Recently an article was published based on an interview with a divisional VP of merchandising for True Value.\u00a0 The article focused on the co-op\u2019s rather aggressive merchandising plans for the VP\u2019s assigned product categories- Automotive, Pet, and Farm & Ranch.\u00a0 The plan is to significantly grow these categories over the next five years.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, none of these are products most people immediately identify with the local hardware store.\u00a0 In fact, most dealers in our retail market are not nearly the first that come to mind when contemplating these product categories.<\/p>\n
When it comes to automotive products, there is a vast network of specialty retailers, chains and independents that populate our landscape.\u00a0 Chain Store Guide<\/strong> covers these in great detail through our Database of Automotive Aftermarket Retailers and Distributors<\/em>.\u00a0 Of course these products are also associated with big box discount stores and general merchandise retailers.\u00a0 Increasingly dollar stores have entered the mix.\u00a0 All of these retailers are thoroughly researched through our Database of Discount Stores and Specialty Retailers<\/em><\/a>, which contains the Automotive Aftermarket database as well.<\/p>\n The Database of Discount Stores and Specialty Retailers<\/em> also features a section detailing Pet Store Chains.\u00a0 Here again, one can conveniently enjoy a one stop shopping experience and cross over to the sections featuring the big box discount stores and general merchandise retailers.\u00a0 The pets market has also become an increasingly popular lure for dollar stores.\u00a0 As with products of the automotive aftermarket, it is amazing how many of these items can be found even at single price dollar stores, as the range of product grows with the popularity and command of dollar retailing.<\/p>\n Of course the Database of Home Center Operators and Hardware Chains<\/em><\/a>, features rich listings detailing Farm & Home retailers.\u00a0 For companies wishing to access dealers of farm products and supplies, these listings can\u2019t be beat. Most hardware stores aren\u2019t associated with this type of inventory.<\/p>\n Why then is True Value aggressively seeking to grow these product lines?\u00a0 As our nation looks back at the recession, hopefully through a rearview mirror, we can see that each of these product categories pretty much proved to be recession proof.<\/p>\n In our industry, the farm and home store category was unique in actually growing during the recession.\u00a0 This, as all other markets visibly suffered and most shrank, both in terms of sales as well as unit\/store count.\u00a0 True Value\u2019s inclusion of the term ranch here likely was inspired by the incredible growth of Tractor Supply after focusing on \u2018gentleman ranchers\u2019, as an important base to its market.<\/p>\n Though this trend was clear even before the recession, the average life expectancy of automobiles continues to noticeably increase.\u00a0 Consumer interest in increasing the lifespan of their cars greatly grows as tough times present themselves and persist.\u00a0 Thus the AutoZones, O\u2019Reillys and Pep Boys continue to expand their store counts as well as products and services (Pep Boys) to meet actual and perceived demands.<\/p>\n The pet products industry has been a staple of strength throughout the recession and this trend is continuing as we hopefully leave the recession behind.\u00a0 Even during the harshest of recent economic times, many consumers indicate that their pets often come first.\u00a0 They seem to find it easier to cut back on other items in their household budgets, including the family food supply, rather than shortchange their precious pets. \u00a0In fact, True Value has rolled out its own private label \u2013 Pet Expert, dog food and dog treats.<\/p>\n The idea of a hardware store, chain or co-op seeking to beef up sales through products not normally associated with their respective domain should not come as a surprise.\u00a0 Years ago, Orchard Supply Hardware gained considerable customer loyalty by bringing in bottled gallons of water during a drought.\u00a0 When the drought was over and the company announced it would discontinue the now seemingly unneeded offering, many customers chimed in to insist that they continue to be allowed to make these purchases to show their appreciation for Orchard\u2019s help when times were tough.<\/p>\n Rather than wonder how successful True Value\u2019s current merchandising plans will be, dealers should attempt to determine which not necessarily traditional products might be a hit with hardcore and\/or prospective customers in their markets.\u00a0 This could prove to be a neat insurance policy against the next economic downturn, which might well lurk around the corner.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently an article was published based on an interview with a divisional VP of merchandising for True Value.\u00a0 The article focused on the co-op\u2019s rather aggressive merchandising plans for the VP\u2019s assigned product categories- Automotive, Pet, and Farm & Ranch.\u00a0 The plan is to significantly grow these categories over the next five years. Interestingly, none… Continue reading The (True) Value of Secondary Product Lines<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"post-template-no-sidebar.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-3267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-hardware","tag-insight","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}