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THIS PAST YEAR, Wilson’s Home Hardware Building Centre in Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia, was honored with the Home Hardware Walter J. Hachborn Store of the Year Award, selected out of over 1,000 stores across Canada. Mike Wilson is the dealer-owner of the award-winning store, one of his four Home Hardware locations in Nova Scotia. Mike attributes this success largely to keeping people at the center of the business.
“Our family business has remained successful through four generations of ownership and 100 years in business due to our core belief: you need to understand people to understand the business,” Mike says. “By focusing on understanding the needs of our people—staff, customers and the community, we are able to build and maintain a reputation of trust with them.”
Wilson’s Home Hardware ensures customer satisfaction by offering and encouraging continuous employee training, as well as equipping staff with the confidence to provide customers with product information and quality recommendations. Wilson’s also prioritizes communication with customers, keeping them informed about promotions, new arrivals and order updates via media platforms.
The store offers post-purchase support and encourages customer feedback, always aiming for continuous improvement. Wilson’s also provides several loyalty programs, exclusive offers and personalized discounts to customers. By incorporating these strategies into his approach, Mike ensures the business consistently delivers outstanding customer service, fostering loyalty and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.
For Mike, keeping people at the center of business isn’t just about customer service. When the Barrington Lake Wildfire, the largest fire in Nova Scotia’s history, devastated the community last summer, Wilson’s stepped up with no hesitation. The store donated essential supplies for volunteer firefighters, furniture and entertainment to local relief centers, lodging for their displaced employees and hundreds of cleaning supplies to families returning to smoke-damaged homes.
And it’s not done yet—with 60 homes lost and hundreds more damaged, Wilson’s remains committed to helping its community rebuild by partnering with Paper Excellence and The Canadian Red Cross, as well as forming an internal customer care team dedicated to streamlining the process for those who are rebuilding.
In true Home Hardware fashion, Wilson’s is a fixture in the community, giving back regularly to countless initiatives. Its annual community involvement includes hosting donation drives for the local food bank and charities such as the Stuff the Cruiser Toy Drive, the Salvation Army Giving Tree, the local cancer society, community mental health and the local hospital.
Mike also believes in investing in the community’s youth through sponsorship of sports teams and school programs.
“We believe our role in the community is more than just supplying goods,” he says. “It’s about forging strong relationships, contributing to the overall well-being of the people around us and making a positive impact where we can.”
INDUSTRY AWARDS
The Best of the Best
Read more about Wilson’s Home Hardware Building Centre winning the Walter J. Hachborn Store of the Year Award at homehardware.ca.
