Spring 2020 Strategies

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HARDLINES Strategies DISTRIBUTING RETAIL PROFITABILITY

SPRING 2020, VOL. 20, 1

HowTanco LumberWent From $352 to $1M With Blish-Mize Co. P a g e 3 0 Filling Up the Cart

Also in This Issue GetYour Social MediaToolkit P a g e 1 0 Preview the Spring Market P a g e 1 4 Glenwood Farm Equipment Focuses on Expanding Customer Base P a g e 3 6

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THE PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Ready to Win the Future

F or me, 2020 is going to be a year of vision. For starters, I am going to walk my eldest child, my daughter, down the aisle later this fall. This

Contents Ask the Expert 4 Blish-Mize Services 8 Online Traffic 10 Spring Market Preview 14 Featured Products 20 Operations: Social Media 24 Customer Feature 30 Tanco Lumber Customer Feature 36 Glenwood Farm Equipment Hardware House 41 News 42 On the Cover John and Carla Stauffer, owners of Tanco Lumber in Branson West, Missouri.

is a vision I’ve had in my head for a few years now, and one that brings our family joy and happiness. Another vision is that of growth for our company and for you, our retail partners. As humans, we all tend to worry about the future and try to predict what is next. Although we don’t have a crystal ball, Blish-Mize does offer some of the best tools in the business to set our customers up for success. First and foremost, our Buying Markets are the perfect opportunity for our company to connect with our customers, share goals and insights—and learn more about each business and how we can help drive additional sales through your doors. One great prediction tool is our Market SmartBook, featured on Page 16. It works as an ordering adviser or guide book, showing how much of an item you have purchased from us in the last year, and helps you determine how much you should purchase at the Market to get the best pricing and savings. In this issue, we also tackle a subject that is both challenging and important to explore for the future of your business: succession planning. We interviewed expert Gary Pittsford on the best ways to protect your future and the future of your family and business. Our cover retailer, Tanco Lumber, saw the need for better business practices to survive in this industry. They focused on customer service and providing a personalized experience to ensure they retained customers for the long term. It is a great strategy and one we can relate to. Read the story starting on Page 30. Another retailer, Glenwood Farm Equipment, realized that they would need to become a retail destination to set themselves up for future success. So, they did it! Read on Page 36 how they added products and modified prices with our Retail Programs to drive traffic from far and wide. Next year, we will celebrate 150 years in business. That’s another vision I’ve had for a while now. I can imagine my predecessors being proud of how far this family business has come in the last 150 years. One of the things that has kept us in business is our commitment to our customers—our vision for your success. I wish you a profitable spring and hope to see you at our Buying Market!

Blish Connor Blish-Mize

Jonathan D. Mize CEO and President

223 S. Fifth St., Box 249 Atchison, Kansas 66002 Toll free: (800) 995-0525 (913) 367-1250

(913) 375-2505 (cell) (913) 367-0667 (fax) e-mail: blish.connor@blishmize.com

Blish-Mize isamember-owner ofDistributionAmerica

Hardlines Strategies • Spring 2020 3

ASK THE EXPERT

Business owners are now eager to find answers on how to sell the company for a profit and retire comfortably. What’s Your Succession Plan? Industry Expert Gary Pittsford Provides Starting Points S uccession planning can be a challenging conversation for retailers

S: Why do operators in this industry delay succession planning? GP: Business owners know the hardware industry, retailing and customer service. Many have been working and building their companies for 30 to 40 years. As they start to think about selling or transitioning the business, they are faced with many difficult questions and are entering unfamiliar emotional and financial territories. Some owners are overwhelmed and simply put it off. Some owners are waiting until their businesses have excellent sales and profits in order to get the best sales price. Some have children who want to take over, but the owners are not sure about letting the children have more control or how to develop a transition plan. The reasons for delaying the process vary greatly and are unique to every operator. S: What is the risk to individuals, to businesses and to the industry if retailers delay succession planning or don’t establish a plan at all? GP: This is a very important question. The individual business owners and their companies will always be better off financially by working on an exit or transition plan at least five to 10 years before they sell the company. Developing a plan even three years in advance greatly improves profitability and the value of the business. Having a plan in place also protects your business in the case of unexpected tragedies, such as an owner’s unexpected death or disability. I’ve watched the retail hardware industry change a lot in the last 40 years,

