both of these new systems feed into an updated core fi nancials system that collects, organizes, and distributes data for every transaction much more effi ciently.

“We have committed considerable resources to create a fully integrated system that helps our members drive more sales with outstanding store performance and an unbeatable customer experience,” says President & CEO Dan Starr. “This gives our store owners a tremendous advantage over the competition.”

Maintenance-free ecommerce capabilities

The Do it Best Ecommerce team is able to handle all platform maintenance and updates quickly and easily on behalf of its members.

“Our platform removes a lot of the heavy lift from members,” says Flatjord. “By moving all our members onto this single platform, we can handle the day-to-day support work so they can focus on

Do it Best’s “future-proof”

Adobe platform is the same one trusted by retail giants like Nike, Microsoft and Coca-Cola.

Dan Starr, president & CEO, Do it Best

Ecommerce Update

serving all their customers.”

While the new doitbest.com brings member businesses together to build a dynamic online presence, it also preserves the independence that Do it Best members have always valued. When a member establishes their microsite on doitbest.com, they’re able to share the unique brand of their store.

Members are able to show their assortments—even with items that don’t come from their Do it Best warehouses. Members can create unique inventories that evolve and change to appeal to the widest range of customers. These options include products ordered straight from the manufacturer and locally-sourced favorites, as well as unique regional and seasonal offerings.

“Our site provides space for members to sell their full selection,” says Flatjord. “Giving the customer the power to verify

everything that’s available in the store before they go into it is a vital part of delivering an exceptional customer experience, online and in-store.”

A regular source of customer-friendly content

Today’s most successful ecommerce sites do much more than list and sell products. They serve as resources for product and project instruction, customer reviews, and even entertainment, fundraising, and community calendars. By providing a variety of relevant and relatable content, retailers build relationships with their customers. These retailers quickly become part of their customers’

Time is money at Foleyhardware.com

In many ways and for many years, Larchmont, New York-based Foley Hardware has served as an example of an aggressively digital, forward-thinking, ecommerce operator. The retailer’s website, Foleyhardware.com, right now is being promoted as a case study in digital-commerce success by one of its technology vendors.

The site has buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) functionality. It has featured products. It has “Homeowner tips and tricks.” Owner John Merrell has put countless hours into developing a winning platform.

But even so, Foleyhardware.com is bracing for a big improvement—the kind that he and like-minded independents feel is crucial to business success in the high-stakes ever-changing realm of ecommerce.

“When competing against Amazon, let’s face it: we’re not going to outspend them on search engine optimization and other things,” Merrell tells HBSDealer. “We’re going to be more local, and we’re going to work to win on a local basis.”

Merrell is eager to roll out Do it Best’s new ecommerce platform that is designed to take over many of the time-consuming requirements of this hyper-competitive digital retail space. What Merrell sees coming down the pike is a seamless and versatile—and easy to manage— omni-channel platform.

“For a lot people, the question is ‘How much time do I have to put into this?,’” Merrell says.

On top of that, customers today have high expectations. They expect shopping sites to perform seamlessly, and he pointed to a giant sporting goods retailer as an example.

“I’m a big Dick’s Sporting Goods fan because my kids play sports,” Merrell says. “I see them as an example [of omni-channel retailing.] I can buy stuff, I can see related items, I can see other items I might be interested in. I can put stuff in my cart and save it. I can then, if I do make a

purchase, use my rewards card for my online purchases and in-store purchases.”

That scenario is increasingly the price of entry, even for a single-store retailer.

“And that’s a lot of what we’re working on with our new Do it Best platform,” he says.

Making sure the customer comes to your site and stays on your site requires the kind of time and attention to detail that many independents struggle to support. Supplying content for search engine optimization, coordinating with vendors to maximize visibility, ensuring accurate product descriptions— these tasks are soon to be lifted from the shoulders of the retailer and onto the co-op.

“We get busy, and I don’t have a lot of time to sit at my desk and do the back-end work that needs to be done,” Merrell says. “So, it’s a big thing to have Do it Best doing that for us.”

“I think one of the most important improvements is all members get a top notch ecommerce platform that will drive sales and customers into their stores while removing set up fees and monthly costs. This model gives every member an opportunity to run a successful and profitable e-commerce website.”

—John Merrell, owner Foley Hardware, Larchmont, New York

lives, serving as a trusted, expert resource capable of weighing in on buying decisions.

While it’s often said that content is king, most retailers are focused on running their businesses and don’t have the time to find the right content to engage their customers. A big part of the new Do it Best ecommerce strategy is to regularly update content to keep the site fresh and exciting. Members are free to be as involved as they want to be and can work with Do it Best to add their own original content to support in-store and community events, promote unique products in their store, recognize employee milestones, and more.

