Downtown Hardware Knows
It Can Rely on House Hasson Wholesale Hardware
Ann Clary Bratton and Roger Clary view House Hasson Wholesale Hardware as a trusted partner in their business.
Sometimes
luck and good fortune can be combined with hard work and determination, and can
lead to astonishing moments of success. That was the recent experience of Roger
Clary and Ann Clary Bratton, a brother-sister team who own Downtown Hardware in
Oak Ridge , Tenn.
When
the second-generation owners of the 57-year-old business learned this past
spring that a new Ace Hardware store was opening up less than three miles away,
they were a little nervous. They already faced a Home Depot store three miles
the other direction and they were still waiting for business to rebound from
the sluggish economy.
Their luck was about to change. They
learned that their store was going to be the subject of Oak Ridge
“We had been planning to do a
truckload sale and Allen Winn made arrangements for us to get the truck in
early. Kim Gibbs helped us with fliers and a banner sign,” says Roger. “They
really worked with us to make sure we had plenty of merchandise, and everyone
at House Hasson Wholesale Hardware bent over backwards to help us.”
Four
generations of family members were on hand to help customers on the day of the
cash mob, which received TV coverage from all three networks. They handed out
free soda, water and cookies to a crowd that was standing room only for two
hours. “It was the biggest sales day in our store’s history,” says Ann, with
triple the usual traffic and sales quadrupled. “The news went out Thursday
night, so we were mobbed some on Friday and some more on Monday.”
“We
had the big House Hasson Wholesale Hardware truck parked out front for a couple
of weeks, which created a sense of excitement with our customers,” says Roger. “The
cash mob happened a month before the new Ace store opened, so we were able to
gain some important publicity.”
Although the store has a lot of
long-time customers, the cash mob—which was sponsored by the Young
Professionals of Oak Ridge—helped introduce the business to some younger
customers. “We’ve seen some of those customers return and heard a lot of
comments like ‘We didn’t know you were here.’ We want to support other small
businesses, so we help promote the other cash mobs they hold here,” Ann says.
The cash mob was a nice burst of
excitement, but Roger and Ann knew they needed to do something to create a more
lasting boost to the business. They continued talking with David Helfenberger
and their House Hasson Wholesale Hardware sales rep, Ed Grady, to plan a store
reset that would position their business for success in the face of the new
competition.
“They
knew how Ace merchandises their stores, so they were able to tailor our
merchandise accordingly,” says Ann. “Rick Parker came and shopped our store and
gave us a four-page checklist of improvements to make. Roger prioritized the
list and we started doing those improvements.”
They took Rick’s suggestion and
agreed to have store merchandisers spend two weeks fine-tuning their
assortments and cleaning up their merchandise displays. No part of the store
was untouched, and the improvements have been dramatic.
A Tradition of Loyalty
Ann and Roger’s father, Tom Clary, along with Ed
Wayman, opened Downtown Hardware in 1955 in what was a new shopping center in Oak Ridge
Although
they had been buying a little from House Hasson Wholesale Hardware, they mainly
bought from Belknap Hardware until that wholesaler went out of business in
1986. They followed their salesman over to
House Hasson Wholesale Hardware and have developed a deep sense of mutual trust
since then.
Downtown Hardware’s current location
used to be the lawn and garden section of an old Kmart. “House Hasson Wholesale
Hardware helped us so that we closed the old location one day and opened here
the next day. We didn’t lose any sales. They helped us move and made it
affordable for us,” says Roger. “We couldn’t have done it without their help.”
“When House Hasson Wholesale Hardware did the
first store set, we had looked around and considered who might be able to help
us. This time we didn’t consider anyone else,” says Ann. “We know we can depend
on them for whatever we need. You build that trust and you find it throughout
the company. They hold the same values we do. We don’t want to be a number and
they know their customers.”
Roger gives an example of a simple
thing House Hasson did that made a dramatic difference in their business. “Rick
Parker came to the store and saw that we hadn’t changed the outdoor lawn and
garden area much. He suggested we go up and put in pallet racking. We looked
into that and it was expensive, but Don Phillips
(vice president-operations) had access to some pallet racking at a fair price.
We were able to triple the amount of merchandise we had on display and we’ve
greatly boosted our sales per square foot in lawn and garden,” he says.
The store reset better positions
Downtown Hardware to have what customers want, when they want it. “As a
retailer we have to take advantage of what we do good. You have to work at it
every day, but we know we’ve got House Hasson Wholesale Hardware on our side,”
says Ann. “In the age of computers it’s nice to have a salesman here regularly.
Ed will get answers for us or find products we need from other customers.”
Roger looks forward to attending the
markets. “It’s an opportunity to see other dealers, get ideas and learn
hands-on about the new items.” More importantly, he likes that there are no
mandatory programs to participate in or add-ons to cut into his profits. “Being
Trustworthy and Priced Right Everyday!® lets us retain our
independence while still providing a brand identity. We like the freedom of
choosing what will work in Oak Ridge
