18
Fall 2014 •
Hardlines
Strategies
CUSTOMER FEATURE
Hostetler’s staff recently added the Blish-Mize Customizable Interior Signage Package to the store.
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
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
A
few years ago,
customers to
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.
