From the issue: A store where ideas live

In the shadow of O’Hare Airport in a strip mall next to a Hobby Lobby, the Mount Prospect, Illinois, True Value store serves as a laboratory and a retail-testing zone for the co-op.



Inside and to the left is a home goods and housewares offering that president and CEO John Hartmann says is designed to appeal to the younger customer and the female shopper. To the right is an extensive display of Stihl products that speaks to the hardcore DIYer or contractor.



“And if you walk right down the middle of the store,” Hartmann said, “you’re going to see clearly that this is a very competent offer in terms of what you would expect in a hardware store.”



The store also serves as a model for the co-op’s Destination True Value concept, a program that Hartmann inherited from his predecessor.



“We are fully committed to [DTV],” Hartmann said. “The feedback from consumers and from our retailers who have made the remodel to DTV is incredibly positive.”



There are a couple changes in the works. True Value is working on ways to make a DTV upgrade more affordable, and at the same time relax rules around design and display elements.



“I like the way that stores that want to remodel are going to be able to pick and choose what fixtures and what things will work for them, as opposed to kind of being stuck with whatever,” said Gregg Heyer, of Palm Springs True Value in California. “Giving stores the incentive to remodel and letting them pick and choose — I think that’s going to work out much better.”



Hartmann emphasizes that the Mount Prospect store is the only company store in the True Value empire. “We’re not meant to be in the business of competing with our retailers,” he said. “I’m convinced that having a laboratory that we can use to try new things is a very positive thing for the co-op.”