Your Blish-Mize sales representative can be a great resource if you want to start the conversation about who will take over your business when you’re ready to retire. There are also many experts in the industry who can guide you through the details. Castle Wealth Advisors president and CEO Gary Pittsford has guided independent home improvement retailers through the succession planning process for more than 40 years. Read the conversation with Pittsford here to find out what the state of succession planning looks like in the industry and the steps you can take today to prepare. Strategies (S): What’s the current state of succession planning in the independent home improvement industry? who don’t know where to get started or who aren’t ready to talk about the next chapter for their operations.

and the speed of change has picked up over the last five years. The average age in the retail hardware industry is around 60. I meet with business owners every week who are between 60 and 80 years old. As these older business owners transition out, and the next generation transitions in, the industry will change more rapidly, because the 40- and 50-year-old next generation will implement newer processes for retailing and running their companies. The next 10 years in the hardware industry are going to be a significant transition period because so many baby boomers are retiring and selling their businesses to new and younger owners. When the next generation comes into the leadership role, they shouldn’t resist starting their own plan. Young retailers may not know who they will sell their business to in 20 years, but they should manage their business to make it strong financially. From age 40 to age 60, if you watch the financial side of your business and keep it strong, your succession plan will be easier to implement when you are ready to sell.

Gary Pittsford (GP): The pressure has been

building over the last three to five years because most companies have recovered

from the recession in 2008 and 2009. Now that sales and profits are higher, and owners are growing older, people are asking more questions about how to quickly develop a succession or exit plan.

4 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

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ASK THE EXPERT

3 Stepping Stones to Succession

Maintain a strong balance sheet. Borrowing money to grow your business is something that all business owners do, but it’s important to manage debt wisely. Consult your financial advisers if you have questions about your debt management.

Structure your business accordingly. With recent changes in tax laws and with uncertainty going into a new election cycle, talk with your accountants and tax attorneys about your business entity and whether it should be an S-corporation, C-corporation, limited liability company or a partnership. Each are good options in certain situations.

Monitor your payroll. The biggest expenses that hurt most retailers are payroll. The payroll national average is around 20 percent. If your payroll reaches 25 percent, it becomes difficult to make a profit.

Portions of this article were previously published by Hardware Retailing magazine. It is reprinted with permission and has been edited for style and fit.

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BLISH-MIZE SERVICES

Taking Control of Pricing Manage Your Margins in Just a Few Clicks

While having a diverse product mix and knowledgeable customer service can be strong differentiators in any market, taking control of your margins and being strategic about pricing can help you maximize your sales potential in your market. To help you take that control, Blish-Mize buying partner Distribution America created the Retail Right retail pricing system (RPS), which is accessible in the Customer-Only area of blishmize.com. “The goal of this program is to give retailers the ability to increase their profits strategically,” says Clay Uhrmacher, vice president of sales and marketing for Blish-Mize. “Through this system, retailers can easily customize their margins in real time.” Margins are set for all items at benchmark levels, and most retailers stay with those margins. Uhrmacher says if retailers don’t adjust any margins, then the benchmarks are set to deliver an average margin. This program puts retailers in control of their margins and gives them the information they need to make strategic changes. Each item a Blish-Mize customer has in stock is rated 1 to 8 on a price sensitivity scale. The lower the number, the more price-sensitive an item is, which means retailers should be consumer perspective, sometimes just a few pennies difference will move them along to the next retailer. P ricing is a key issue in retail today. From the

Blish-Mize customers have access to the Retail Right retail pricing system in their customer accounts on blishmize.com. The system allows retailers to adjust margins in real time.

