{"id":330,"date":"2011-08-23T09:09:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T13:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom.chainstoreguide.com\/2011\/08\/a-new-84-prototype-eyes-the-diy-customer\/"},"modified":"2011-08-23T09:09:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T13:09:00","slug":"a-new-84-prototype-eyes-the-diy-customer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/2011\/08\/a-new-84-prototype-eyes-the-diy-customer\/","title":{"rendered":"A New 84 Prototype Eyes the DIY Customer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We all know that this industry has been suffering half a decade from the double whammy of its proximity to the subprime fiasco, compounded by the shock waves generated by the worst recession since the Great Depression.\u00a0 Every other month, leading housing economic indicators seem to change course, leaving contradictory trends.\u00a0 All this only serves to muddy views of this industry\u2019s economic well being.<\/span><\/div>\n
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As if that is not enough, the pundits who pronounced the current recession technically over some time ago are increasingly spouting the term \u2018double-dip\u2019 when reviewing our economic progress through the ravages of the recession.\u00a0 This only serves to add to the alarm sounded from the many sectors of society which doubt that the recession has come close to an end. <\/span><\/div>\n
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While almost all market segments of this industry have indicated consistently decreasing and troubling sales figures through the past five years, none has been nearly as hard hit as the pro dealer.\u00a0 The pro dealer\u2019s reliance on building construction led them to glowing positives in yearly financials throughout the housing boom of the 90\u2019s and the first half of this decade.\u00a0 Of course, this phenomenon was spurred in large part by that era\u2019s great prosperity and its mentality of encouraging consumer spending to the point of embracing great personal debt.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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At the same time banks and financial institutions were driving unprecedented profits, in large part through the creation and sales of complex, new \u2018securities\u2019, which essentially bundled batches of mortgages, many of which had been issued at sub-prime rates.\u00a0 Many of these mortgages had been virtually given to customers with little to no down payment or real backing.\u00a0 Money for housing flowed so freely that some pro dealers began o<\/span><\/span><\/a>ffering luxury kitchen and bath appointments including a line of products from high-end manufacturer Viking.<\/span><\/div>\n
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As subprime financing began to take root, consumers began to assume there was no end in sight to the ease of acquiring houses for a quick turnover and profit, while moving up the ladder of acquiring increasingly opulent and normally unaffordable homes.\u00a0 The concept even was coined with the brand, \u2018flipping\u2019.\u00a0 This became so popular that a television show was created to capture the excitement.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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This led to a culture which was almost seeking to burst and eventually did.\u00a0 Now many of those homes which were not necessarily built to flip but were a creation that economic energy, sit foreclosed or never even inhabited.\u00a0 Others await a completion which may never happen.\u00a0 Currently, in addition to the wave of foreclosures we have experienced, there are also far too many homes awaiting their first occupants who may never arrive. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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All this briefly explains the plight of pro dealers as they await the resumption of an energetic building market, which until lately seemed a promise to be fulfilled just after the next coming fiscal quarter. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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Now a prominent pro dealer has taken a new tact as it attempts to free itself from the shackles of constraint by the questionable future of new housing construction.\u00a0 84 Lumber recently announced that it is testing a consumer-oriented prototype at its corporate headquarters in Eighty Four, Pa.\u00a0 If tests prove successful, the company plans to roll out the new format to rural markets it deems as underserved by these market\u2019s big boxes.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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Through this process the company expects to transform about seventy of its lumberyards into retail-style stores that will feature several aisles of DIY essentials including painting supplies and plumbing fixtures. \u00a084 is also looking into the viability of offering current popular favorites such as outdoor grills, sheds and even backyard gyms. \u00a0Kitchen and bath design centers are likely to be spruced up as well. \u00a0As the company\u2019s traditional locations are not designed to invite average DIY consumers, these stores will be remodeled to include brighter lighting and a more open floor plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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I have written in the past how flexible dealers in our industry are when it comes to including new products and services in their arsenals to attract new customers and add to the total of the average checkout.\u00a0 84\u2019s newest test is a fairly radical solution to the industry\u2019s current challenges, offered by a typically traditional and accomplished player.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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Several year\u2019s ago I visited a local 84 location.\u00a0 The location manager and his associates were eager to discuss their operation in great and proud detail.\u00a0 They were particularly clear on their positive interactions with customers, most of whom were local contractors.\u00a0 When I asked who their competitors were, an interesting discussion ensued.\u00a0 As I noted that the relatively nearby Home Depot hadn\u2019t been mentioned, I detected a long pause in the response.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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They didn\u2019t view Home Depot as a true competitor.\u00a0 In fact, they noted that a small part of their customer base was made up of accomplished Do It Yourselfers, who preferred tapping into 84\u2019s project knowledge to visiting Home Depot.\u00a0 Now it seems at least some 84 locations are setting their sights on Home Depot customers. <\/span><\/div>\n

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In-depth profiles of Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowe’s and 4,500 leading home center and hardware chains can be found in Chain Store Guide\u2019s Database of Home Centers & Hardware Chains.<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

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Arthur Rosenberg, Senior Editor\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
Arthur has worked at Chain Store Guide for 20 years. He received a B.A. degree from City College of New York and attained a master\u2019s degree in electronic communications from Brooklyn College. Please contact him<\/a> if you have questions or comments.<\/span><\/div>\n

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We all know that this industry has been suffering half a decade from the double whammy of its proximity to the subprime fiasco, compounded by the shock waves generated by the worst recession since the Great Depression.\u00a0 Every other month, leading housing economic indicators seem to change course, leaving contradictory trends.\u00a0 All this only serves… Continue reading A New 84 Prototype Eyes the DIY Customer<\/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":[6,5],"class_list":["post-330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-hardware","tag-csg-old","tag-insight","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330","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=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}