Orgill hangs tough in Orlando
Orlando, Fla. -- The first day of Orgill's spring market produced some positive signs at the Orange County Convention Center.
"There’s a buzz out there,” said Brett Hammers, Orgill marketing director. The Memphis, Tenn.-based distributor has more than, buzz -- it's riding some positive business metrics. Orgill completed more than 100 conversions in 2008, a year that saw the company grow 4 percent in sales despite some pretty challenging market conditions. The distributor’s 2008 sales hit $1.18 billion. With some 190 conversion prospects attending last month’s market, president and CEO Ron Beal said it was a time to continue offering assortments that are fresh, tight and with the best possible pricing.
“Historically, when the economy tightens up, people do things themselves and stay closer to home, and that dynamic has always been good for hardware stores,” Beal said. “We’re in a zero-sum game, and we’re encouraging our retailers to make sure they have the right assortments at the right pricing to keep people coming in their stores.”
According to Lynn Phillips, an Orgill sales rep with 17 customers in the Central Mississippi/Western Alabama territory, some stores seem immune to the recession while others are suffering. “You can go 50 miles one way and people are doing well, and then you go 50 miles in another direction and they’re not doing so well,” he said. “Orgill knows things are tough, so they’re trying to help by providing products at a better cost so stores can make more margin.”
The green program had a larger presence at this market than the previous two spring events, as the company has added about 70 new vendors and thousands of new product skus over the past year. The demand for green products is regional in nature, with areas like California, the Northeast and Colorado doing more with the category than most of the southern territories.
Shellie Knapp, a buyer for White’s Lumber in Watertown, N.Y., said New York has become a very green-conscious state and that one of her main goals at the market was to find items that are eco-friendly and code compliant. “People are coming in and requesting these products, and there are so many state guidelines now, having these products is becoming a necessity,” she said.
Jerry Pearson, who has worked for about 25 years at Bentley Flooring and Building in Double Springs, Ala., said the store had benefited from new home building in nearby Smith Lake for about 10 years before the bottom fell out of the construction market. “Right now, we’re just trying to hang on,” he said. “The economy has always had its ups and downs, and if you make it through this rough patch, I think it will be OK.”