Blish-Mize customer account on the website. Click on Account Information and then navigate to Custom Retails. “It’s a straightforward system,” says marketing director Cindy Kane. “It’s as easy as typing in an item number, product line or vendor name and deciding what kind of margin to put on those products.” Blish-Mize customers who need guidance on using the system can work with their sales representative in the store or call the Blish-Mize marketing department. There will also be representatives available at the Sales and Marketing Booth at the 2020 Spring Buying Market who can help guide you through the system. “This system is set up for retailers to use as-needed,” Kane says. “As you identify opportunities or challenges in your market, this is the tool for you to go in and manage those in real time.” To learn more about the Retail Right program, contact Clay Uhrmacher at clay.uhrmacher@blishmize.com or Cindy Kane at ckane@blishmize.com.

cautious about adjusting margins on those items too broadly. Items rated higher on the scale are considered “blind items,” which means there is a broader range of acceptable price points, according to consumers. Through the Retail Right program, retailers can see the codes of each item and adjust margins on individual items, vendor items or even entire categories. “We also allow retailers to subcategorize their margins in this system,” Uhrmacher says. “For example, if a retailer wants all paintbrushes to be at 30 percent margin, but all dropcloths to be at 15 percent, they can make that adjustment in the system and it will take effect immediately.” Because the price changes are immediate, Uhrmacher says the system is also useful to test pricing on new items. “Ultimately, the retailer is in control, and it allows them to make more margin and establish competitive pricing in their market,” he says. Start Your Strategy Today Getting started in the Retail Right program is as easy as logging into your

8 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

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ONLINE TRAFFIC

What Is Your Online Presence? Hint: You Could Be Missing Out on Sales

A website or Facebook page can be an excellent first step toward building an online presence. But it’s not enough lost customers, lost sales and dollars out of your pocket. B uilding an online presence drives how and where you can be found online, but what does maintaining it actually mean for your small business? Missing out on website traffic can translate into

to simply have a website or store page. Are you using tools like Pointy to generate traffic and interest? (Learn more about Pointy on Page 24.) How can you attract a real audience of potential customers to your store? To achieve online success that translates into real customers, follow these two rules of thumb: take advantage of social media to help you promote your business—it’s free and effective—and use your local advantage. Your Social Media Toolkit Social media is a great way to drive traffic to your small business. But it can be tough to get started—you have a business to run, and promoting a small business using social media is different from the way you may already use Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends. Luckily, the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) developed a

Data from an NRHA consumer poll shows that more than

30% of respondents follow businesses on social media platforms. Source: 2016 Social Media Usage Study, NRHA

Social Media Toolkit to help you with your social media strategy and posts. Access it at nrha.org/toolkit.

10 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

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ONLINE TRAFFIC

Purchasing hardware products from an independent retailer results in a 91 percent increase in local economic activity compared to making the same purchase at the major chains. Source: 2015 Home Sweet Home Study, NRHA

The Local Advantage When it comes to generating online traffic for your small business, the smart way to promote your business is local. Don’t worry about broadcasting your store across the world; focus on the people who live and do business in your community. And don’t forget, your local customers are your advantage over the big-box stores. There is a growing movement of customers who are interested in buying from local and small businesses.

What’s Included in the Social Media Toolkit:

Facebook Page Builder: Follow this visual guide to make your page helpful and easy to use. Social Media Best Practices: Review social media best practices in an easy tip sheet. Analytics Template: Easily compare engagement month to month using these tracking formulas. Scheduling Template: Plan post details including date, time, platform and person responsible for posting.

