History of hardware: A survival story

There’s still quite a number of people left who remember the accomplishments of Arnold Gerberding, Don Wolf, John Cotter and other early pioneers of the home improvement retailing industry. But no one has taken the time to put it all down on paper and make sure everyone’s name is spelled right, no small task when you consider six decades of hardware history. “Surviving…in Spite of Everything,” written by veteran journalist Bob Vereen, is being published in late March by Dog Ear Publishing of Indianapolis, and it’s a must-read for every retailer, distributor and supplier in the hardlines industry (survivinginspiteofeverything.com).

Vereen worked 25 years with the National Retail Hardware Association (NRHA), from which he retired as senior VP in 1987. While “Surviving” was largely a labor of love for Vereen, it’s also a scholarly work of history that chronicles the early days of co-ops, chain stores, home centers and big boxes. While some of the names are still familiar—Coast to Coast, Our Own Hardware, Grossmans, Hechingers—Vereen doesn’t leave out players like Gamble-Skogmo, a multi-million-dollar chain with hundreds of retail outlets that sold hardware, paint, auto supplies and toys throughout the Midwest in the 1930s and 40s. Or some of the “original” home centers like Central Hardware in St. Louis, Forest City in Cleveland and Lindsey Lumber in Florida.

Hardware retailing was supported by an evolving network of wholesalers that extended credit and helped with product selection and store remodeling, according to Vereen. The origins of Ace Hardware, True Value and Do it Best are well-documented, with some fun little factoids thrown in. Take ACO Hardware, the 69-unit hardware chain headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich. ACO was once affiliated with Ace Hardware, according to Vereen, but eventually faced the choice of limiting its expansion or changing its name. ACO solved the problem with a one-letter change and set up its own warehouse and distribution network.

Some of the unsung heroes of the industry—people who championed radical ideas like professional management, inventory turnover and gross margin return on inventory (GMROI)—are given their due, along with household names like Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus. But despite its title, “Surviving…in Spite of Everything” is not a backwards-facing book. The overarching theme of the book is change: how demographics, consumer preferences, the Internet and the global economy have kept the industry in constant flux, and for some, teetering on the line between profit and loss.

The last chapter of the book examines what the future might hold for the independent hardware retailer, and once again, the challenges seem daunting: competition on all sides, from mass merchants, discounters, dollar stores and supermarkets. Margins that grow thinner every year. Young people leaving the retail industry for more lucrative careers. Gen X & Y shoppers who feel more comfortable shopping in large-format stores.

“There will be a need for retailers to provide more installation services, admittedly a difficult aspect of retailing, but with unemployment higher than it has been, the talent pool of people who could provide such services for retailers is greater than ever, so maybe the opportunity can be realized,” Vereen states in, “What’s Ahead.” Truer words have never been written, but the number of retailers and organizations that have tried, and failed, to operate a successful handyman service could probably fill another chapter.

Luckily, “Surviving” ends with more pragmatic advice, delivered by a hardware store owner on the North Shore of Long Island, N.Y.

“Don’t wait for your customers to come to you,” counseled Alan Talman, owner of Karp’s Hardware. “We have to go get them.” While Talman sounds like a store owner from a bygone era with his focus on the Rotary Club, Little League and high school football games, he has unwittingly tapped into a growing sentiment that could prove to be the salvation of the independent hardware retailer: buying local. Whether it’s the dry cleaner purchasing V-belts, the auto body shop needing bolts, or the garden co-op looking for organic fertilizer, Talman underscores the obvious: Make sure they know you’re in business, or else pretty soon, you won’t be.