“Our platform is much more than just a digital database of static content, it’s a selling tool. We provide members with high-quality content, including 360° product views, how-to videos, and customer reviews,” says Ecommerce Marketing and Content Manager Brianna Wells. “Our job is to keep online shoppers engaged with their experience.”

To deliver big on this effort, Do it Best has invested in supplier engagement to collect the content customers want. This is an important step forward, removing the burden off the stores and streamlining the process of presenting a comprehensive shopping experience tailored to each store.

“Our supplier engagement team works directly with vendors to source relevant, high-quality content that’s compelling for customers,“ says Wells. “Our members are really going to enjoy the simplicity that comes with a single source to pull content from, plus vendors and suppliers will like having a single source to send content to—everybody wins.”

Built to grow sales for the long haul

“Adobe is definitely the best fit for us, given everything we want to accomplish,” says Flatjord. “It makes it possible to deliver the best member experience and the best customer experience bar none.”

“The Adobe platform sets the standard for presenting and marketing products and easily guiding customers through the

buying process—but what really sets it apart is the potential for personalizing the shopping experience to each customer,” adds Prows. The strategy behind the Adobe platform includes mapping customer journeys through numerous data points, giving Do it Best members the insights they need to offer highly personalized online shopping experiences that mirror the in-store experience.

“The platform gives us statistical insights so we can create a tailored shopping experience for everyone,” says Prows. “It refines the individual experience a little more every time they shop— and that leads to increased conversion rates.”

In addition to a continuously refined shopping experience, the new doitbest.com fully integrates with the Best Rewards loyalty program within the platform. Customers can earn and use rewards online—further integrating the personalized shopping experience today’s consumer expects, regardless of being in-store or online.

The platform also supports the growth-focused Do it Best ecommerce strategy.

“Adobe has a suite of products and services that work together seamlessly, and they’re always adding more,” adds Prows. “It will grow and evolve as our ecommerce efforts grow and evolve. We can continually expand without having to search for add-ons from other platforms, so it really is future-proof.”

The new doitbest.com represents a major strategic investment to deliver a unified online presence for Do it Best members, allowing them to compete and win in a rapidly evolving marketplace. Combined with the other growth-focused infrastructure investments, Do it Best continues to capitalize on the momentum they’ve been generating.

“The best way for us all to drive growth is to help our members’ stores capture a greater share of online sales and drive more of those customers into their stores through same-day pickup,” says Do it Best CEO Dan Starr. “Commerce is commerce, whether it’s online or in-store.”

COMMERCE ADVOCATES: Do it Best’s Ecommerce Team includes, from left, Corbin Prows, Allison Flatjord and Brianna Wells.

Individual members have more power to showcase their unique inventory— even items that don't come from their Do it Best warehouses.

Unrivaled dealer support comes from understanding a high-quality product means nothing if it means headaches to get it on your shelves. For five decades now, we’ve built a trusted reputation for going above and beyond to deliver on the extras that make a difference. Like near-by facilities for timely product deliveries. A seasoned sales support team. Or stand-out advertising that drives higher demand for products. That’s just the beginning of a very long list that only we do. See all the other ways the YellaWood® brand has your back. Visit yellawood.com/for-dealers

TECHNOLOGY AT WORK TODAY

Across the industry, new tools are making inroads on business.

By HBSDealer Staff

During the latest Builders

First Source earnings report, CEO Dave Rush carved out two slides in his investor presentation for his company’s ongoing digital transformation.

“We continue to play a pioneering role in the digital transformation of the homebuilding industry,” said the CEO of the nation’s largest building supply dealer. Rush even attached a dollar amount to the value of its embrace of technology: “We are on track to gain an incremental $1 billion in sales by 2026,” Rush said.

That kind of financial incentive is one of the reasons that 2023 may prove to be a golden year of technology advancement. It is certainly true that big players are using tools to boost efficiency, customer engagement and sales growth.

At Builders FirstSource, the launch of myBLDR.com customer portal in early 2023 has already begun providing the company’s homebuilder customers access to a comprehensive suite of digital tools to virtually design and build their homes.

He pointed to one of those tools: an application called Home Configure, described by Rush as a “three-dimensional virtual application that allows the user to configure a home while providing a more collaborative experience.”

He said 15,000 visitors started 56,000 session in the tool, which is already in use with a significant number of custom-

ers. The company says it will continue to develop and pilot new capabilities throughout the year.

“Our digital tools will help us integrate more closely with our customers and ultimately result in incremental sell-through of our core building products as we gain share,” Rush said.

Getting close to pro customers is also a theme that runs through developments at Lowe’s, which launched a new digital program: Lowe’s MVPs Business Tools. The suite of new features is found in the Lowe’s app and on Lowes.com, designed to help pros optimize their time and save money.

