Strategies_Spring2024

CUSTOMER PROFILE

Building Success Bethany Building Center Resets for the Future With Blish-Mize

Seven full-time employees work at Bethany Building Center. From left to right: Mark, Blake, Marlene, Mike, Linda, Chad and Eric. In the summer, the store also hires local youths, including Mike’s children, as a way to continue the family tradition of working in the store.

A strong father-son bond— and a longstanding relationship with supplier Blish-Mize—are at the heart of Bethany Building Center’s success. The location recently underwent a store reset using Blish-Mize programs and expertise to optimize the store’s layout, appearance and product offerings.

Setting the Scene Bethany Building Center, located in downtown Bethany, Missouri, serves a town of approximately 3,000 residents and the surrounding communities. Catering primarily to contractors and some DIYers, it is a full-line hardware, lumber and building materials center. Although it started as a lumberyard, the business has expanded and evolved over the years. In 2000, Bethany Building Center purchased the building next door to house a showroom. There was an expansion in 2006 and another

in 2010, bringing the building’s total footprint to 8,640 square feet. In 2023, the business completed a comprehensive store reset. Today, outside of the typical hardware departments and offerings, Bethany Building Center is an authorized STIHL dealer and sells Koch & Co. cabinets, Valspar paint, Onyx Collection showers and vanities, solid surface countertops, millwork doors and Anderson windows. The building center’s showroom features residential windows, doors, siding, deck railings, decking, shingles, columns, hardware, paint and more.

24 Spring 2024 • Hardlines Strategies