HCN selects state-by-state Hardware Store All-Stars

The 2012 crop of Home Channel News Hardware Store All-Stars marks the second year of the state-by-state accounting of high-performance retailers. The common theme of “excellent customer service” runs through the entire list, but that’s just the beginning.

Here are the honorees from Georgia, Hawaii and Idaho:

Georgia

Reeves Building Supply

Clayton, Ga.

Located in the North Georgia mountains and surrounded by lakes, Reeves offers upscale furnishings and accessories for the casual lifestyle. Four standalone businesses -- the Ace Hardware store, Reeves Building Supply, Reeves Homes Furnishings and Reeves Lawn Mower Shop -- dominate Main Street. “Being from a small town, we have a lot of things others don’t have,” said co-owner Lewis Reeves Jr., naming sporting goods as the top seller. “We have a lot of vacationers around here.”

Hawaii

Hardware Hawaii

Kailua, Hawaii

Hardware Hawaii’s Facebook page looks like a family photo album. There are pictures of employees dressed up for Halloween, bowling at a tournament and a video of their trip to the Orgill market in Boston. But the three-store chain also uses Facebook to communicate its frequent sales, which customers -- judging from their responses -- look forward to. 

Idaho

L.L. Green’s

Hailey, Idaho

L.L. Green’s is nearly devoid of advertising or other interior signage, a setting reminiscent of a time when customers shopped their local hardware store with their dads or granddads. Store manager Mark Green said the old-time feel works here. “We get lots of plumbers, electricians handymen … 50 or 60 a day, the same faces, and they’re not afraid to ask for something we don’t have. If we don’t have it, we’ll order it.”

For the complete list of 50 winning retailers, state-by-state, register or log-in to Homechannelnews.com.