Finding new ways to save time and money is essential to the success of pros and their businesses, Lowe’s said. According to proprietary research from Lowe’s, 61% of pro customers expect retailers to help them shop quickly, so they can get back to the job.

The latest move is built on the foundation of the existing Lowe’s MVPs Pro Rewards and Partnership Program, which launched in February 2022.

Lowe’s noted that pros can use new Lowe’s MVPs Business Tools to simplify their resupply process with easy order placement and tracking.

Underscoring the value behind the new MVPs Business Tools, nearly one in three pros (32%)

“We continue to play a pioneering role in the digital transformation of the homebuilding industry.”

—David Rush CEO, Builders First Source

ranked retailer-specific mobile apps and built-in tools in their top three innovations with the greatest potential to improve their job, Lowe’s said.

“While these tools just launched in April, we are already seeing better-than-expected adoption rate and sales growth and expect results to accelerate as more pros discover the new features,” said Joe McFarland, Lowe’s executive vice president of stores, speaking to analysts last month. “As our CRM tool matures, we are using data insights to identify trends that can improve our marketing and sales strategy, including tailoring our offerings by trade and by tier.”

Doing more with less

The need to do more with less is perhaps the most powerful driving factor in any retail-technology investment. And that’s the case with The Home Depot’s Sidekick application, which helps store employees prioritize tasks.

Ann-Marie Campbell, executive vice president of U.S. Stores and international operations, explained recently that the Sidekick application, powered by

AI: Always improving, already important

The buzzword, or buzz letters, are AI – artificial intelligence. You've seen them in the headlines, and there's an increasingly good chance that you've seen them in action.

And it’s not just for the retail giants. For instance, Scott Jerousek, of Farm & Home Hardware, with locations in Wellington and Ashland, Ohio, described how his business has begun using artificial intelligence programs (Chat GPT among them) to generate search-engine friendly product descriptions for the retailer’s website.

“This AI software will take a variety of product descriptions, basically rewrite it for you, and come up with the best description that will help people on Google find our business,” Jerousek said. “It will move words around and make it sound much better than we could on our own, which is just super cool, I think.”

AI appears to be growing in several areas. Among them:

Demand forecasting

Supply chain optimization

Quality control

Predictive maintenance

Pricing optimization

Customer insights

According to a recent survey of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults from SurveyMonkey, slightly more than half (52%) of respondents believe that AI will have a major impact on their lives in the next fi ve years.

Nine in 10 respondents prefer humans to AI for customer service, claiming humans better understand their needs, provide more thorough explanations and more options, and are less likely to frustrate. Respondents are split on whether they think they can tell when they are interacting with an AI chatbot (54% are confi dent) or identify AI-generated content (47% are confi dent).

Five steps building supply dealers can take to improve their tech

At

Brad Cumiskey, vice president of product at TOOLBX, was among the company representatives who delivered digital options and improvements to a room full of LMC dealer members last March in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Here are five suggestions from Cumiskey on how dealers can improve their digital presence in the marketplace.

1

Integrate an e-commerce storefront

In an increasingly digital world, offering online purchasing options is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury.

Integrating an e-commerce storefront allows customers to browse your inventory, compare products, and make purchases anytime, anywhere. Additionally, it can enable you to implement an endless-aisle strategy allowing you to showcase a wider selection of products, including products that you don’t stock. This not only expands your market reach but also increases convenience for your customers. It also allows you to track customer preferences and purchasing patterns, which can inform your sales and marketing strategies.

2

Allow customers to access account services online

Providing an online portal where customers can view their order history, payment history, download invoices, access special pricing, and manage their account can greatly enhance the customer experience. It reduces the need for customers to contact your customer service for routine queries, freeing up your customer service representatives to deal with more complex issues. This self-service approach can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

3

Enable

an online payments system

Offering secure, online payment options can streamline your sales process and improve cash flow. This system allows for quicker, more efficient transactions, reducing administrative workload and delays in payment processing. Customers appreciate the flexibility and ease of online payments, which can range from credit/debit card transactions to ACH bank transfers. Online payments also eliminate the burden of over-thephone payments and significantly reduce chargeback risk.

4

Streamline communication with a digital messaging platform

Timely and efficient communication is key to maintaining strong relationships with customers. Implementing a digital messaging platform can empower your sales desk to keep customers informed and connected like never before.

Whether it’s answering queries, providing order updates, or handling complaints, a digital platform can streamline the process and make it more efficient.

We’ve seen dealers have success with a digital messaging platform that integrates with channels contractors already enjoy using, such as SMS or web messaging. Centralizing customer communications also helps staff stay on top of customer inquiries in one place, improving customer service.

