Fall 2014 Hardlines Strategies

CUSTOMER FEATURE

A New Look Blish-Mize Helps Hostetler’s Reset Store

About three years ago, they teamed up with Blish-Mize and made the official jump into the hardware business. And they haven’t looked back. The Right Fit If they wanted to be serious about selling hardware, the staff at Hostetler’s knew their first step would be to find a distributor who best fit their business. They appreciated that Blish-Mize got involved at a deeper level and offered plenty of personal attention to their store’s needs, rather than using a one- size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach. After speaking with several different distribu- tors, it was clear Blish-Mize was the right fit for Hostetler’s. “We wanted a partner; not just a supplier,” says Store Manager Cody Hostetler. “And the staff at Blish-Mize didn’t want to just supply us with the products we needed; they wanted to part- ner with us.” A New Look The partnership with Blish-Mize was about more than adding hardware Hostetler’s Feed & Farm Supply in Buffalo, Missouri, could find just about any type of feed they needed—and maybe a little hardware, too. The staff continued to add more hardware, little by little, to all three locations. A few years ago, customers to

Hostetler’s staff recently added the Blish-Mize Customizable Interior Signage Package to the store.

inventory. It meant some bigger changes to the store. The Hostetler’s staff had already discussed some ideas: “We originally planned to add on to our store,” says Hostetler. “But we realized we needed somebody who could come in and help us utilize the space the way we wanted. We weren’t selling the dollars per square foot we wanted.” That was where Blish-Mize came in. “Their team did a great job of coming in, taking measurements, and giving us a reset proposal,” says Hostetler.

Blish-Mize staff also looked at the store’s market and sales demographic potential. Their analysis led to sugges- tions for the store reset that would make Hostetler’s a more profitable store. “They did some measurements and some research, and after seeing what they came up with, we realized we could nearly double the floor and shelf space,” Hostetler says. “We moved the checkout counter and did some other changes to the layout. We were able to avoid expanding the size of the building, but were still able to bring in more

18 Fall 2014 • Hardlines Strategies