Fall 2023 Hardlines Strategies

our fifth-grade year, Jeffrey finally asked me to dance after the formal dinner reception—though not before his father kicked him under the table a few times to get Jeffrey to ask ‘that girl’ to dance.” Following that dance, Jeffrey asked Joni to be his girlfriend. “We dated for one month before Jeffrey wrote me a breakup letter because the distance was too far for him,” Joni says. “I still have the letter.” The pair continued to see each other at each market for nearly the next decade, dating on and off again, until they graduated high school and went their separate ways. However, life always seems to bring people together in unexpected ways. In 2003, Joni was beginning her senior year at Emporia State University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. “I was engaged, had a career planned out and was ready to take the next steps forward,” Joni says. “Then my wedding fell through 19 days before the ceremony.” Five months passed and Joni continued her school work, trying to find her new path. Then she had a dream about Jeffrey, her childhood boyfriend from the Blish-Mize markets, walking up the stairs and sliding down the banister. “I shared the dream with my parents and knew I had to give Jeffrey a call,” Joni says. “I didn’t have his number, so I ended up calling his mom to ask for it. She gladly gave it to me and told me Jeffrey was seeing someone else.” Joni reached out to Jeffrey, and now they say the rest is history. “I graduated from college and four months later we were engaged,” Joni says. “We got married and now have our own beautiful children, Journey and Jeremiah, who we take to Blish-Mize markets as our parents did for us.”

“Purchasing the business was really a dream come true. Since we both had a positive experience growing up in the industry, we knew we wanted to stay in the business.” —Joni Peterson, Peterson Lumber & Hardware Taking Ownership Once the couple married, Joni began teaching kindergarten at her childhood school and Jeffrey started working for Joni’s father at Guimond Lumber & Hardware. At the beginning of 2020, Joni’s parents retired and passed their business on to Joni and Jeffrey. “Purchasing the business was really a dream come true,” Joni says. “Since we both had a positive experience growing up in the industry, we knew we wanted to stay in the business.” Just three months after purchasing the operation and renaming it Peterson Lumber & Hardware, the pandemic broke out and most retail businesses shut down, but the couple continued strong. Peterson Lumber & Hardware serves the community of White City, Kansas, a town of 600 people, providing them with a wide variety of products—with lumber, plumbing and building supplies being its leading categories. When home improvement businesses were deemed essential, it continued to provide for the rural farming and ranching community. As such, the business saw a significant increase in sales. During the pandemic, they expanded their product selection, stocking merchandise their customers needed and couldn’t purchase elsewhere such as PVC pipe, plexiglass and wafer board. One helpful solution to the chaotic situation was the POS system the Petersons implemented at the beginning of 2020. Joni’s father had previously kept the store organized with handwritten receipts and manual inventory management. The Petersons wanted to incorporate technology and modernize the business with a new POS system. This allowed them to continue making strides in efficiency and accuracy for order filling and inventory management. To make room for more inventory and update the store, the Petersons added new merchandising bins. The couple also invested in a new paint color matching system and chip rack. “We now offer paint-matching services so customers can bring in an item they would like to color match, and we can figure out the correct color mixture and mix it almost instantly,” Joni says.

In 2020, the Peterson Family purchased Guimond Lumber & Hardware from Joni’s parents and opened Peterson Lumber & Hardware.

Hardlines Strategies • Fall 2023 27