The Hardware Man - Times are Changing

Howdy Folks,

I love this time of year, with the moderate temperatures, the longer days and the fact that school is out for summer. I always prefer getting up naturally with the sun rather than with an alarm clock at some God-forsaken hour. 6:00 AM is still the same time, whether it is pitch black or sunrise.

We had a handful of customers greet us at the store early on Monday when we pulled in. When we purchased the store, we kept some things in place, including our hours of operation. It fit our routine, so why change it? We open at 9:00 AM and close at 6 pm. It worked for the old owner, so it worked for us. And we never gave it much thought.

Apparently, our contractors think differently, and we appreciate the feedback. We were asked to consider opening earlier and we took an informal poll throughout the day. Reality is, based on our location, that a contractor can waste an hour or more in the morning driving to another store and back to get what they need to start their day. It becomes an inconvenience for small things or an exercise of advanced planning the day before.

The one constant we have in life is change. We deal with the ebb and flow of seasons, weather and business demands. One thing I enjoy looking at as I review reports is what we have sold, or special requests for product, or volume of product moved. We have had to be attentive on quantities sold and have expanded our minimums to ensure we have enough in plumbing and electrical. I love it when something different has sold, whether it is a small piece that has sat for a year or someone outfits their new rig with Milwaukee PackOut gear. We have been able to grow our departments with more confidence that the market will support it. If you need to check if we have something, visit our website ClintonvilleHardware.com. And let me know – Should we turn on the Buy Online, Pick Up In Store feature?

All that to say we are changing our hours of operation starting this week. It’s an experiment we hope will pan out. Monday through Friday, we will be opening at 7:30 AM and closing at 6:00 PM. Saturdays will still be 9 to 5. We will run these hours through the summer, and if the numbers make sense, we will make that permanent.

We have been trying out some new products that vendors send. Our pool got a small hole in it while cleaning. I remembered a sample I had from a company called Tear-Aid that seemed to be the perfect solution to my problem. We shot a quick demo video on how it works. We’ll work it out in our real-world application and have better confidence when it comes to recommendations. Milwaukee dropped off a sample of their new abrasive and cutting blades with boasts of superior cutting. The blades went to a local shop for direct feedback on they line up against our real world. I set some gate posts with an expanding polyurethane foam from Sika PostFix. I’ll post that video once the project is done.

We are hopeful our changes are worth the effort, both to our business but also to the community. I am happy to receive feedback from customers on what products they need, where our pricing lands or hours of operation. Worse case, I’ll have to demo some more of O’Neill Coffee in the morning.

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Daniel Karns and his wife own Clintonville Hardware & Rental along with other businesses. Join the discussion by contacting him at info@clintonvillehardware.com.