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lighting and plumbing fixtures, vanities, bathroom accessories and hardware. He utilizes the POP merchandisers Hardware House provides to create a high impact on the customer. “Hardware House has nice looking products to begin with, so if you use good displays, you can really draw the customer’s attention,” he says. “We combine categories whenever we can, too, so we’ve integrated Hardware House fixtures into our kitchen and bath showroom.” Because he is confident about his prices, Good features Hardware House products in his circular advertising and other marketing. One of his popular promotions is an offer to give customers free lighting for their kitchen when they purchase an entire kitchen cabinet package with him. While he may be giving away a few free lights, that giveaway usually yields a larger purchase. “Once people get new lighting in their kitchen, then they want to match it throughout the rest of the house,” he says. “We often see the free lighting generating some add-on sales in other categories.” Vendor Support Service is just as important as pricing and selection. It didn’t take long for Good to realize that Hardware House was going to give him the kind of support he needed. “Fill rates are good, and I can usually get my Hardware House order within five business days,” he says. “Even if I need only a few items, minimum

orders are low and my margins are good enough that I can more than cover my freight charges.” One of the benefits of buying from a private-label vendor is that Good has a vendor his customers can’t price shop at his competitors. He says this has helped him protect his territory so he is the exclusive dealer for the area. “If Hardware House comes into your store, they won’t start selling to someone next door,” he says. “That’s one of the big reasons we wanted to carry them—because we could have our own brand that no one else could compete with.” Hardware House also does regular updates to its product lineup, critical for categories where many of the items are fashion oriented. Good makes the corresponding updates to his store, too, because he knows that’s how

he’ll keep the business of those design-conscious customers. “Hardware House is good about letting us know when they are getting ready to update their products so we can prepare, selling through old inventory when necessary to make room for the new,” he says. In fact, the ease of communication with his vendor was one of the first selling points that attracted him to Hardware House. “We learned early on that if we have an issue or a question, Hardware House will be right there to help us,” he says. “If a customer needs to make a return, for whatever reason, Hardware House will help me take care of the customer right away. That was a big draw for me. Communication and service are big reasons why we’ve been so faithful to Hardware House.”

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