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12 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

The NRHA Home Sweet Home Study shows how locally owned businesses can have a big impact on their communities. NRHA created the Home Sweet Home Toolkit to help you use information from this study to promote your local small business to customers in your community. Use this Toolkit to help customers understand the benefits of shopping locally for home improvement supplies and services: nrha.org/home-sweet-home. Economic Impact Calendar: Enter your ZIP code in the calculator to determine the economic impact your store can have on your local community. Home Sweet Home Signage Package: Use these graphics for social media posts, bag stuffers, shelf talkers, posters and more. Special holiday releases include Halloween, Winter Holiday, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. What’s Included in the Home Sweet Home Toolkit:

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Hardlines Strategies • Spring 2020 13

MARKET PREVIEW

2020 Vision for the Future Spring Into Savings at the Blish-Mize Spring Buying Market

E njoy special learning opportunities, new product information and networking with vendors and other retailers at the 2020 Blish-Mize Spring Buying Market, which will be held March 19-21 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas. discounts, food and entertainment,

Don’t Miss These Areas As you shop the Market floor, check out these special areas: • THE 24 highlights 24 popular items from different categories, offered at some of the lowest possible prices. • Assortment Central features a variety of assortments with spiffs and deep discounts. • What’s New!? showcases the latest advances in product technology and new-to-the-industry items from your favorite vendors and some new faces. • Pallet Buys includes special discounts on quantity buys. The full listing is available on blishmize.com. Visit Assortment Central This area of the Market showcases popular displays and merchandising tips across several categories. Take advantage of exclusive discounts and deals on the latest product lines.

“Our Buying Markets are not only fun and educational, they are also the perfect opportunity to see what is new,” says Cindy Kane, marketing director at Blish-Mize. “We have new programs and products for 2020, and it’s always efficient to see them in action at our event.” Browse the Market floor, discover new and popular products and catch up with Blish-Mize staff and other retailers. No matter what your goals are in 2020 and beyond, there will be something for you at the 2020 Spring Buying Market, and it all starts with the MVP Event. Be an MVP The MVP Savings Event kicks off the Spring Buying Market on Thursday, March 19 from 4 to 8 p.m. The floor opens early for the event, and customers can enjoy appetizers, live music and deals. Show Stopper cash spiffs will be available from 4 to 7 p.m.

Market Schedule

From seminars to savings, check out the opportunities that await you at the 2020 Spring Buying Market. Thursday 4-7 p.m .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spiffs and light bites 4-8 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MVP Savings Event Friday 7:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . Coffee and doughnut wall 8 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Market opens 10 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NRHA Seminar: “Getting Your Operation Up to Speed in 5 Easy Steps” Presenter: Dan Tratensek 12 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lunch 2 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pointy Seminar: “How to Help Consumers Find Your Store” Presenter: Caroline Brady

5 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cash and prize giveaway 5:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Market closes 5:30 p.m. . . . . . Customer Appreciation Celebration: Barbecue, 10 Surprise Buys and entertainment by Spike Blake from“Dueling Pianos” Saturday 7 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coffee and bagels 7:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Market opens 7:30-9:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . Mini Pallet Buying Event 9:45 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Whirlpool Seminar: “Learn How to Become an Authorized Appliance Dealer” 11:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . Cash and prize giveaway 12 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Market closes

14 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

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There are opportunities to connect with other Blish-Mize customers at the Market. Meet with your peers on the show floor to share your successes, ask for advice on your challenges and get to know people who can relate to your business.

Stop By Hardware House Head to Booth #100 to view a full

During the Surprise Buys segment, Blish-Mize will announce the 10 items that are included. “We’re going to unveil 10 items that have hot event-only pricing, so this event shouldn’t be missed.” Uhrmacher says. Check Your SmartBook The Spring Buying Market offers exciting opportunities for you to plan ahead for your business. Before the Market, be sure to consult your SmartBook. This booklet—available online and in print— is customized to your store and can help you make smart buying decisions before and during the Spring Market. The SmartBook includes your purchases out of the warehouse for the past 12 months. It also offers suggested ordering amounts for the next three and six months to help you better plan your purchases before you arrive at the Market.

