Show Off Your Niche Using the Whole Department

Fun in the sun and on the water is a part of life for residents and visitors in Titusville, Florida, and the local hardware store offers extensive niche categories to meet their needs.

At Titusville Ace Hardware, customers can see how deep the opportunities are thanks to creative and eye-catching merchandising in the sporting goods department.

“We started out kind of small like everybody else, but then it just kept getting bigger and bigger,” says owner Bill Pastermack. “It’s really worked out well for us.”

Pastermack says a key for building a niche is to be dominant in the category so your customers don’t have to go anywhere else. Due to their approach to building a comprehensive fishing niche, Pastermack says customers from outside their traditional market come to the store to find the tools and gear they need to support their hobby. Titusville Ace Hardware also expanded into sunglasses as a complement to the fishing category, which has driven traffic.

“Word-of-mouth is totally priceless, and it brings people down here,” Pastermack says.

Click here to hear more from Pastermack about how his operation earned a reputation for unique niches.