5Improve your quotes flow with a digital quoting tool

Providing quotes can be a time-consuming process. A digital quoting tool can automate this process, allowing you to quickly provide accurate, customized quotes to a larger number of customers.

Including features that allow customers to search and add products from your catalog, or upload a takeoff file directly can make it significantly easier for customers to submit quotes, while also providing your staff with detailed product information to follow-up and respond faster. This not only increases your quote volume but also minimizes errors and inconsistencies in your pricing.

the 2023 LMC Annual, executives from TOOLBX discussed how prodealers can improve their e-commerce and tech strategies.

“We’ve seen dealers have success with a digital messaging platform that integrates with channels contractors already enjoy using, such as SMS or web messaging. Centralizing customer communications also helps staff stay on top of customer inquiries in one place, improving customer service.”

—Brad Cumiskey, Vice President of product, TOOLBX

machine-learning logic, directs employees to those bays where product availability is running low, or out.

“Since Sidekick was rolled out last year, we have seen improvement in all on-shelf availability for all SKUs, but we’ve seen the most improvement in our high-velocity SKUs or the products that are key drivers of our business,” she said. “This has translated to an increase of approximately 300 basis points in our shelf-availability customer service scores.”

Benefits of the employee-facing app are just beginning to roll up, she said.

In a similar way, tech benefits are flourishing around the industry, according to the report “Building Supply Industry Insights 2023,” from technology solutions provider Epicor.

“In the building supply industry, specifically, the recent

labor shortage, material cost fluctuations from inflation, security threats, and supply chain uncertainty top the list of reasons business leaders are searching for better digital solutions,” said Lisa Pope, Epicor president.

For those reasons, investments in cloud ERP have been climbing. She said some experts predict a compound annual growth rate in these investments of 17 percent until 2028.

“The need for efficient workflows, lean processes, and actionable business intelligence that can help control inventory, boost profit margins, and improve productivity drives many ERP strategies,” Pope added.

Builders FirstSource sees a huge potential in its digital tools designed to help customers sell homes.

U.S. Supreme Court issues WOTUS ruling

THE RULING NARROWS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S AUTHORITY IN REGARD TO REGULATING BODIES OF WATER. By

Andy Carlo

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s 9-0 ruling on May 25 that rejects the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) broad definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS).

The case (Sackett v. EPA) originated with Michael and Chantell Sackett, two Idaho residents. The EPA prohibited the Sacketts from building a home near a wetland years ago, citing the Clean Waters Act (CWA) of 1972.

The ruling narrows the federal government's authority in regard to regulating bodies of water and overrules a recent Biden administration policy.

Justice Samuel Alito delivered the court’s decision.

"The EPA ordered the Sacketts to restore the site, threatening penalties of over $40,000 per day," Alito said in his majority opinion statement. "The EPA classified the wetlands on the Sack-

etts’ lot as 'waters of the United States' because they were near a ditch that fed into a creek, which fed into Priest Lake, a navigable, intrastate lake. The Sacketts sued, alleging that their property was not 'waters of the United States.'"

Alicia Huey, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and a custom home builder and developer from

Birmingham, Alabama issued a statement after the Supreme Court handed down its unanimous verdict.

“Today the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Sackett v. EPA that clearly redefines the scope of the Clean Water Act,” Huey said.

“The decision represents a victory against federal overreach and a win for common-sense regulations and housing affordability. The ruling will likely affect the Biden administration’s new definition of waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) that gave the federal government jurisdictional authority under the Clean Water Act over certain isolated wetlands, ephemeral streams or even human-made drainage features, like roadside ditches.”

Huey added, “The Biden WOTUS rule does little to strengthen our nation’s water resources but it does radically extend the areas in which home builders are required to get federal wetlands permits.”

Trucking legislation moves forward

Multiple pieces of legislation that look to improve the supply chain were given the go-ahead by the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

Among the pieces of legislation that are now moving to a House vote is (H.R. 3013) the Licensing Individual Commercial Exam-takers Now Safely and Efficiently (LICENSE) Act of 2023. Introduced by Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), the bill eliminates regulatory barriers and addresses truck driver shortages by making permanent two commonsense waivers issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

(FMCSA) during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow for more efficient Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) testing.

“Trucking workforce shortages

By Andy Carlo

continue to be a persistent challenge for small businesses throughout America, and the downstream effects are harming working families,” LaHood said.

Additionally, (H.R. 365) The Supply Chain Improvement Act, introduced by Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) has gained approval. The bill ensures that priority consideration is given to projects that would improve or build resiliency into the supply chain under the INFRA and MEGA discretionary grant programs.

The bills are headed to the House for a vote but no timetable has been set.