The SmartBook is broken into three groups of items. • Key selling “Market Featured” items. • New items Blish-Mize has added from the vendor in the last year. • The balance of the items you have purchased, sorted in a quantity order. If you haven’t already, contact your sales representative or visit blishmize. com to receive your SmartBook to start planning your time at the Market. Download the Market App Don’t forget to use the Blish-Mize Market app during your visit. It can help you make the most of your time on the floor and during your stay in Overland Park. How the App Can Help You • Make an appointment to meet your sales rep at the convention center,

lineup of Hardware House products that are available to Blish-Mize customers, including bath fixtures, fans, lighting, ceiling fans, locksets and more. See Page 41 for an update on what Hardware House has to offer. Have Some Friday Fun After the Market doors close at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Blish-Mize customers can relax and network at the Customer Appreciation Celebration This year’s event includes barbecue, entertainment from Spike Blake of “Dueling Pianos” and a new format that includes 10 Surprise Buys. “We have a special event in store for customers who attend our appreciation barbecue,” says Clay Uhrmacher, vice president of sales and marketing at Blish-Mize.

16 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

MARKET PREVIEW

and even add notes on what you would like to discuss. • Find venue information, such as meal times, and receive notifications for events and product demonstrations. • Create a personal to-do list so you don’t forget to circle back with a vendor or find more information on a product. • Access the Blish-Mize product catalog app. capabilities, sorting options and personalized purchase information. • Place orders from the catalog app, using your smartphone or tablet. The free app is available for download on iOS and Android devices. Search “Blish-Mize” in the app store on your device. This app lists real-time product and inventory information and has UPC barcode-scanning

Spring Market Checklist This list includes not-to-be-missed essential deals, events and products for customers attending the 2020 Spring Buying Market.

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Blish-Mize BuyingMarkets give you the opportunity tomeet with representatives of vendors you buy fromall year long. Stop by each vendor booth to see what new items they have available that can differentiate your product mix.

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OPERATIONS

Captivating Your Customers 3 Reasons to Have an Online Presence

E ven in small communities, today’s consumers have a broad range of experiences and interests. In order to differentiate your operation from online retailers and other local competition, you need to understand how to appeal to the diverse audience in your trading area.

base who you may not be reaching if you’re not online. Read on to learn about the benefits of having a basic online presence and the steps to help you get started so you can expand your reach to this diverse, valuable customer segment. Give Them What They Want According to a recent survey by The Farnsworth Group, a leading industry research organization, 38 percent of consumers reported researching or shopping for home improvement products more than once a month. If you aren’t online, you may miss out on the opportunity to convert those

There is one thing that gives retailers an advantage when it comes to reaching a broad demographic and appealing to the next generation of consumers: having an online presence. Setting up and maintaining a handful of social media accounts or a website may seem like a complicated project that doesn’t offer much return. However, even posting a few times a week on a Facebook or Instagram account can increase the awareness of your brand, give customers information they’re looking for online and grow your sales. While your regular customers who come in every Tuesday for a chat, a cup of coffee and a walk through the aisles may not be your core web audience, there are people outside that customer

24 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

other promotions to boost sales. • Post regular pricing updates. Compare your prices to Amazon or your big-box competitors. Your followers may be surprised to learn that they aren’t saving money—or time—waiting on two-day shipping when you have what they need in stock today. • Share your new profiles. You won’t gain followers overnight. Encourage customers to like and follow your profiles by promoting them with bag stuffers. Offer 10 percent off a purchase if customers show they follow your accounts. • Set aside time to engage. In addition to posting a few times a week, it’s equally important to communicate with your followers. Address negative feedback as well as positive, so your followers know you care about their concerns and want to help solve them.

researchers and online shoppers into buyers. Converting a sale doesn’t need to mean making a purchase online, either. In the same survey, nearly two-thirds of consumers reported buying home improvement products online less than once a month or never. Overall, survey respondents reported that they would make a purchase in-store 73 percent of the time, even if they had previously done online research. Where Do I Start? Building a following on social media requires more than posting a photo of your circular every two weeks. When it comes to online engagement best practices, it’s important to give current and potential customers the information they’re already searching for. The Farnsworth Group survey showed that consumers research prices, read product reviews and check for sales

and coupons online. While you may not be able to get all of your prices online or collect thousands of online reviews, you can compile those details on your best-selling products to create posts on social media. Shoppers searching for “plumbing supplies” or “mousetraps near me” who don’t know you are in the next town over may opt to buy something online if your store doesn’t come up in their search results. If you aren’t ready to create a website, you can start your online presence by developing a smart social media strategy. Here are some starting points for creating posts and

processes to put in place to make managing social media simpler.

