Hardware.com undergoing face lift, Product shift

Home Channel News, July 17, 2000

Site now focuses on small contractors, remodelers

SEATTLE -- Hardware.com has changed its business model. No longer is it a hardlines e-tailer catering to busy homeowners. The redesigned site, located at www.hardware.com, is now tailored to residential remodelers and small contractors.

A Hardware.com spokesperson declined to discuss the company's new strategy, explaining that the site has yet to be officially relaunched. But a tour of the Web site makes it clear that its target audience has changed. The hardware store section of the site allows visitors to "shop by trade," which links to a series of product groupings customized to electricians, plumbers, painters and general contractors. The hardware store boasts more than 45,000 items, including pro-oriented building materials like roofing, insulation and attic venting.

The majority of the products in the millwork and building material departments of the site are available for delivery from Golden State Lumber, a four-yard pro dealer based in American Canyon, Calif. Dave Maxwell, Golden State's chief operating officer, declined to give details on Golden State's relationship with Hardware.com when contacted by NHCN. "We have a nondisclosure agreement with them," he explained.

Hardware.com's home page features high-end products, such as a $480 kitchen faucet and a $3,000 cabinet set. A limited-time promotion on the site offers first-time purchasers a 20 percent discount on purchases over $100.

There are links to news briefs, industry articles and a regular column called the "Expert Section," featuring submissions by small business advisors and management gurus. The site also offers a menu of online services for professional customers through partnerships with other e-commerce firms. For example, ImproveNet and ServiceMagic power its find-a-contractor and lead generation services. NetClerk allows Hardware.com's customers to submit their building permit applications online. Customers looking for loan rates can connect to iOwn.com's home and loan center.

On July 15, Hardware.com will launch the Groundbreakers' Club, a loyalty and referral program for contractors and remodelers. Membership benefits will include special merchandise pricing, use of online bid and project management services, discounts on future Hardware.com seminars and a monthly newsletter.

Hardware.com started life as Superbuild.com, an e-tail site that opened for business in October 1998. The company changed its name to Hardware.com last year, a few months after it was bought by a team that included Mike Pickett, Hardware.com's current CEO, and Sam Heerensperger, a former merchandising executive at Eagle Hardware & Garden. Heerensperger is no longer a part of Hardware.com's management team.