True Value urges retailers to embrace destination True Value format at fall market

Hardware Retailing, Nov, 2009

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

At True Value's annual convention Oct. 2-4 in Salt Lake City, President and CEO Lyle Heidemann presented a note of optimism for the future and hailed the continued rollout of the co-op's Destination True Value (DTV) store design and decor program.

Year to date, Heidemann said that wholesale sales were down 3 percent, and that comp-store sales were down 1.1 percent, but noted they were better off than key wholesale and retail competitors in the home improvement industry. He also urged retailers to market aggressively and manage their inventory closely. "But don't over manage your 'A' and 'B' items," which he said can represent 75 percent of sales. "Cut expenses transparent to consumers."

Heidemann also suggested that members take the opportunity to focus on improving their stores to become "more relevant to customers." Consumer research on stores that have recently remodeled using the DTV format shows sales tracking more than 10 percent higher than at peer stores who haven't remod eled. "Our biggest advocates for DTV are the retailers that have done it. I can tell people all about the advantages of DTV, but they won't listen to me like they will their peers," he says. Customer response has also been a strong indicator of the success of the program. "Customers tend to think retailers have added space, or added a lot more merchandise, when in actuality, they haven't. But what's important is that customers think the shopping experience is better, and that's a great way to keep them coming back into the store," he says.

One of the stores that recently remodeled using the new Destination True Value format is Western Ohio True Value, located in St. Henry, Ohio. Hardware Retailing editors attended the store's grand reopening, Sept.18-20, as it was the first True Value store in Ohio to embrace the DTV design.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

True Value officials were on hand for the official chain cutting ceremony, and so were three generations of the Kuenning family, including Stan Kuenning, who along with his wife Dona Mae opened the family's first store in New Bremen, Ohio, in 1953. While the New Bremen location is now closed, the family operates a store in Minster, Ohio, as well as the newly remodeled store in St. Henry. While Stan still works a couple hours a week, his son Scott and Scott's wife Linda and grandsons Andy and Lee, run the business now.

Strong community support from St. Henry residents was the driving factor in the decision to implement the new format, according to Scott Kuenning, who says 90 percent of the local residents have enrolled in the store's True Value Rewards program. But he also thinks it will help him draw from surrounding corn munities. "Customers are already saying the store looks bigger and has more open space," he says. "The Destination format makes it easy to shop and is built to draw the female customer."

What attracted him to the DTV format, says Kuenning, was the store design and the way it forced him to re-examine his assortments to make sure they were up to date. "We went from an old-time hardware store feel to a very up-to-date store that people will want to shop," says Lee Kuenning.

Already, True Value has about 90 DTV formatted retail locations, and plans to more than double that number in 2010, according to Fred Kirst, VP of retail and specialty business development at True Value.