Throwback Thursday: Rickel heads HoM
The Jan. 8, 1990 issue of National Home Center News, the forerunner of HBSDealer, reported on the big plans at Rickel Home Centers to introduce a prototype that leaned toward home decorating and home furnishing, and leaned away from its hardware roots.
The new prototype had a name: “HoM by Rickel.” In an article under the headline “The ‘New’ Rickel,” the prototype was described as a sort of hybrid of Conran’s and IKEA. The product mix of the new 67,000 sq. ft. prototype in Toms River, N.J., featured home furnishings, ready-to-assemble furniture, housewares, and kitchen and bath products. Building products were virtually eliminated.
“Rickel has been a bare bones home improvement chain for years,” said Robert Harrow, Rickel president. We’re now trying to get the look and feel of a department store.”
Moreover, the company was cleaning up its act, literally, at all of its stores. As the article explained, the chain was looking to change its reputation as a messy merchandiser. Unsold inventory was being weeded out, floors and bathrooms were freshened, displays were being standardized. And at the same time, morale was being addressed in the form of an enhanced training program. Plus: “Uniforms, in the form of jackets, smocks or vests, are being issued to store workers,” the article reported.
The Rickel Brothers company has earned its place in retailing history as an early pioneer in the home center field. It grew to more than 100 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut in the 1980s. But faced with heavy competition in the 1990s by warehouse stores, the Rickel store count eventually dwindled to around 40, and in 1997, the company’s board of directors decided to close its doors.
# # #
Throwback bonus: On the same page as the “The New Rickel,” National Home Center News reported another new store concept under the headline: “Handy Andy enters closeout market.”. Across the parking lot from a traditional Handy Andy Home Improvement Center in western Milwaukee was the first Home Owners Bargain Outlet, or HOBO.
It marked the Illinois-based company’s first effort in closed out home improvement merchandise, and one of the first in the Midwest.
“We’re appealing to the pickup truck contractor, the extremely price-conscious DIYer, or the serious DIYer with a big project and not much money,” said Steve Kadish, the president of Handy Andy.
What are your memories of Rickel and Handy Andy? Let us know at [email protected].
HBSDealer’s Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Schaffer Associates, a national management consulting firm specializing in executive search and organizational strategies for the hardware, home improvement, building materials, and consumer products industries. As the premier management consulting firm serving the industry, we help build organizations and leadership teams that foster corporate growth and success well into the future. Contact us at SchafferAssociates.com.
The new prototype had a name: “HoM by Rickel.” In an article under the headline “The ‘New’ Rickel,” the prototype was described as a sort of hybrid of Conran’s and IKEA. The product mix of the new 67,000 sq. ft. prototype in Toms River, N.J., featured home furnishings, ready-to-assemble furniture, housewares, and kitchen and bath products. Building products were virtually eliminated.
“Rickel has been a bare bones home improvement chain for years,” said Robert Harrow, Rickel president. We’re now trying to get the look and feel of a department store.”
Moreover, the company was cleaning up its act, literally, at all of its stores. As the article explained, the chain was looking to change its reputation as a messy merchandiser. Unsold inventory was being weeded out, floors and bathrooms were freshened, displays were being standardized. And at the same time, morale was being addressed in the form of an enhanced training program. Plus: “Uniforms, in the form of jackets, smocks or vests, are being issued to store workers,” the article reported.
The Rickel Brothers company has earned its place in retailing history as an early pioneer in the home center field. It grew to more than 100 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut in the 1980s. But faced with heavy competition in the 1990s by warehouse stores, the Rickel store count eventually dwindled to around 40, and in 1997, the company’s board of directors decided to close its doors.
# # #
Throwback bonus: On the same page as the “The New Rickel,” National Home Center News reported another new store concept under the headline: “Handy Andy enters closeout market.”. Across the parking lot from a traditional Handy Andy Home Improvement Center in western Milwaukee was the first Home Owners Bargain Outlet, or HOBO.
It marked the Illinois-based company’s first effort in closed out home improvement merchandise, and one of the first in the Midwest.
“We’re appealing to the pickup truck contractor, the extremely price-conscious DIYer, or the serious DIYer with a big project and not much money,” said Steve Kadish, the president of Handy Andy.
What are your memories of Rickel and Handy Andy? Let us know at [email protected].
HBSDealer’s Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Schaffer Associates, a national management consulting firm specializing in executive search and organizational strategies for the hardware, home improvement, building materials, and consumer products industries. As the premier management consulting firm serving the industry, we help build organizations and leadership teams that foster corporate growth and success well into the future. Contact us at SchafferAssociates.com.