Saunders

Papandreou

Gruber

Thermowood ventures ‘beyond wood’

TANTIMBER IS ON A MISSION TO DISRUPT THE MARKETPLACE.

Thermally modified wood products have been thriving in Europe for decades. Why? Partly because of environmental legislation and partly because of a deeply ingrained culture of sustainability. But mostly, according to Tantimber, because of the exceptional durability, stability, and sustainability of the end product.

Tantimber is a global leader in producing ThermoWood products, which uses a patented Thermowood modification process to alter the chemistry of the wood, transforming it into its most durable and stable form. Tantimber is among only a handful of mass manufacturers with the exclusive credentials to produce ThermoWood products, Thermally Modified Timber (TMT). Due to the growth and acceptance of thermally modified wood products in the U.S. and world-

By HBSDealer Staff

wide, Tantimber increased production capacity with a new and expanded manufacturing facility located in Turkey, just outside Istanbul. Before its official opening, the manufacturer hosted its premier U.S. distributors at its new facility in December 2022.

Tantimber ThermoWood products are available in six wood species: ash, pine, iroko, ayous, poplar, and oak, in Class 1 and 2 durability with up to 25 years of service life. Products are suitable for decking, claddings, backyards, ceilings, soffits, docks, rooftops, pools, terraces, gardens, frames, walkways, landscaping and more.

Tantimber’s products are an exceptional alternative to endangered South American hardwoods, environmentally damaging petroleum-based wood imitations, and other hybrid products

Read the 2023 Decking E-Book at hbsdealer.com/report

Tantimber’s ash decking: impervious to fungi and bacteria that can cause mold, rot or decay. Resistant to insect infestation and damage. Plus, no dangerous chemicals.

G

Wood Pro & Tantimber: a One-on-One with Mehmet Zenginler

G Wood Pro is the exclusive licensed supplier of Tantimber ThermoWood products in the U.S. and has partnered with a premier list of distribution partners to serve the market efficiently and effectively at scale.

What is ThermoWood?

“ThermoWood is a brand of thermally modified wood products that are manufactured using the patented Thermowood manufacturing process, which is a combination of only heat and steam. The chemical-free and non-toxic process helps to make the timber more durable, stable, and resistant to biological decay, shrinkage, swelling and warping. The heat also darkens the color of the wood, making it look more attractive and increasing its aesthetic appeal.

“Thermowood manufacturing process is patented by the Technical Research Center of Finland and is a registered trademark of the International Thermowood Association (ITWA).  Only members of the ITWA are allowed to use the registered trademark ThermoWood brand and the modification process.”

What programs are available to dealers?

“We intend to transform the lumber industry by establishing unconventional NO RISK distribu tion partnerships that include exclusive territo ries with first-class lumber distributors, dealers and wholesalers that are equipped to stock, distribute and represent Tantimber ThermoWood products in the U.S.

“We also believe in creating an atmosphere of trust and collaboration between all partners involved, with mutual benefit being our ultimate goal. Our mission is to build a culture of true honesty, reliability, and resourcefulness where all partners can thrive by utilizing each other’s resources, inventory, network, insights, and experiences. By carefully evaluating all potential distributors we can ensure that only the best and most committed partners who share our vision represent our brand — setting a new standard for the lumber industry.”

How would you describe your company values and mission?

“Both Tantimber and G Wood Pro are deeply committed to quality, sustainability, and innovation. Our mission is to promote a greener and healthier future by producing high-quality wood products that have low environmental impact.”

Mehmet Zenginler is an entrepreneur, co-founder and managing partner of G Wood Pro.

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF DECKING

Tantimber ThermoWood decking is an ideal choice for those looking for a low-maintenance, highly durable, and aesthetically pleasing material. It’s sustainably sourced, giving construction professionals the opportunity to enjoy great performance and design flexibility.

ThermoWood products come with a wide range of thicknesses, widths, and profile options — perfect for those looking to get creative. Furthermore, it’s available in four types of sustainably harvested wood.

This special cut of timber is free of knots and offers a rich, even tone for a distinctive finish. It is an excellent alternative to wood from tropical forests, providing durability and natural beauty.

Iroko

ThermoWood Iroko decking is a durable and stylish choice for outdoor wood decks, sourced from tropical forests. This extra-dense cut of hardwood has a teak-like finish, with a light color and medium grain texture that creates a beautiful end result. It’s ideal for projects where strength and performance are required and provides lasting beauty to any outdoor setting.

ThermoWood Pine decking is a superior choice for outdoor decks in many applications. This extra-dense cut of timber comes from sustainably managed forests and provides excellent durability and strength. It’s a easy installation and has a light color that will blend nicely with any outdoor setting. The grain texture is medium to fine, resulting in an attractive final product.