• Record testimonials on your phone. Ask your loyal pro customers to talk on camera for a minute or two about the products they love. Post the videos in conjunction with sales or

What Are Consumers Researching? The Farnsworth Group asked consumers what information they look for when they research or shop online for home improvement products. These are the top four responses.

CONDUCTING PRICE RESEARCH

LOOKING FOR PRODUCT REVIEWS

LOOKING FOR PROMOTIONAL OFFERS

VIEWING PRODUCTS SOLD IN-STORE

Hardlines Strategies • Spring 2020 25

3 Ways to Boost Brand Awareness

Share your hard work. Highlight new products or restocks of popular items when shipments arrive. Also, chronicle the product research you do twice a year at the Blish-Mize Buying Markets to show your customers you are on top of trends and are bringing back the items they want. Sharing your brand on social media requires an email address and a small weekly time commitment. Read these ideas to boost your brand with your followers, and turn to Page 10 to see additional tips and find a link to download your Social Media Toolkit.

Celebrate your team. Whether it’s a work anniversary or a team member who completed training, post a photo of them to share the good news. Your customers will celebrate with them, and it shows you have longtime, knowledgeable people on staff.

Tell your story. People love a good throwback. Include a brief company history on your About page on Facebook, and share the origins of your business in photos. On special anniversaries, or just when the mood strikes, post a photo from the archives to show how long your operation has been serving the community.

26 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

Pointed in the Right Direction When it comes to getting noticed through your inventory, a new tool called Pointy can help guide customers your way, and you don’t even need a website to get started. Pointy is a comprehensive solution that helps independent businesses put their products online, without needing to host their own website. Once you are registered, your company has its own landing page. The next step is to connect the Pointy device between your scanner and your POS to start loading products to the page and get noticed online. Every time you scan a product, Pointy loads the item details to your company’s online profile and connects that information to Google search results. When people near you search for that item or something similar, your business name will come up in their results.

After seeing a seminar at a Blish-Mize Buying Market, Rockdale Building Material Center connected Pointy to its POS system. The device lists every SKU you scan onto a consumer-facing website.

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Currently, Brinkley says about 80 percent of Rockdale Building Material Center SKUs are loaded into Pointy. Moving forward, he sees an opportunity to highlight more seasonal products to capture people who are searching for lawn and garden items, such as hand tools, gardening gloves and seeds. “We don’t have to get 100 percent of our products into the system. It’s OK to start small,” he says. “If someone finds us because they were looking for a plumbing fitting online, for example, we’ve done our job because that one plumbing fitting has got their attention. When they need other products, they’re going to call because we already met their needs once before.” To learn how Pointy can help your business, contact your Blish-Mize sales representative or Cindy Kane in the marketing department at 800-995-0525, ext. 132 or ckane@blishmize.com.

we have, so when people in our area are looking online, for example, for a quarter- inch copper sweat cap, Rockdale Building Material Center shows up in their results because we’ve scanned it into our system,” he says. Pointy was recently acquired by Google, which will help further integrate the device’s capabilities into search results. For Brinkley, he’s already seen how the device has expanded his company’s reach. A shopper in Austin, which is about 60 miles from Rockdale, called the store to inquire about whether a product was in stock, not realizing the business was so far away. While that scenario didn’t end in a sale, Brinkley says that call coming through means Pointy is doing what it’s supposed to do. “He was closer to Home Depot or Lowe’s, but he knew we had that product because of Pointy,” he says.

