Radio Show Offers Mix of Information and Entertainment

When Gary and Don Lofholm aren’t in their store, Lofholm’s Do it Best Building Center in Norway, Michigan, they can be found in a place many may not expect to find a hardware retailer: at the local radio station.

They’re often at the station for their weekly radio show, which is broadcast locally. The segment, called “Make Your House a Home,” offers a variety of informative and entertaining advice on different DIY and home improvement topics.

“We like to be informative but humorous,” store sales manager Gary Lofholm says. “Sometimes we have vendors on the shows to talk about their products.”

Sometimes employees come on the show, too, he says, if the topic is about a specific category. And while they talk a little about their store and sales they’re offering, the main focus is to inform consumers.

The brothers have been doing the show for about three years, and they say they’ve gotten great responses, both from customers and the general public.

“I can be out to dinner and someone will stop me to talk about the show,” Lofholm says. “It seems like it caught on right from the beginning.”

He says they haven’t done much advertising, but they were lucky to get good time slots—Friday afternoons and twice on Saturdays—and news of the show spread through word of mouth. “Sometimes we tell family stories, and I think customers feel they might know us because we’ve let them into our lives.

“We are helping them make wise purchasing decisions, offering ideas of how to spend wisely as they invest money in their homes. We’re community-minded, so that’s very important to us. We have fun with it.”