Gourmet foods, local gifts, unique home goods, custom cabinets, firearms, live bait, microbrew beer, even frozen pizzas— there’s no shortage of variety alongside the core hardware categories at Solon Springs Mercantile. Owners Meg and Ken Thoreson have built up a …
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Retailers Share Niche Categories
Niche categories can add excitement to your business, and most retailers are always on the lookout for a new category to try. In the 2019 May issue of Hardware Retailing, three retailers offered their insights into how they’ve created successful …
Read More »3 Ways Retailers Can Help Customers Make the Most of Spring
Homeowners across North America are getting ready to reclaim their lawns and outdoor spaces from winter’s wrath, and independent home improvement centers will play a key role in helping them this spring. From providing nutrition for grass and plants to …
Read More »Eco-Friendly Opportunities With PaintCare
For many retailers across the country, partnering with a national recycling initiative has enabled them to offer new services and gain new clientele. For Greg and Kari Carlson, who own Carlson Do it Best in Nisswa, Minnesota, national paint recycling …
Read More »How Do it Best Provides Retailers the Building Blocks for Success
The DNA of Service Nearly 75 years ago, Arnold Gerberding went door to door to hardware retailers and lumber dealers throughout the Midwest, asking them to pledge $1,000 to help secure greater buying power for their businesses and to maintain …
Read More »Starr Q&A: Do it Best CEO Talks Co-Op’s Core Values and Strategic Goals
Dan Starr President and CEO Dan Starr has served as president and CEO of Do it Best since 2016. He has previously served in a variety of roles since joining the company in 2006. Starr is only the fifth CEO …
Read More »How In-Store Recycling Programs Can Boost Business
What are you and your business doing to safeguard the planet? One simple action could be to institute an in-store recycling program both for your employees and customers to help usher products from sale to safe disposal. For millennials, climate …
Read More »How I Did It: Doing Store Expansion Smart
In 1998, Jeff Paladino purchased his family’s 4,500-square-foot hardware store nestled in a shopping mall in Milton, New York. His family had owned several businesses over the years before taking on a local hardware store. A switch into hardware seemed …
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