Rockdale Building Material Center owner Greg Brinkley has been using Pointy in his operation in Rockdale, Texas, for nearly a year. He discovered the tool at a seminar at the Blish-Mize Buying Market last spring. “I went to the seminar at the Blish-Mize show, and to me it was a no-brainer. It’s something you don’t think about,” he says. “Pointy does all the work for you. They have their own database with UPCs, so when you scan a product, it populates a picture of it. It’s an economical way for us to get our products on the internet.” Brinkley says before he brought Pointy into Rockdale Building Material Center, they didn’t have an online presence, and since launching it, he has had customers find items online that they didn’t previously know the business stocked. “It gave us a lot of opportunity to get products that people normally don’t think

It gave us a lot of opportunity to get products that people normally don’t think we have, so when people in our area are looking online, for example, for a quarter-inch copper sweat cap, Rockdale Building Material Center shows up in their results because we’ve scanned it into our system. —Greg Brinkley, owner of Rockdale Building Material Center, Rockdale, Texas “

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28 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

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CUSTOMER PROFILE

On a Growth Trajectory How Tanco Lumber Found Success Working With Blish-Mize John and Carla Stauffer operate two locations in Missouri, both of which have been growing rapidly over the past few years. They just moved their Branson West location to a new building, and the store in Forsyth recently underwent a major expansion.

T he market around Branson West is crowded, but that hasn’t stopped Tanco Lumber from setting a radical growth trajectory. With help from Blish-Mize, the Missouri business moved into a brand new building and expanded its customer reach.

Starting Small It was only about five years ago that John and Carla Stauffer found a foothold in the Branson West, Missouri, market. They already operated a successful lumberyard in nearby Forsyth, Missouri, and felt there were opportunities elsewhere, too. Real estate was difficult to find, but they finally secured a former medical office building. Space was limited—the building could only fit about 1,200 square feet of retail—but demand was not. John asked his supplier Blish-Mize to help him put as much hardware into the space as he could. And still customers were asking for more. With the building quickly maxed to capacity,

the Stauffers began looking for land where they could build from the ground up. “The city helped us find a location off a main highway,” John says. “When they did a traffic count, we knew this would be a good place for a store. So we started talking with Blish-Mize to help design what size of building we needed and then how we could lay out the interior.” John has been trusting Blish-Mize with his hardware orders for about 20 years. They were the first ones to earn his business. When he opened his first lumberyard, he wasn’t that interested in selling a lot of hardware; he just wanted to buy a few items as add-ons to his lumber sales, and Blish-Mize let him do that.

30 Spring 2020 • Hardlines Strategies

CUSTOMER PROFILE

“I still remember that my very first order with Blish-Mize was for $352,” John says. “I talked to all of the major distributors in the market at that time, including the national co-ops. All I wanted to do was buy a little bit of hardware, but everyone was telling me I needed to invest a few hundred thousand dollars and get a new building. I couldn’t do that. Then one of my vendors told me to contact Blish-Mize. I met Janet Elias and she agreed to take my very first order. They didn’t have a minimum order and didn’t need us to give them any upfront money to become a customer.” Today, John says his store will do more than $1 million in business with Blish-Mize. “Other distributors have since come and asked for our business,” he says. “But I go back 20 years and remind them that they wouldn’t do business with us back then. Blish-Mize has always been fair and their service is great. They care about us as people.” New Shopping Experience As Blish-Mize helped the Stauffers design the interior of their new building, they kept two different sets of customers in mind. Contractor customers are still a focus. To cater to their needs, there is a full lumberyard with all the materials for a building project. A dedicated contractor entrance and service counter allows customers to get in and out quickly. John has integrated various building materials he sells into the design of the building so customers can see the products in use. He’s also expanded into several new lines, such as professional masonry tools, to cast a broader net for finding new business. He tries to differentiate his product mix by offering vendors not found in his big-box competitors. When it came to planning and setting up their new store, the Stauffers got help from Clay Uhrmacher, Blish-Mize vice president of sales and marketing, and Janet Elias, regional sales manager.

With a larger salesfloor, Tanco Lumber now has space to display fashion plumbing items out of the box, making the category more appealing to consumers.

The new Tanco Lumber has a larger product selection, with categories such as wild bird feed and paint, that attract more customers to the store.

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