RETAILER FEATURE
Members of the A&H Building & Supply, Inc. team include Dan Wessel, yard manager; Phyllis Heinen,
sales manager; Carmen Johnson, office manager; and Tim Hassenstab, general manager and owner.
Reset and Refreshed
A&H Building & Supply, Inc. Gets an Updated Look
In addition to the support general
manager and owner Tim Hassenstab
received in updating the store’s look,
he says the changes wouldn’t have been
possible without his distributor’s help
through all the major stages of the proj-
ect, from ordering and organizing inven-
tory to pricing and on-time delivery.
Roots in Remodeling
A&H Building & Supply, Inc. has roots in
helping customers with remodeling projects.
It started as a construction business
in 1978; the hardware store came in
1980. Today, Hassenstab still employs
a construction crew of 12, who build
homes and assist customers with
remodeling projects. He also runs the
5,000-square-foot retail showroom and
adjoining lumberyard.
With a store in a community of 800 people,
Hassenstab says customers rely on his store to
have what they need in stock and knowledge-
able employees to help them find it.
Hassenstab, in turn, relies on his distribu-
tor, Blish-Mize, to keep his business com-
petitive and provide those customers with
what they need.
Even with big boxes in the nearest
two towns, he says his store can com-
pete because of Blish-Mize’s competitive
prices and product selection.
“The availability of stocked material
was the biggest factor in our decision to
use Blish-Mize. Their fill-rate suited our
needs,” he says.
The store’s product selection includes
Valspar paint and several faucets and
builders’ hardware items from Blish-Mize’s
Hardware House line.
“Our sales rep, Chris (Helget) knows our
store well and helps us out when he sees
new products that he knows will sell well in
our store,” Hassenstab says. “He visits the
store often and is a big help for our store at
the Blish-Mize Buying Markets.”
Last year, however, Hassenstab realized
that if he was to continue to bring in new
products, he would have to find more
space to display them all properly.
“A lot of product was crammed into
four-foot sections because we didn’t have
enough height for our displays,” office
manager Carmen Johnson says.
Putting Plans into Action
When Hassenstab called on Blish-Mize
for a solution to his store’s space
problem, Helget, along with regional
sales manager Brad Uhrmacher,
W
hen customers
walk into A&H
Building & Supply,
Inc. in Humphrey, Neb.,
they know they can always
expect friendly faces
and expert advice.
But a
big change they noticed
recently was a new store
layout, complete with new
merchandising displays
and a remodeled sales
counter, all thanks to the
expert guidance from the
store’s long-time hardlines
distributor, Blish-Mize.
14
Spring 2014 •
Hardlines
Strategies
