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business in high gear for the two lumber-
oriented locations, but servicing such
diverse areas means offering different
product mixes for each, says Grothues.
“Each store is pretty different, and that
presents challenges we deal with every
day,” he says. “It would be really simple
to bring in the same product mix to all
three, but it wouldn’t be as beneficial
for our customers. For example, our
Farm and Ranch category works really
well with the two locations that have
lumberyards, but we don’t have as much
success selling those products in our third
store, which is closer to the city.”
That diversity also means there isn’t
one real leader as far as category sales
for Guadalupe Lumber. With so much
business involved in contractor work that
can reach even across state lines, Grothues
and the management team handle a variety
of categories in San Antonio, a town
that features many large, independent
lumberyards for competition.
Grothues says that Guadalupe Lumber’s
newest store does about half of its
business in lumber sales, but they are
always looking to diversify.
“Plumbing does well in all three stores,
while we do really well with scratch-
and-dent tile at our original location,”
Grothues says. “Those work really well
with contractors in apartment work.
Lighting, which is a popular Hardware
House department for us, does well in
our newest store. We’ve found a lot of
success with Hardware House items in
both lighting and in plumbing fixtures.
“We’re really trying to increase
our presence in paint in all of our
stores, too,” he says. “That’s a big
future investment.”
Another area where Grothues is looking
to improve the stores is its ecommerce
offerings. By changing computer systems,
he is hoping to bring Guadalupe Lumber
into the digital world.
Working With Blish-Mize
In a market where independent
retailers are the norm rather than
the exception, the ability to remain
independent to handle its stores the way
General manager Kyle Grothues and Guadalupe Lumber sell several types of Hardware House products in their stores, including lighting.
“Lighting, which is a
popular Hardware House
department for us,
does
well in our newest store.”
—Kyle Grothues,
general manager
CUSTOMER PROFILE
20
Fall 2017 •
Hardlines
Strategies