Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
At its recent Fall Buying Market, held on September 11-13 in Overland Park, Kansas, Blish-Mize provided its customers with show-only deals, new products and support amid economic headwinds.
“We always want our customers to feel like they’re part of the Blish-Mize family,” says Jonathan Mize, Blish-Mize chairman and CEO. “That sense of community was really visible this fall. People weren’t just here to buy—they were here to connect.”
Concerns early on about travel difficulties and retailers being tied up at their stores didn’t slow attendance. Check-ins for the Fall Buying Market exceeded the previous fall market’s numbers.
With the increasing uncertainty around tariffs and pricing, the team at Blish-Mize made its market into a must-attend event, offering pricing discounts that are unavailable regularly.
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty from our customers, and many are being conservative on pricing, but we’ve had a lot come to the market to get the best prices for products,” Mize says. “If you weren’t at our show, you missed out on a great opportunity to set your store up and receive the best pricing through the end of the year.”
Blish-Mize vice president of operations Brady Clark says the customers he’s talked to remain optimistic about economic uncertainties.
“A lot of people are optimistic about where things are at, and they understand there’s still some risk out there. But I believe we’re going to turn a corner,” Clark says. “For some of the orders we’ve seen coming from this market, we see people taking advantage of the deals we’re offering and they see the value of attending the market.”
Another aspect of the buying market bringing customers in is the connection to the vendors, says Clay Uhrmacher, Blish-Mize vice president of sales and marketing. The ability to connect with vendors they’re not seeing in the field is a great opportunity to continue building relationships and get a sense of what they’re offering.
Brenda Richard and Oren Hawksford, co-owners of Valliant Hardware in Valliant, Oklahoma, came to the market to fill out their recently opened store and get the best pricing they can to stay competitive. The two opened Valliant Hardware in May of this year after attending the spring buying market.
“At the last show, we filled our entire store with the deals we secured,” Richard says. “Now, we’re following up with new vendors we reached out to and are looking to add new products to our store that we weren’t able to add at the beginning.”
Along with finding deals on new products, Richard and Hawksford also came to the market in search of products to help fill a gap in their community.
“We’re looking for sockets and wrenches, because we don’t have an automotive store in our town,” Hawksford says. “Here, we’re able to add products to our selection that keep people from driving an hour or more away to buy.”
Blish-Mize is close to launching a paperless bill of lading system, which will cut down on paperwork while giving customers easier access to shipping documents.
“Paperwork is something our customers don’t need to deal with anymore,” Mize says. “They’ll still be able to access everything online, and if it’s a hazardous product that requires a printed form, we can handle that. But for most orders, we’re close to going fully paperless.”
The program is launching in partnership with Schneider Dedicated Freight Services, the regional distributor’s third-party logistics provider. Mize says Schneider’s technology has already improved tracking capabilities.
Along with a logistics update, Mize says the company is continuing to improve its distribution center in Atchison, Kansas.
“We’re always trying to find ways to get better,” Mize says. “Whether that’s through technology, logistics or the way we move products inside the warehouse, it all comes back to making it easier for customers to get what they need quickly and accurately.”
Those upgrades, Mize added, tie directly into the value retailers get when they attend the buying market. Faster fulfillment and clearer tracking mean that orders placed on the show floor can be delivered with fewer delays and more accurately, according to Mize.
“When customers leave the market, they want to know their orders are being handled quickly and correctly,” Mize says. “The efficiencies we’re putting in place make that possible. For a regional distributor, we think we’re one of the leaders in this area, and we don’t want to lose that reputation.”
