Blish-Mize Offers Better
Access to Information that
Helps You
One of the ways Blish-Mize continues to
work smarter for you is with a continued
push to go paperless with the packing lists,
invoices and monthly statements it sends you.
As of last fall, Blish-Mize customers
can choose to receive invoices, month-end
statements and packing slips via email and/
or fax rather than with their regular order
via U.S. mail.
Blish-Mize is also making strides to
improve efficiencies internally as well. It
is moving forward with electronic data
management systems so corporate and
customer service employees have more
accessibility to documents to better serve
you, the customer.
For example, CEO Jonathan Mize
says, “Instead of going to a large file
cabinet of drop-ship invoices, now it will
be done online or through a document
management program.”
“We now have more information
available with the click of a mouse and
are moving forward to keep the back-
end operations running smoothly,” Mize
says. “The value for you in these more
streamlined internal processes is that
we’re able to spend more time assisting
you with your needs and quickly locate
the information you need to run your
operations successfully.”
Blish-Mize Announces
New CEO
Blish-Mize recently announced
Jonathan D. Mize will become Chief
Executive Officer, succeeding his father,
John H. Mize, who has been appointed
Executive Chairman.
“I’m excited and honored to be
appointed Chief Executive Officer and
President of our company,” Jonathan says.
“Under my father’s leadership as CEO for
the past 30 plus years, he has moved our
company forward and kept it growing and
profitable, and I look forward to more
progress. I also want to congratulate my
father for over 52 years of service.”
For the past few years, Jonathan
has served as president and COO
and previously served in other officer
capacities. He will be the fifth generation
of the Mize family to hold the title of
CEO. He also serves as President and COO
of Hardware House, LLC.
“As we look to the future, I can
honestly say that I am very confident
that Blish-Mize will continue to thrive.
During his more than two decades of
service, Jonathan has been involved in
the promoting and hiring of a strong
management team to help him run the
company in the future,” John says.
“As we enter our 143th year in business,
we have a great team, and we are in a great
position to continue to help our customers
be successful in hardware retailing for
many more years to come,” Jonathan says.
Blish-Mize Customer
Completes NRHA
Management Training Program
A Blish-Mize customer was among a
group of up-and-coming retail managers and
mid-level executives from across the United
States and Canada who participated in the
inaugural class of the North American Retail
Hardware Association (NRHA)’s Retail
Management Certification Program.
Myron Bartel of Home Lumber in Pratt,
Kan., was one of 17 students participating
in the pilot program, which involved
attending class sessions, networking
receptions and dinners. All students also
presented a business plan they developed
throughout the course.
“I have gained so much from this
program that will help the profitability
of the business,” Bartel says. “Learning
and networking with others in the same
industry who have similar goals was an
invaluable experience.”
The program is designed to provide
business owners in the retail hardware
industry with a comprehensive, six-month,
college-level educational program to develop
the leadership and management capabilities
of high-potential employees.
For more information on NRHA’s Retail
Management Certification Program or if you
would like to participate in one of the 2014
sessions, contact Scott Wright, NRHA Vice
President of Member Services, at
317-275-9417, or email
.
Blish-Mize Customer
Recognized for 50 Years
of Service
Blish-Mize recently honored a
customer and longtime hardware store
owner for 50 years of service to the home
improvement retail industry.
Blish-Mize sales representative Janet
Elias presented Steve Belshe, owner of
Richland Hardware & Furniture Co.
in Richland, Mo., with Estwing’s Gold
Hammer award, which is given to retailers
who have been in the business for 50 years.
Belshe has worked at Richland Hardware
since 1963; the store itself started in 1957.
“I’m very honored to receive the Gold
Hammer, and I wouldn’t have received
it without the support of Janet and the
management team at Blish-Mize,” he says.
That support comes in the form of
the several Blish-Mize programs and
products Belshe utilizes, including
PartScription, Blish-Mize’s monthly
promotions and customizable advertising
programs and a wide selection of
Hardware House items.
Richland Hardware is based in a rural
area and has approximately 10,000 square
feet of retail space. Customers turn to
Belshe and his small staff of two additional
employees for all their paint and sundries,
plumbing and hardware needs.
COMPANY NEWS
34
Spring 2014 •
Hardlines
Strategies
