Do Consumers Know You Are Locally Owned?

While many consumers can recognize an independent home improvement store by its small-town feel and top-notch service, many don’t know a business is locally owned and operated if it uses national branding or has multiple locations. Customers may see a TV commercial or similar store names in other cities and conclude that a big corporation owns their hometown store.

In fact, the poll results below show that more than one-third of 1,000 consumers do not know that Ace Hardware, True Value and Do it Best stores are locally owned and operated.

Applied to Retail: Be proud of your local identity and share it with consumers every chance you get. Use “shop local” verbiage in your advertising and participate in national or area “shop local” campaigns such as Small Business Saturday.

The North American Retail Hardware Association and Independent We Stand have also created a complete marketing toolkit that uses data from their new Home Sweet Home Study. The toolkit includes posters, shelf talkers, bag stuffers, window decals and other materials that all help you promote your local identity. Click here to learn more about the marketing package.