Carolina Wood Products opens a new hardware store with House Hasson Wholesale Hardware

Hitting the Ground Running
Brothers Give Community a New Hardware Store

Carolina Wood Products opens a new hardware store with House Hasson Wholesale Hardware

Ron and Randy Horne really hadn’t planned on opening a hardware store, but they just couldn’t say no to a community in need.
The two brothers’ main business is Carolina Wood Products, which was founded by their father in 1969 and sells wooden pallets and crates all across the South. They also own a number of rental properties.
“The people in the community said there was nowhere to go to buy hardware and that we’re the only ones who can do it,” Ron recalls. “It was an issue for us too, because we couldn’t find the products we needed to take care of our rental properties.”
  As luck would have it, House Hasson Wholesale Hardware territory manager Ralph Price and regional manager Jay Aldridge just happened to stop by the Carolina Wood Products plant and mentioned the only hardware store in town was closing. That got the ball rolling and it was a whirlwind of activity from there, starting with an RPM study to analyze the market.
They broke ground on the 8,000-square-foot store with detached lumberyard in January and opened up this past April. They’re still trying to catch their breath from all the activity.
“House Hasson Wholesale Hardware advised us every step of the way. They provided detailed information to give to our banker, helped us find fixtures, helped with the store set-up and they gave us very good terms,” Ron says. “More than anything, they gave us a good idea of what to expect throughout the whole process.”
The store has quickly gained a following in the community, and the Horne brothers keep discovering new products they need to add to the merchandise mix. “We offer camping gear, toys, sporting goods—a wide variety to get people looking around,” Ron says.

Randy adds that offering green goods in the spring was well-received. “We want to keep catering to the ladies, because they buy plants, paint, flags and other stuff,” he says, adding that their wives offer valuable insights into what products they should be carrying to attract female shoppers.

Since they’re new to retailing, they have been forced to lean heavily on House Hasson Wholesale Hardware’s expertise. “Ralph is here every Monday morning to look after us,” Ron says. “He helps us with ordering and if we have damaged products he makes sure it’s taken care of. You couldn’t ask for more.”
A grand opening was held in the spring, using the House Hasson Wholesale Hardware circular to promote the event. House Hasson Wholesale Hardware also helped them host a Customer Appreciation Day in the fall. “We plan to consult with them soon on setting up a website so we can have Internet sales,” says Ron.
Launching a new store in a short period of time is not without its challenges, and they ran into a few speed bumps trying to get their POS system set up with 30,000 SKUs. “We worked through it and the folks at J3 offered us good support and helped us with our grand opening,” Ron says. “The nice thing about the J3 POS system is we don’t have to be here and we can still see what’s being sold.”
Adds Randy, “Our POS system tells us what’s moving so we don’t run out of mulches and plants. We pay close attention to our inventory levels.”
The brothers may be new to retailing, but they understand the important principles that drive a successful retail operation. “All our customers get greeted and asked if they need help. We make sure our service stands out,” says Randy.

They have attended all the markets since they first started talking with House Hasson Wholesale Hardware about a new store, and they find them very beneficial. “You see what a well-run organization House Hasson Wholesale Hardware is and what a large selection of products they have to offer,” Ron says. “Our sales rep helps us find products and offers advice on how much to buy. It’s a learning process.”

The nearest big box is 22 miles away, but the RPM study helped them understand the level of competition they face and how to combat that. “We accepted their guidance. We had to listen to them because we didn’t know what to do otherwise,” Ron admits. Adds Randy, “Ralph and Jay both live close by—they’re local. They have no problem taking care of any request we have.”  

Nine months into their first year of operation, Ron and Randy both say the business has exceeded their expectations, especially when the economy is taken into account. “Plumbers and electricians come in here. If the economy starts looking better we plan to expand the lumberyard and add a lot more roofing products, block and other building materials,’ Ron says.
In addition, they plan to target pro painters with the Gray Seal line of paint once they figure out the right volume pricing discounts. They’ve already started catering to industrial/manufacturing companies in the area. “We tell them we’re right here and can be their stock room,” Ron says. “We’re already selling pallets to Quikrete down the road, so we might as well sell them other products too.”

