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Back In The Hood - by Carla Waldemar, Dealer Magazine |
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Associated Materials, Inc. (AMI) d/b/a AMI Do-it Best has come full-circle. And it's learned a few lessons on the trip. The company began as a small neighborhood store in Indianapolis, Ind., back in 1945, set up to serve the demands of neighborhood homeowners; its nuts-and-bolts needs were its bread and butter.
In June of 1998 AMI Do-it Best celebrated the Grand Opening of their NEWLY expanded location-right next door to its original site. And it's nuts-and-bolts business again. The trip back home was not without its share of detours that weren't on the marketing map.
Jeff Cardwell, AMI's president, joined the company in 1976 at the height of the building boom. "By then we were hot with the professional builders. They were 90 percent of our business, so we relocated the yard to another facility with a rail site to handle unloading. When the crash came in the mid-80s, things slowed down dramatically. We decided to move back to our original location [anchoring one of the city's busiest crossroads].
Great visibility. Lots of exposure." It was a mental shift as well. "We decided we'd better turn back to our former market-to diversify. To move back to the remodeling, fix-up and repair business, which better fit this older, inner-city neighborhood. We're not after the giants out there," he demurs with a glance over his shoulder at the Lowe's and Menard's warehouses just down the road, in a corner of the metro where conglomerates like 84 Lumber, Payless Cashway and Contractors' Warehouse also stand ready to gobble up the pie. "We just wanted to expand our fix-up and home center business," he says. "And it's worked tremendously."
To further that goal and grow the company, which he co-owns with CEO Barbara Huddleston, widow of its founder, Cardwell took a long, hard look at joining a buying group. "We'd always been affiliated with a lot of different groups," he says, "but nothing which handled all our needs."
The new facility that debuted in June (1998) is a 12,000-sq.-ft. Do it Best Hardware Store which complements AMI's existing lumberyard next door. "It was a perfect fit for us. We wanted a national identity, national exposure, but to retain our independence," Cardwell justifies the marriage. "It's part of the grand plan to shift the customer mix back to homeowners. And it's working." The benefit that came as a surprise is, the pros are eating it up, too. The secret lies in offering a full smorgasbord of unique and integrated services.
As is the rule at AMI, these services are customer-driven. "They just kind of evolved," is the way Cardwell puts it. "I'd been in the real estate business, so I saw a niche we could fill by acting as a builder's rep in selling homes. Builder clients who'd constructed homes on spec can list them here. We also keep them up to date on financial trends and aid available. It helps to move their product. And what's good for them is good for us," he knows.
"In addition we have an interior designer on staff, so we can also assist model-home builders with wallpaper, carpet and color choices. Having people onboard with building, real estate and interior design skills has really helped grow our pro business.
"Our approach is from a service and knowledge perspective, not price and product. And it's really paid off for us. We've seen tremendous turn-around and growth this year. September," he notes, "was our all-time high." Service, according to the company's credo, translates to "whatever it takes." And that mandate includes the boss.
Cardwell spoke to Dealer magazine from his cell phone ("excuse me a minute...excuse me a minute") while delivering a couple of hardware items to a homeowner when none of his delivery trucks was free-putting his money behind the mouthpiece on his flier that promises "complete, on-site, fast and friendly service from our fleet of trucks."
The handout, headlined "Serving Our Customers,..." also promotes a free estimating service from a list of materials or a material take-off from a blueprint. Assembly and manufacturing are available, too, through AMI's own in-house door shop (5,000 choices). A consulting and referral service encompasses pro services homeowners ask for, such as drafting designers, civil engineers, contractors and subs, along with zoning, variance and permit services, complete plans and specs and construction lending programs.
And there's more: AMI extends in-house credit to its contractor customers and, for the consumer, offers a private-label credit card or 90-day, same-as-cash program.
Employees are spurred to follow through from selection of material to loading the order. Cross-training is the trick. "Everybody is prepared to take on everything-not 'paint and paint only'. They're dedicated to taking the customer from start to finish instead of trading him off.
And we're initiating some do-it yourself clinics" in which vendors will participate. (Even the company's on-hold telephone messages are DIYer-friendly. A supportive voice offers tips, such as coating one's hands with petroleum jelly before painting to ease clean-up. The voice also earns customer's trust by suggesting that the highest-cost product may-get this!-not be the one to choose, as in the underside of a deck, where the wood won't show. Then the message segues into a soft-sell suggestion to call on AMI's "project professionals" for help planning and executing that deck. It continues with an invitation to experience easy, one-stop shopping for anything from "rakes for leaves to caulk for eaves.")
Training isn't left to chance. "I schedule two meetings per month for employees. The first, 90 minutes of paid time, is mandatory. We talk about what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, what we could do better-an open-table discussion involving all levels, from management to clerks and drivers. Everyone has a chance to air problems, talk things over face to face."The second meeting," Cardwell chuckles, "is voluntary. It's our fun time. I sponsor a group night out-bowling, a movie. They pick it, I sponsor it. We try to make it fun to work here. I promote the idea that, you have to spend more time here than with your family, so let's make it a pleasant experience."
AMI has captured another niche market that's complementary to its high-end trade, and that's a strong business in buy-outs and close-outs. In fact a 30,000-sq.-ft. warehouse, located across the street from the lumberyard and hardware stores is dedicated to just that. "Through our connections with major manufacturers and distribution centers, we can pick up merchandise at really good discounted numbers and pass those savings on to our customers."
The merchandise might be last year's model from a distribution center, or something resulting from the closing of a manufacturing plant. Whether it's one skid or truckloads, it creates a lot of interest and excitement. Many builders, remodelers, subcontractors and do-it-yourselfers contact us before going to other sources because they know we can often save them a great deal of money. It draws loyal customers that don't shop around from week to week. And these special purchases also attract new customers, who then take advantage of the other services of our full-service lumberyard. It gives customers the choice: Save money on these deals, or look at our other lines with all the bells and whistles."
In his journey full-circle, Cardwell has learned that local support is a two-way street. As pay-back to the community that's been good to him, he's served as a sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, Hunger, Inc., and the local YMCA, among other charitable activities. |
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