inventory, allowing us to be dominant in
more categories.”
Blish-Mize also helped with the reset
by helping Hostetler rearrange the store
so it flowed better.
Now, customers are more likely to find
everything they need at Hostetler’s.
“Before, our inventory was kind of
spotty—our customers could generally
get about half of what they needed,”
Hostetler says. “But now we’re more
dominant in a lot of areas. We can offer
customers just about everything on any
of their shopping lists, and that’s made us
more dependable to them.”
One of the final changes was the addi-
tion of the Blish-Mize Customizable
Interior Sign Package. The store previ-
ously didn’t have any sort of aisle mark-
ers, but the staff knew they wanted to
add them during the reset.
“They help better identify where things
are for the customers,” says Hostetler. “We
saw the signage in the Mini-Store at the
Blish-Mize Market and knew we wanted
something similar in our store. And besides
being useful, the aisle markers really finish
off the look of each category.”
The staff especially appreciated the
help they received from their sales rep,
Janet Elias. “She’s been very helpful and
went the extra mile during the reset,”
says Hostetler. “She was very particu-
lar in how the store was set up, and we
appreciated it. She’s done a great job.”
More Changes
Not only has Blish-Mize helped with
the look of the store, but it also has
helped the Hostetler’s staff set its pricing.
“Blish-Mize helped us set our prices
across the board,” Hostetler says. “We
used to have the same margins for most of
our products, but Blish-Mize has helped
us see where some products may have
lower margins and where we can increase
margins on other products that may not
be as price-sensitive.”
Hostetler’s also began carrying the
Hardware House line of products, which has
been popular with customers, says Product
Manager Micah Swartzentruber. “We recent-
ly had one customer who got a name-brand
faucet, and he ended up returning it and get-
ting a Hardware House faucet instead. He
was impressed with it—it worked well, was
simple to install and was of good quality.”
Going to Market
The Hostetler staff regularly attends Blish-
Mize Markets and finds value in doing so.
They’re also strong believers in the
new SmartBook tool. Micah says it’s been
helpful as store staff plans its purchases
before going to the Market.
“We are still building our purchase his-
tory with Blish-Mize, but the SmartBook
is going to be really beneficial for us,”
says Purchasing Manager Sheldon
Swartzentruber. “As time goes on, we’ll be
able to more easily look back and see what
we’ve purchased, how much we’ve sold and
what we need to buy moving forward.”
Of course, networking is a big part of
the Market. “It’s great to see new products
and talk to buyers,” Hostetler says. “We
can learn more about different products,
and just see the latest and greatest and hear
more about what we can be doing.”
Bish-Mize helped the Hostetler’s staff reset the store so it flowed better and had a larger product offering.
Not only has Blish-Mize helped with the look of
the store,
but it also has helped the Hostetler’s
staff set its pricing.
20
Fall 2014 •
Hardlines
Strategies
CUSTOMER FEATURE
