Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Experienced retailers should know that one of the secrets to merchandising is location. For example: Move a product from the back of the store to the front, and you’re likely to start selling more of it because more people notice it.
Kelly Rodarmel, owner of Woodland Hardware & Home in Woodland Park, Colorado, wanted to experiment with that idea. He built a simple base for his cabinet hardware display and outfitted it with casters. That allowed him to easily change the location of a few key displays and keep the merchandising fresh.
The cabinet hardware display has spent some time in the hardware department as well as the paint department. In either area, it’s a logical add-on sale to a project the customer might be tackling. Moving the display to a new location keeps the department from getting stale, and rolling the entire display to a new location is much easier than removing all of the product from the shelf.
Rodarmel says he consults with the team in each department as he considers which products might be a good fit for the moveable merchandisers. “We’re experimenting with these right now,” he says. “It’s a team effort. If I come up with an idea, I’ll share it with others in the department and get their input on how and where it might work best.
“I’ve seen this done at other major retailers, like Cabela’s and REI, and they evidently have a lot of success with it,” he says. “Being able to move these displays around gives us the flexibility to place them anywhere in the store and experiment with how well they sell in different locations.”
