Fall 2013 Hardlines Strategies

STORE OPERATIONS

The Blish-Mize Competitive Advantage: More Dollars to Your Bottom Line W hen Michael Chappelear left his job as a

After carefully considering a variety of regional and national distributors, Chappelear quickly realized the combination of product selection, price and service Blish-Mize offered was the best solution for his store, Chap & Sons, LLC in Fort Cobb, Okla. “We chose Blish-Mize because we wanted a supplier with a good product selection and competitive pricing,” says Chappelear. “Their customer service is also much better than anyone else we’ve done business with.” Chappelear’s choice has paid off, too. He has been able to focus on investing his money into inventory, rather than paying the fees associated with a co-op. He knows that in today’s competitive retail environment, it’s increasingly important to lower costs while improving margins. Whether you’re new to the Blish-Mize family, like Chappelear, or are a long-time customer, you don’t have to look much farther than your balance sheet to realize family, he didn’t assume that the co-op supplier he had belonged to for many years would be the best fit for his new business. He decided to look around at other options—and he’s glad he did. manager for a large home improvement store to open his own store with his

Michael Chappelear decided to buy fromBlish-Mize because of its price, product selection and service.

times of the year, those two percentage points may be the difference between a positive or negative number on the bottom line. 2. Blish-Mize doesn’t charge hidden adders or program fees. The prices you see in the Blish-Mize catalog are the prices you’ll pay; there are no hidden or additional fees tacked on to the end of your bill. Another benefit of buying from Blish-Mize is the ability to order small quantities. You can order as many or as few of an item you need, making it easier for you to manage your inventory, and while most distributors will charge you as much as a 5 percent fee for breaking a case quantity, Blish-Mize has an adder of only 30 cents per line for items ordered not in full-sell packs or case quantities. Finally, Blish-Mize knows that it isn’t just the products you buy that make your partnership with your distributor valuable; it’s your sales representative who acts as a retail consultant and comes to you with

Blish-Mize specializes in cutting your costs and keeping money where it should be: on your bottom line. Here are just a few of the ways Blish-Mize does that. 1. Blish-Mize doesn’t require investment fees or require you buy stock. Unlike membership in a co-op where you are required to buy stock, being a Blish-Mize customer means you have full control of where you spend your money. “We believe in your independence,” says Blish-Mize Vice President of Sales Doug Long. “We think you should spend money where it will do the most good: in your business.” Investing money into a regional or national co-op doesn’t always guarantee a return on the investment, either. In the past, home improvement retailers have lost large amounts of money due to co-ops that mismanaged their customers’ funds. Even if the percentage paid to a co-op in fees amounts to only a couple of percentage points of overall sales, during the leaner

4 Fall 2013 • Hardlines Strategies