Fall 2013 Hardlines Strategies

RETAILER FEATURE

Shining Endorsement Retailer Recommendation Leads to Partnership Between Blish-Mize and J.P. Lumber

Thanks to the suggestion of a nearby retailer, the Pierces called Blish-Mize and discovered the company would be able to get them started in their new store quickly. Ask them today why Blish-Mize was a perfect fit for their business, and they’ll likely list reasons ranging from the value they find from biannual Blish-Mize Buying Markets to a wide selection of products from the catalog and the ease of ordering. An Unexpected Venture It all started when the Pierces decided to buy a building left vacant by a lumber- yard that went out of business in 2011. At that time, opening a hardware store and lumberyard might have been the furthest thing from Jerry’s mind. Rather, he thought the vacant building would be a more con- venient location for his business, Pierce Pump, a commercial plumbing company he has operated in Oakland, Iowa, for more than 30 years. The community, however, had a different idea of what he should do. There had been a lumberyard in that building for nearly 100 years, and it was the only O ne of the highest compliments a customer can give a business is to recommend it to another customer. That’s exactly what happened when Jerry and Suzanne Pierce began looking for a hardware distributor to supply their store in Oakland, Iowa.

lumberyard in town. Now that it had closed, they were anxious to have it back. “People kept telling us they’d really like to have a lumberyard and hardware store here again,” he says. “So that’s what we decided to do.” Jerry says he had already purchased the remaining inventory from the outgo- ing owner of the store, who belonged to a national co-op. But when he began investi- gating who could be a regular supplier for his own store, the co-op wasn’t a good fit. “I didn’t like the idea of having someone else in charge of what I was buying,” he says. “I’ve run a successful business for 30 years and I like making my own decisions.” Pierce also says the co-op wanted him to make a lot of expensive changes to the building and place a large initial inventory order, which was more inventory than he wanted to have all at once. “Basically, I felt like the co-op didn’t want to sell to me,” he says.

So, the Pierces decided to talk to their friends, Larry and Janis Fajen at Fajen Lumber in nearby Elk Horn, Iowa. Jerry was a frequent customer at Fajen Lumber, often stopping in for supplies when he was out on a job. “They recommended we talk to Blish-Mize and call their sales represen- tative, Chris Helget,” Jerry says. Off to Market After that recommendation and a few conversations with Helget, the Pierces began moving full speed ahead to open their new store, J.P. Lumber. Helget helped them form a plan for setting the sales space. Then they visited the Blish-Mize Spring Buying Market. Instead of using their first Market as a way to learn more about Blish-Mize and its vendors, the Pierces were there to buy. They used the Market to purchase their entire initial inventory. “Chris met with us at the Market and made recommendations of product lines

Sales Representative Chris Helget (back) helped Jerry and Suzanne Pierce navigate their first Blish-Mize Buying Market, where they made the initial inventory order for their new store.

10 Fall 2013 • Hardlines Strategies