Blish-Mize Marks 145th Year at Spring Buying Market

At its Spring Buying Market held this past weekend at the Overland Park Convention Center, in Overland Park, Kansas, Blish-Mize Company celebrated its 145th anniversary in business by providing market specials and educational and networking opportunities to more than 360 retailer accounts in attendance.

The Atchison, Kansas-based distributor also had a record number of prospects in attendance, according to CEO & President Jonathan Mize, who represents the fifth generation of the Mize family to run the company. “There are a handful of customers in attendance this weekend who had left us a year or two ago, but who are now back for a second look, which is key,” he says.

Despite a soft economy with the downturn in the oil and gas market, which encompasses a large portion of Blish-Mize’s trading area, and despite the fact that it’s a presidential election year, Mize says retailers seem optimistic and are looking for ways to increase sales. “They are looking for deals, and that’s why they are coming to our buying market this weekend,” he says. “ We haven’t had much of a winter this year, except for some of our customers out in Colorado. So while we haven’t sold many winter goods, there has been a lot of building and remodeling activity going on, and spring has certainly sprung early here.”

With both the positive and negative factors due to the economy, Mize says the focus of the market is to provide great deals, while showcasing products from all its vendor partners. The company also strives to provide networking and educational opportunities, so customers can take new products and ideas back to their stores to help them drive more sales and customer traffic.

“It takes a lot for a customer to leave their store to come to our buying markets, so we want to make the trip worthwhile,” says Mize. “The key promotion for this market is what we call ‘The 24,’ which is 24 hot buys on items we’ve done our research on—we know all of our customers buy most of these products. We’ve shopped the competition and we are the market leader on these 24 key, everyday items.”

But it’s not just all about buying, says Mize.

“We always like to have a strong educational component to our markets,” he says. “The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) presented a seminar on ways to grow transaction size, because in today’s competitive market, any seminars we can present on ways to help our customers grow sales is very helpful.” Other seminars during the two-day market covered topics on how retailers could update their lawn & garden selection, presented by BWI Companies, Inc., and how retailers could compete in today’s metal market, presented by Central States Manufacturing, Inc.

Don Hendricks, owner of Hendricks Hardware and Supply in Alma, Kansas, capitalized on both the buying and learning opportunities. “The Buying Market is always special, and Blish-Mize consistently does a great job, but this year was a bit unique in how they had products displayed in some areas,” he says. “They are really giving us some good ideas with seminars, and I like the new approach with ‘The 24,’ because I’m always looking for great deals so I can make a little more margin while passing some savings on to my customers.” Hendricks has been attending Blish-Mize Markets for over 40 years and says it’s one thing he leaves town for twice a year.

One of these unique areas was “The Pallet Gallery,” which was set up to look like an art gallery made of pallets. “The gallery layout concept allowed us to feature over 150 different pallet specials, almost five times what we’ve offered in the past,” says Mize. Another highlighted area was “Assortment Central,” where retailers could get new ideas on stocking and merchandising key core assortments for their stores.

Adam Kelly, manager of Farmers Co-op in Alva, Oklahoma, brought his entire family to the market, including his wife Kristi, son Warren (age 7) and daughter Emilia (age 5). “We’re looking at what our needs are for our store this weekend, and looking for new products while we’re here at the market,” he says. “I enjoy it, and the kids really enjoy it because it gives us a chance to get out of the store as a family. We’ve been doing business with Blish-Mize forever. They have always been really good at taking care of any needs we have, and our salesperson is great at letting me know what’s coming to the market floor. They are very proactive.”

Other Blish-Mize Company highlights:

• With its continued focus on the use of technology, Mize says customers have provided great feedback on the mobile app that was launched at the Fall 2015 Market, which allows customers to place orders and view purchase history from their mobile devices. In addition, the company recently launched voice picking throughout its Atchison distribution center to improve order efficiency and accuracy levels. By the end of 2016, the company will also have a paperless Bill of Lading program implemented.
• Blish-Mize also hosted its Vendor Conference earlier in the week to strategize one-on-one with more than 150 key vendor partners. One of the vendors in attendance was Sherwin-Williams sales manager Aaron Eusterwiemann, who says the meetings were very productive. “On Tuesday, I met with key upper management and the purchasing team to talk about future plans, strategize, discuss any obstacles and focus on opportunities,” he says. “The following day, we visited with the entire sales team, covering what’s new and coming soon, and how we both can help each other grow our businesses.”