One of the things that I have found satisfying about spending all these years in-and-around retail is that at its essence it’s an “honest business “. People (usually) don’t buy things that they don’t want. Even though I was a career retail technologist and usually fairly removed from the gritty details of day-to-day store operations, I have never gotten tired of going to stores and plugging into the energy that gets generated in the interplay between those that have something to sell and those that are looking for something to buy. And even though I worked in a big office, I always felt that in some way I was helping people. It’s very addictive, very compelling.

Retail doesn’t get any more “real ” than it is for independent operators, and I’ve enjoyed attending events by the National Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) for the last few years, and getting the opportunity to talk to many of those independents. This year I was asked to present RSR’s view on the changing nature of technology-enabled consumers and what it means for retailers (a subject we’re fond of expounding on). But for me the best part of the event was an awards ceremony that we have nothing to do with: NRHA’s 17^th Annual Young Retailer Of the Year Awards.

Family, Community, and Common Sense

Unlike publicly owned retail companies, for independents the business is equal parts family and community tradition. As pictures of the stores that the recipients represented flashed on the projection screen, there were no big-box-power-mall-mega “destination ” stores. What you saw were stores that fit right into their surroundings: a neighborhood hardware store in a neighborhood, a lumber store on a rural highway, a store with a big sporting goods section near a lake, etc.

Several of the recipients were born into their families’ businesses, and those that weren’t were taken under wing by owner-operators who are like-family. Because of these strong personal ties, the Young Retailers exuded a sense of their close connection to the business. That’s a connection that every big retailer should envy. At the awards ceremony, each of the eight recipients had a word of thanks for their parents, the people who bought them into the business, and the communities that have supported their efforts to be as good as they can be. The presentations got downright emotional at times – the featured Young Retailers weren’t just talking about their jobs, they were talking about their lives.

Among the award recipients, those family connections were prominently featured. One video presentation showed off a letter written by award recipient Meagan McCoy Jones of McCoy’s Building Supply of San Marcos, TX when she was 5 years old to her dad, saying that she wanted to work in the store (but didn’t want to have to get up at 5 AM). Try to imagine your 5 year old writing that kind of a letter to BigCo’s CEO! Jeremy Stine of Stine Home + Yard in Lake Charles, LA returned from study abroad and a stint with the U.S. State Department to work with his dad and uncles in the family business. Kim Ytsma of the Alliston Home Hardware Building Centre in Alliston, Ontario Canada, was thrust into the business when her dad suddenly died from a heart attack in 2010.

Being so close to their communities, the Young Retailers used common sense to create more value for their customers. Jesse Loucks of Mount Shasta Do It Best Hardware in Mount Shasta, CA rightly figured that being so close to a big outdoor destination created an opportunity for more fishing and hunting supplies. Willow Yoder of the Seattle, WA Greenwood True Value Hardware store turned the store into the community’s go-to location for eco-friendly supplies. Ceva Courtemanche of Hensel’s Acre Hardware in the small (population 17,500) Northern California coastal town of Arcata expanded the store to create a destination for home improvement projects, offering kitchen fixtures, flooring, appliances, and furniture. Kyle Herbert of the New Milford Hardware store in New Milford, PA expanded the value proposition to offer more construction materials and a drive-though lumber shed.

Big Shop Concepts, Applied

There’s a mistaken notion that somehow “big ” retail and “small ” retail are different: a different mindset, different offerings, and different tools. While that may be true of the mindset and the offering, it doesn’t necessarily hold true for the tools. For example, Justin Ellis of Builders Do IT Center of Roswell, NM used “big shop ” concepts like category reviews to reposition departments and remerchandise every category. This was all done in an effort to re-brand and remodel his New Mexico store to create a sense of relevancy and excitement in the community. And it seems to have worked; the Roswell store has experienced a 17% sales increase. Jeremy Stine brought e-commerce to the Stine Home + Yard operation, integrating e-commerce functionality into the store’s website and building a database of over 40,000 customers – and creating a social media presence with 20,000 Facebook followers. And Meagan McCoy Jones, whose McCoy’s Building Supply was by far the largest retailer (84 stores, $600M in revenue) represented in this year’s award recipients, centralized sales and consolidated routes to get the most out of the company’s fleet of delivery trucks.

Small Shop Concepts for Big Shops to Emulate

Several things about the recipients’ acceptance speeches stood out by virtue of their consistency. First is the aforementioned family connection. The bond between these Young Retailers and the businesses they run is up-close and personal. There is much talk today about companies’ lack of loyalty to their employees and employees returning the “favor “. Not so at NRHA. The Young Retailers on the stage understood clearly the connection between the well-being of the store and their own well-being. One has to wonder how if is that so many big companies have lost that connection, and what has to be done to get it back. Based on the comments from virtually every one of the recipients, it must have something to do with the fact that each of the retailers represented, whether it came from parents and family or from that nice old couple who ran the store for 50 years, took a very personal interest in the young up-and-comers’ success. Based on the announced results, they have been paid back handsomely.

The second point is about allegiance to the community. Each and every one of the award recipients thanked their communities for supporting their store. Of course it’s a virtuous cycle: the store listens to the community and tailors the offering to meet the local needs, the community feeds back, the store fine tunes the offering, etc. As long as all are communicating with each other (talking and listening), it should keep getting better – there is no upward limit.

A third thing was that most of the award winners expressed gratitude to the ecosystem that they operate in (no kidding!). Whether it was the Ace Hardware network, Orgill, or the Do It Best membership, the Young Retailers expressed gratitude for all the support and advice that they got from willing local corporate reps.

Finally, of the eight recipients of this year’s NRHA Young Retailer Of The Year award, four were women. Who says that hardware stores are just for the guys?

It can all be summed up this way. As Meagan McCoy Jones said, “retail is a noble business “. She meant it, and coming from her it rang true. Helping the people of the community that you work in is noble.