A hardware frame of mind
What draws people to a hardware store?
Is it the hope of finding fresh inspiration to launch into a new project?
Is it a necessity for pro and DIYer both? Is it a piece of the Saturday morning routine? Do people go there – perhaps – to dream a little bit?
Probably “yes” to all that.
Two leaders from the independent hardware industry define what really makes coming to a hardware store so special for people, including the magic and the mystery.
“Hardware stores are a fun place to explore for people of all ages,” said Eric Hassett, owner of Hassett Ace Hardware in the coastal town of Half Moon Bay, in Northern California.
There seems to be a fascination, said Hassett, “both with the notion of an old-time hardware store, with popcorn provided, to stroll the aisles and dream up what home improvement project may come next, and to also check out the latest cool tools, BBQs and outdoor living items.”
There is still a strong connection between home projects, whether for fun, maintenance, or improvements that brings wanderers into our aisles with curiosity, looking for inspiration, said the West Coast hardware owner.
“A lot of what we do when helping our customers, is providing a translation service,” said Hassett, “and sometimes that looks like a game of charades, where we must help identify items, they don’t know what to call, with hand gestures, noises and comical explanations of what the thingamabob does.”
In this process of deducing what they need, he said, “we often find solutions to their issues that they had never thought of or knew existed.”
His store gets regular comments from customers about how they didn’t know the business sold everything from socks to bolts, from puzzles to P traps.
On a mission
“It is easy to visually distinguish a mission shopper from a browser, from how a browser will walk in and look around, overwhelmed, to a mission shopper hellbent on getting to where they know the items live,” he said.
For the browsers, he said, they typically see them admiring their seasonal and impulse items in the center aisle, including holiday wares, BBQs and patio sets.
“Whenever we find a browser, we happily encourage them to check out areas of the store that aren’t necessarily as obvious as our core departments, maybe suggest a visit outside to our garden center,” said Hassett.
They have customers solving the need for immediate delivery on their own, sending Uber drivers in to pick up items they either order online or call in for.
“I don’t think we have seen a significant conversion of our customers who like to come and peruse our aisles in favor of online ordering,” he said.
Moreover, he said, they have expanded their customer reach and accessibility by offering the ability to shop anytime, anywhere on their online portal with a high degree of confidence that they will be able to find what they need – available to scratch that immediate itch.
Hassett passed along some advice to other hardware store owners.
“It is imperative to keep the entrance and main walkways clean, open and full of seasonally relevant goods. I see too many stores, in the quest to cram more products in, get their entrance landing zone flooded with goods,” he said.
“You really want them to have time to enter, get the lay of the land, and be able to quickly and easily identify where your departments and best brands are,” said Hassett.
I’m the wanderer
Many people think of a hardware store as a place to happily wander and discover new things, and there’s the fascination with tools.
“This is true. In the mornings we get several contractors and tradesmen wandering the tool aisles touching tools. Especially when it’s cold – which it has been overly this past winter. They want to stay inside just a little longer and find new items in our tool department,” said Karla Robson, manager of Slavens True Value in Cortez, Colorado.
She sees folks during mid-day wandering their ‘specialty’ aisles highlighted by end caps with hummingbird feeders, bird feeders and decorative items.
“We refer to this area as our ‘pretty place’ and in the evenings we see couples coming to sit on yard furniture, and look at fire pits and gazebos,” said Robson.
The Discovery Channel could do a special show on hardware stores. It’s common for customers to find more items than they initially came in to buy.
“We always hope so,” the Slavens manager said, “we call it ‘add-on’ sales.”
The store purposefully puts candy and impulse items near the register – just like every other retailer.
“We hope to be better than the others as our employees are trained to add-on necessary items; occasionally leading to ‘wanted, unnecessary’ items,” she said.
“We put kid-friendly items on low shelves. We put knives and cool flashlights near the key machine, where customers wait in boredom,” said Robson.
They hide destinations like plumbing and paint in the back, so customers have to walk through the whole store to get items they need.
She said: “My tool guy, Mike, is the best at the ‘come for a screwdriver, leave with a $200 drill/driver.’”
No two people are alike, but customers can display similar traits as they go walking around browsing and shopping – traits that owners notice.
“Oddly, customers seem to come in and instinctively go to the right. I have no idea why we all do that, but it seems we do, more often than the other way,” she said.
Customers pick up everything.
“It really helps sales to have items out of the box whenever possible. We all like to be able to touch and feel the weight and texture. If they have kids with them, the parents will often let the kids dictate what they pick up,” said the manager.
Little woods
Changes in our tech-driven world today could be driving a different feel as people step through the ‘magic doorway’ of the hardware store. Yet some human traits will always remain.
“I notice people often buy an item online, but don’t get anything they need to hook it up. Faucets are an example. Not only did they not get the supply lines, but they also don’t know how to use them. They still need our expertise, just in a different way,” said Robson.
They order their washing machines and dishwashers online, she said, then they come in to get help hooking them up.
“I think in the future, we will carry less and less large ticket items,” said Robson, “not keeping the number of faucets, say, but still having the supply lines and Teflon tape. In the long run, it won’t be so bad, since all the margin is in the little stuff.”
Other traits that won’t change are the humorous thoughts customers share in the store while seeking things.
“We once had a small native woman looking for ‘little woods’ – after much ado, and questions, we found she needed a bag of wood pellets for her pellet stove,” said Robson.
The Slavens store manager shared some tips for hardware store owners about making their own hardware store more inviting, drawing customers in more, and engaging them more.
“I think idea displays are good. When we set up our lawn furniture, we try to set up a gazebo, a firepit, BBQs – things that go together – so customers can see what it will look like at their home. Also helps employees with add-on sales,” she said.
“We have done displays with our decorative paints and art paints, so customers can see what it looks like on wood, on a glass vase – it does not take too much time, and makes an impression,” she said.
“I have a friend who does ‘project days’ in her store – so the customer can sign up to make something. The message to other store owners is,” she said, “try projects.”
Her store is having their 70th year anniversary this summer – and they have been dragging out old pictures, old cash registers, old taggers and old products.
“Customers have really enjoyed that stuff. If you have room up high to hang stuff out of the way, do it – people still enjoy looking at your history,” said Robson.
There’s something unique about stepping through the door of a hardware store and being in a hardware frame of mind. Something all people bring with them to the hardware store. Call it intrigue.
Maybe, she said, it’s as simple as this: “We are beyond pack rats – all of us – it seems.”
People thrill at discovery. And there will always be a thing to discover in a hardware store.
