Home Improvement Industry Distributors Launch New Look for Retailers

Independently owned hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards across the country are getting a new tool in their arsenal now that a merchandising and marketing organization is offering a new 'store environment' program.

Des Plaines, Ill. (PRWEB) August 11, 2005 -- Taking a cue from millions of customers who shop to remodel and redecorate, the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Distribution America and its distributor members have launched a new store environment package to upgrade the look of hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards across the country.

The Distribution America Concepts of Retail Environment" (DACORE) includes signage and countertop options, flooring, lighting treatments and even paint colors for a store's walls. The merchandising and marketing organization now offers a comprehensive store environment program, according to Ron Andersen, Distribution America's director of marketing. We are encompassing all of the visual aspects of the customer's shopping experience from beginning to end." Andersen added that store design, layout and shop-ability are integral parts of Distribution America's Retail Profit Management (RPM) program.

Kenny Beauvais, chairman of Distribution America and CEO of the Shreveport, La.-based Hardware Distribution Warehouses, Inc. (HDW) previewed the new program to retailers at the company's buying market Aug. 5-7 in Baton Rouge, La. HDW displayed the store environment along with key merchandise in a 3,600-square-foot concept store on the show floor. Several retailers indicated interest in the store environment, including six partial or full-store conversions. Another retailer showed interest in building a new store from the ground-up utilizing program elements.

Beauvais said the lifestyle images and trend-forward colors in the store environment packages lend appeal to the program. The graphics indicate solutions," he said. The look draws you in by showing images of products in use." Distribution America and distributors were sensitive to keeping all design elements evergreen in nature to avoid limiting use or dating the look of a store.

Jonathan Mize, executive vice president of the Atchison, Kan.-based Blish-Mize and chairman of the Distribution America sales and marketing committee that developed the concept, said the program advances Distribution America and distributor members' offerings. The new program gives us many options -- whether a retailer wants just signs or a complete remodel," said Mize, who will be implementing the new program with a lumberyard customer in Kansas during the fourth quarter of this year.

Dale Hall, senior vice president, marketing for the Spokane, Wash.-based Jensen Distribution Services, said the program's flexibility is one of its key selling points. We service a wide variety of store types," said Hall, who participated on the sales and marketing committee that helped fine-tune the program elements. A pro-oriented lumberyard might call for different elements than a store catering primarily toward female shoppers, and this program has options for both."

Independent hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards have frequently been challenged from an image standpoint, Andersen said. We have used lifestyle graphics and color to make the stores more appealing. We're busting the walls on having our retailers look like traditional hardware stores and home centers." The program is also designed to work with all of Distribution America's branded stores programs (Golden Rule, Priced Right Everyday, Sentry and Trustworthy) and with non-branded retailers.

Distribution America is working with the Linden, Mich.-based Ruvela on the DACORE program, which is being marketed by the company's distributor members and will also be showcased on www.daonline.com in the coming months.

Distribution America distributor members Jensen Distribution Services and Blish-Mize both plan to preview the program with retailers at their September dealer markets.

The Des Plaines, Illinois-based Distribution America www.daonline.com is a $2 billion plus buying and marketing organization, covering all 50 states with over 20,000 retail customers.

Note to media: Photographs of the store-within-a-show" showcased at the Hardware Distribution Warehouses, Inc. August market available upon request to either above media contact.

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