True Value celebrates its independence
Anaheim, California -- True Value dealers and executives hammered home the theme of retail independence during the co-op's 2017 Spring Reunion general session here at the Anaheim Convention Center.
While executives shared various meanings of "independence" -- including the freedom to choose programs and products -- retailers from Fusek's True Value, Cornells' Hardware and Brinkmann Hardware promoted their success stories with Customized True Blue assortments, e-commerce programs and Destination True Value.
It fell to Tim Mills, senior VP of growth, to share some of the major metrics, and he led with two co-op records achieved in 2016 -- number of new ground-up stores (68), and number of remodeled stores (101).
And while the total number of True Value stores has declined from 4,569 in 2012 to 4,392 in 2017 -- a reduction of 177 -- sales were up 10% over the same period.
Mills also pointed to the growth in the number of stores who purchased more than $500,000 from the co-op -- up 14% to 780. And sales per store increased 12% to more than $300,000.
The numbers, he said, reflect an ability to "compete and win in the local marketplace."
Other highlights from the General Session:
• Qualheim's True Value of Shawano, Wisconsin, was named the national winner of the Best Hardware Store in Town awards program.
• Chief Merchandising Officer Heath Ashenfelter promoted the 15 new Customized True Blue assortments. Also on the show floor, 160 endcaps and 150 counter top displays were part of the offerings in the floor's Impulse Alley area.
• The True Value advertising plan in 2017 will feature 10 national events, up from 5 the previous year, as part of a more targeted approach.
• Ship-to-store e-commerce grew 52% in 2016. A positive sign, given that one in three customers spend an additional $30 when they're in the store picking up online purchases.
• The co-op announced that it selected Microsoft POS based on its ease of navigation for social and e-commerce, as well as its relative low cost.
• True Value president and CEO John Hartmann closed the session with a slide comparing the True Value retail comp-to-advertising spend ratio as superior to an unnamed co-op competitor -- a thinly veiled reference to Ace. In the slide, True Value's national advertising for 2016 was shown as $20 million, and DTV comps were 3.7%. Co-op "XYZ" national adveritising was shown as $65 million, and retail comps were 3.5%.