Oak

ThermoWood Oak decking is a highly sought-after option for outdoor decks. The extra-dense cut of timber offers superior durability and strength, as well as a natural golden-brown hue that will lend warmth and character to any project. It’s sourced sustainably from North American forests and can often be found in pre-finished options for easy installation.

Message from the CEO

INTERVIEW WITH BOYDEN MOORE HITS ON A WIDE RANGE OF GROWTH TOPICS.

By Ken Clark

Orgill CEO Boyden Moore took time to talk with HBSDealer during the middle of last month’s Summer Online Buying Event, which ran from May 8-21. Sales at the virtual event were running ahead of the prior year — well ahead, actually.

“I think that people are looking for promotions and looking for things to drive footsteps in the store, and we certainly have that at this event,” Moore told HBSDealer, about the distributor’s Summer Online Buying Event.

The veteran executive of the Memphis, Tennessee-based distributor shared a variety of insights

on the state of Orgill, as well as the state of the industry. Speaking shortly after two big barometers of home

Orgill has taken an innovative approach to its dealer markets.

improvement retailing — Home Depot and Lowe’s — posted comp-store sales declines in excess of 4 percent, and the NAICS 444 sales were reported as down 5.7 percent from a year ago.

While the major players have guiding down in the single-digit negative territory for the year, Orgill’s sales year-to-date in 2023 have been flat, he said. The company was up 0.4 percent in the first quarter, aided by new business. Moore said March and April brought slower

IN THE WORKS: An artist's rendering of the distributor’s Collierville Concept Center.

traffic to hardware and building supply stores in general, weather and lumber deflation being the chief culprits.

“It’s a different scenario than we considered six months ago when we were making our plans for the year,” he said. Still, there is optimism.

“We’re excited about the opportunity,” Moore added. “It’s times like this that our mission statement rings even more true: to help our customers be successful. I’m very excited about the early results we’re seeing in the summer buying event. We’ve had some good weather in the last couple of weeks that have driven up some comp-sales increases. So, we’ll see what happens. But I’m pretty bullish on how we see the rest of the year playing out for us.”

Market leader

In the meantime, Orgill nation is doing its best to control what it can control, including the distributor’s market calendar and strategy. The distributor hosts four online buying events each year, with the spring event coinciding with a traditional live-and-in-person event. (This year’s Spring Dealer Market took place in New Orleans.) That’s a departure from decades of a pre-pandemic schedule that was anchored by two live events, one in the spring and one in the fall.

“We went through two years without an event. And in doing that, we built a lot of skill in making an online buying event useful,” he said. And in fact, all of our events continued to grow every year.”

A key development in the Orgill market schedule was the live celebration of the company’s 175th anniversary Spring Dealer Market in Orlando, Florida, in the spring of 2022.

That was our first hybrid event where we incorporated what we were doing in an online buying event with an in-person dealer market,” Moore said. “And that was very, very successful.”

He added that Orgill is continuing to find ways to connect online event with in-person events that opportunities for its vendors and customers to get together.

Bringing Concepts to Collierville

Creating opportunities for members and vendors to connect is at the heart of another Orgill initiative — this one taking place at the company’s headquarters in Collierville (just outside of Memphis.) That’s where plans for a 500,000 square foot Concept Center are about to take shape.

The building will replace an existing concept center which measures about 250,000 square feet and is located 10 miles from Collierville, in Olive Branch, Mississippi, where about 40 Orgill employees are engaged.

Moore explains the idea behind the expansion.

“We’ve been in that Olive Branch concept center since 2014,” he said. “And as our lease was coming up, we had to make a decision on what we were going to do. We saw an opportunity to really leverage what we’ve been doing in that facility into a bigger idea and doing it right here at our home offi ce. So we bought the 47 acres behind our offi ce, and we’ll be constructing a Concept Center basically twice as big as our current concept center. With a lot more fl exibility.

What happens in Concept Center? Not only is it a retail laboratory for vendors and retailers, it’s a facility that allows for the design and execution of strategic solutions and customized planograms and line reviews are part of the activities.

“So there’s a lot of things that go on there,” he said. “And we’ve got a vision for improving the impact of the center,” he said. “We also support, in a really balanced way, brands from home centers to farm stores to hardware stores, and then pro dealers as well. So each of those has a different way that a set might need to be imagined, and our team does a great job of that. And it’s really just doubling down on what we do well in customization.”

“We saw an opportunity to really leverage what we’ve been doing in that facility into a bigger idea and doing it right here at our home office. So we bought the 47 acres behind our office, and we’ll be constructing a Concept Center basically twice as big as our current concept center. With a lot more flexibility.”