Bloomfield Hardware discovers a new partner House Hasson Wholesale Hardware

Growing the Business in New Ways
Bloomfield Hardware Discovers a New Partner

Derek and Mandy Rollison and their daughter, Taylor, operate Bloomfield Supply & Hardware in Bloomfield, Ind.

You might call Derek Rollison an accidental retailer. Working in the land management business, he didn’t have any particular aspirations to a life in retail. But he saw a need and an opportunity, and more than anything, it was a challenge he felt he could handle.
Bloomfield Supply & Hardware was located in a shopping center in Bloomfield, Ind., that had been started by Rollison’s grandfather 35 years ago. His grandfather’s sister and brother-in-law had operated the store for 13 years, then his grandmother’s sister and husband took it over and ran the business for the next 22 years.
“It was distressed. I didn’t want to see it go away, so I took over,” explains Rollison. He took control on February 8 and one of the first things he did was go with House Hasson Wholesale Hardware as his main supplier in place of Ace Hardware. “I had probably seen the House Hasson Wholesale Hardware rep, Chris Kirwer, ten times more often than I saw my Ace rep,” Rollison says. “I saw the difference between the two companies right away. With Ace we were on our own, while with House Hasson Wholesale Hardware I felt like we had a partner.”
He needed a lot of assistance from his new partner to whip the business into shape.
David Helfenberger helped him come up with a plan to reset the store. “House Hasson Wholesale Hardware had as many as four or five people here helping out for about a month. We had to change a lot of stuff around,” Rollison says.
A big section of the store was not being used, so 2,000 square feet of space was added right away to make the total salesfloor 8,000 square feet. “Our plumbing area was too small, but that meant we had to move the electrical department and so on. Overall, the conversion process went fine and everyone at House Hasson Wholesale Hardware was very helpful,” says Rollison, who is joined in the business by his wife, Mandy, with occasional help from their 10-year-old daughter Taylor. The couple also have a six-month-old son.
The service counter was the same way it had been for the past 35 years, so Rollison completely redid that while also installing new flooring. The renovation cleared room for even more space in the front of the store, which was used to make a showcase area for commercial mowers.
“We had space for outdoor power equipment, so we thought we might as well use it,” he explains. He added Dixie and Skag mowers and Echo outdoor power equipment and began promoting the availability of parts and accessories as well as a repair service. Rollison ended up selling 29 commercial mowers this past year, which is not bad in a town of 2,500 people.
Although he was new to retail, Rollison understood that retail success comes from finding ways to build customer traffic. First, he had to overcome the past history of the store, which was viewed as a last-resort, convenience stop with an underwhelming selection of products. “We have to make sure we have what people need,” he stresses. “Plumbing and electrical have turned into big departments, because now we are a go-to place for big plumbing and electrical projects.”
The same goes for the paint category. “The paint side had been weak, and we wanted to be in the paint business,” Rollison explains. So he went at it in an aggressive way. He bought a local Pratt & Lambert paint store and hired the old owner to run his newly enhanced paint department. Right now the store’s sales split is 50-50 with pro and consumer business, but he plans to start targeting paint contractors now that he has more to offer them.
Although the heavy remerchandising work is behind them now, Rollison knows he still needs to pay close attention to his assortment while recognizing and capitalizing on opportunities. “We have to figure out what to expand in and what to get out of or shrink,” he says. “If we decide to pursue something like wood furnaces we need to know if our customers will buy it from us.”
Rollison is discovering the various ways that House Hasson Wholesale Hardware can help him grow sales and profits. He signed up for the Benchmark pricing program and has been impressed with how functional and easy it is to use the CD Toolbox.
“We have to walk a fine line with our pricing. People compare us to the big boxes 25 miles away, so we have to stay sharp with our prices,” says Rollison, who hopes to use his POS system as a tool to make smarter decisions. “Keeping track of sales history will be key information to have and follow up on so we’re stocking the right items,” he adds.
He has been to two Dealer Markets so far and has found them to be productive and beneficial to his business. “You can find a lot of good buys. The best benefit was talking to all the factory reps,” he says.
As he approaches his first anniversary as a hardware store owner, Rollison is relieved to know he’s got a reliable partner to help him grow his business. “Everyone at House Hasson Wholesale Hardware is great to work with. And they get back to you if you have a question, which was not the case at Ace,” he says.