Hardware stores get social online
Hardware store owners are getting into the social networking scene, using such Internet sites as Facebook to publicize their businesses.
A search of Facebook brings up dozens of hardware store entries, and the numbers are growing daily. Stores use the site to post everything from hours of operation, to full histories of the business, to today’s advertised specials. There are pages for individual stores, groups of stores, for employees of True Value and Ace and even tributes to hardware stores that no longer exist. A Facebook search also turns up pages for Ace Hardware stores in Indonesia and Lebanon, as well as True Value Workers. There’s even a page called “I like the smell of hardware stores.”
“We thought this would be a good way to promote our store and Ace in the Rocky Mountain region,” said Andy Carlson, owner of Ace Hardware - Alameda Station in Denver, which has a Facebook page and is also on Twitter, Plaxos and LinkedIn.
“We have created several events on Facebook that we promote to fans and other friends of the owners and employees,” Carlson said. “The Facebook page also has a lot of potential as a quick way to disseminate information about new products or ideas to our fan base.” He added that the store can quickly post product information or helpful advice on its “Wall,” Facebook’s version of an online bulletin board.
Carlson not only has a Facebook page for his own store, but he’s part of a group Facebook site maintained by the Rocky Mountain Ace Stores (RMAS) staff, which was used in the fall to promote a home winterization seminar series that was co-sponsored by Xcel Energy. The group page does not link to individual stores but does link to www.RockyMountainAce.com , where the viewer can access a store locator for all group stores.
Carlson says he doesn’t believe Facebook has had an impact on his store’s performance yet, adding, “We [already] have a couple thousand subscribers to our e-mail list. If we can grow our Facebook fans to 500-plus, I think it will be a good outlet for us.”
Aimee Nichols, 28, helps runs Berger True Value Hardware in Hawthorne, N.Y., with her 31-year-old brother Chris. When she heard that there are 175,000,000 active Facebook users, she created a Berger True Value Facebook page that includes a photo of the store, contact information and store hours. Within a few days, Berger True Value had 70 “fans,” and it’s been growing ever since.
“Not only can we use it to connect with our customers, but we can use it to connect with other businesses,” Nichols said. “ For example, I put a link on the ‘Berger Hardware Fans’ page to Cornell’s True Value Hardware, a friend’s hardware store in Eastchester, N.Y. So here’s the neat thing about Facebook. When someone becomes Berger Hardware’s ‘friend,’ we now have access to their ‘friends’ and so on. It creates a networking web.”
Ramapo Hardware joined Facebook recently after a customer suggested it. The Monsey, N.Y.-based store, which has been run by the Dooling family since 1963, has 37 members.
According to owner Sandra Dooling, Facebook is a great way to make announcements and advertise specials. “During the winter, we could let people know we are out of salt but would have it on Thursday,” she said. “We tell them about hot items, keep them updated.”