—Boyden Moore, CEO, Orgill

Top ProfileWomenSeries

FEENEY PRESIDENT KATRINA RALSTON EMBRACES THE CHANGE

Katrina Ralston, president and co-owner of Feeney, the railing and building products manufacturer and distributor, doesn’t romanticize her childhood memories of pushing brooms in hot warehouses. There were even the occasional rats to contend with.

After college she forged her own path into the lucrative dot-com business, where she carved out a successful career in that other male-dominated industry. Then one day, amid a tech-business takeover, she reflected on her role and her family ties, especially to her father, Ernest Ralston, who bought Feeney in 1979.

“I thought that if I’m going to make money,” she said. “I’d rather make some money for my family than for somebody else. So I told my dad: “Listen, you’ve been bugging me to come and work with you.” So I did. And let’s just say it was a very interesting transition.”

She joined Feeney in an official capacity in April of 2001. And what she walked into on day one was in need of a major tech upgrade.

“I was coming from the cutting edge of the technology world,” she said. “So when I walked back into my dad’s shop, which was still doing handwritten receipts, we had a dot-matrix printer and a DOS based program screen that was black and yellow. And I just remember walking in and saying: ‘OK. I have some work to do.’”

[Another major tech upgrade is coming to Feeney by the end of the year: a new and improved Feeney.com web site.]

Her professional transition was interesting from a technology perspective, and also a gender perspective.

“When I started, and it’s been 20-plus years, there was only one other female that worked at the company, and she was the receptionist. I’ve had men tell me on the phone, ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’ I’ve had many interesting conversations with men through the years, and I am happy to say that, yes, it has changed quite a bit. It’s changed a lot in the last 10 years. And it’s really changed a lot in the last five years.”

Ralston estimates that women account for about 40 percent of the Feeney workforce today.

Ralston also guided the company’s business transformation

Katrina’s wave of advice

During the course of conversation with the president of Feeney Inc., the following well-worth-repeating advice emerged.

“Don’t be afraid to take credit and to acknowledge the things that you have done It doesn’t make you less of a leader to claim it and say, ‘Hey, that was my idea.’”

“Human communication is not just about the words that you use, but how you also portray yourself in a conversation.”

“If you’ve written more than two emails on any single topic, don’t write a third. Instead, you need to pick up the phone.”

— from a company selling to consumers to a company selling to retail businesses. Her father, who she describes as the ultimate mentor, was cautious about that kind of dramatic shift.

But when Katrina stepped in to the president’s office, she began to put in place the major shift. At first, it was slow going.

She distinctly remembers a conversation with a sales manager who resisted the change based on a fear of losing existing customers.

“I had to take a breath and I had to do something that I’m very uncomfortable saying. I had to say, ‘Yes, We will lose business.’

“But I also said to her: ‘We may lose some of our customers in the short term, but in the long term, we’re developing partnerships with people that will continue to help grow the business exponentially. So we might lose one today, but we’re going to get 10 tomorrow, and I need you to stick with me on this because this is where we’re going.’

“And that’s where we are.”

“I was coming from the cutting edge of the technology world. So when I walked back into my dad’s shop, which was still doing handwritten receipts, we had a dot-matrix printer and a DOS based program screen that was black and yellow. I remember walking in and saying: ‘OK. I have some work to do.’”

—Katrina Ralston, Feeney

EMPOWERING GROWTH AND ACCELERATING CAREERS .

From skills training to leadership development courses, we’re committed to providing advancement opportunities for our people.

Grow Your Career From Within.

Independent Profile

Ninety ways to say ‘thank you’

FROM GAMBLE’S TO KROGEN’S, A WISCONSIN HARDWARE STORE CREDITS THE COMMUNITY.

By Tim Burke

Boscobel, Wisconsin-based Krogen’s Do it Best, in honor of its 90 th anniversary, hosted a week-long celebration featuring giveaways, product discounts and food.

“We know we wouldn’t be who we are today without the support of this loyal community, and we’re always interested in an opportunity to invest in them as they’ve invested in us,” said Karl Krogen, president.

Krogen’s commemorated their business’s inaugural year of 1933 and its 90th anniversary throughout the celebration with number-themed giveaways and discounts.

“The first 90 shoppers received a free t-shirt; door prizes were drawn every 90 minutes; and each of the 90 winners received a prize worth more than $90,” said the retailer.

Krogen’s dates back to 1933, a time considered by historians to be the depths of the Great Depression, when Jack and Blondy Curry opened a small 14x26-foot automotive supply and variety store in Boscobel, a small town in the southwestern part of the state situated on the Wisconsin River.

“Jack’s father was the owner-operator of a pioneer Gamble-Skogmo retail outlet, a regional retail conglomerate of the era. Helping in his father’s store convinced Jack that he, too, wanted to be a hardlines retailer,” said the company.

Jack and Blondy Curry’s store became the first Gamble franchised dealership, and to bring customers into the store, they offered a grand opening sales promotion starting on March 11, 1933.

Their promo: With the purchase of one automobile tire for as low as $2.85, customers would receive a second tire free of charge, two free inner tubes and

A Krogen’s timeline

1933: Jack and Blondy Curry open a Gamble dealer store, franchised by GambleSkogmo Inc.

1982: 50 th anniversary. Clothing department convers to a furniture department.

1986: Gamble’s signs with Our Own Hardware co-op.

1990: Name changes to Krogen’s How To Store.

1993: Opening of Our Own Rent It Center.

1998: Hardware Wholesales Inc. (HWI) and Our Own Hardware combine.

2000: Krogen’s changes its name to Krogen’s Do it Best. Company adds Nationwide appliance and TV buying group.

free mounting of both tires, said the firm; and, “thanks to Jack’s innovative thinking, the store became a success.”

Today, the Curry’s original 364-square-foot store has been expanded to over 13,000 square feet.

They are in their third location on Wisconsin Avenue, and their total sales area now includes two adjacent storefronts, and it extends from the second floor into the basement, offering hardware and appliances.

Brand-name door prizes at the celebration included a Therapedic queen size mattress and box spring; a Frigidaire 15-cubic-feet chest freezer; and a Powermax portable power station, said the firm.

“It’s a joy to celebrate 90 years in

During the week-long Krogen’s 90th anniversary celebration, 90 customers pulled 90 tickets out of the “90 box” to see what store swag they would walk away with.

Krogen’s team, front row from left: Margie Meneguin, clerk; Dawn Zart, bookkeeper; Felicia Knudtson, clerk; Michael Coppernall, clerk. In the middle: Emma Von Behren, clerk. Back row from left: Tarik Rudd, clerk; Monte Craun, delivery and set up; Luke Smith, clerk; Karl Krogen, president; and, Marianne Krogen.

Mark Torrisi, president of Lawrence, Massachusetts-based Jackson Lumber & Millwork, has been elected as Chairman of the LMC Board of Directors. The 2015 New Hampshire Lumber Person of the Year has been a member of the LMC Board of Directors for many years, including service on the executive committee.

Kreg Tool Company appointed Edward McGreen, who was the company’s chief financial officer, to succeed Todd Sommerfeld as CEO. McGreen joined the Ankeny, Iowa-based company in September 2022. Sommerfeld will continue in the role of chairman. Carrie Trenkamp will assume the role of chief financial officer

Building Industry Partners announced that industry veteran Paul Dodge will serve as a director for lumber and building materials supplier launched by BIP in 2022. Dodge has served as a senior executive for two of the country’s top four home

People In The News

British Columbia-based lumber-producing giant Interfor announced that Nicolle Butcher has been appointed as an independent director of the company. Butcher is the chief operating officer of Ontario Power Generation (OPG). In 2021, the executive was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women

Cameron Ashley Building Products has named Bob Sellers as vice president of insulation sales. Sellers is responsible for the growth of both new and existing national accounts. Sellers was most recently the director of sales and marketing in the fence manufacturing industry. Prior to that, he was the director of national accounts at Knauf Insulation.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has named James W. Tobin III as president and CEO. Tobin will succeed CEO Jerry Howard, who is leaving the NAHB after more than 30 years of service to the association. Replacing Topin as senior vice president for government affairs and chief lobbyist will be Lake Coulson.

Torrisi Butcher

McGreen

Sellers

Residential Construction/Sales

Monthly Retail Sales, not adjusted

13 months of housing starts and existing-home sales home centers and pro dealers (NAICS 444) and hardware stores (NAICS 44413) NAICS 444 (sales in $ billions)

1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 Existing-home sales (in millions, SAAR) Apr.: 4,280,000 SOURCE: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

NAICS 44413 (sales in $ billions)

42.2 33.8

34.3

4 3 2 1 0 2022 2023 2022 2023 SOURCE: COMMERCE DEPARTMENT A M J J A S O N D J F M A

FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH

HBSDealer Stock Roundup

the percent-change performance of stocks based on Jun. 1 prices

SOURCE: COMMERCE DEPARTMENT A M J J A S O N D J F M A

7 6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 A M J J A S O N D J F M A

Consumer Watch

10.0 4.0

6.0 8.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 May

100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 -40

1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 $3.57 102.3 3.7%

TSCO DJI

LOW SHW SWK

44.8 3.28 43.9 46.5 2.48 2.57 2.65 2.75 WY

SOURCE: MONTHLY RETAIL TRADE REPORT FROM THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU 2.0

BLDR MAS HD

ANNUAL CHANGE -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

BECN

MONTHLY CHANGE