Retooling the Golden Hammers - Brief Article

Home Channel News, Jan 22, 2001 by Scott Larson

For the past 16 years, NHCN's annual Golden Hammer Awards have recognized suppliers for their commitment to supporting the sales and marketing efforts of retailers in our industry. Dealers of all sizes and persuasions have been asked to select the vendors in a dozen product categories that they feel do the best job in the areas of category management, inventory management, new product innovation, quality control and serving the needs of professional users. The industry then honors the winners at a reception held each year in Chicago during the National Hardware Show.

At the heart of the Golden Hammer effort has been a desire to acknowledge and promote the type of strategic partnerships which have helped the entire home improvement industry grow. Last year more than 400 industry executives --presidents, vice presidents, merchants, marketing directors and others -- came together to honor the vendors that best exemplified that spirit.

But true partnerships are hardly one-way streets. So this year, the Golden Hammer Awards program is being expanded to better reflect the full nature of meaningful partnerships and the important role they play in our business.

For the first time, the vendors that won last year's Golden Hammers will be asked to select the dealer, buying group or distributor that best exemplifies a true partner. This Golden Hammer Retail Partner Award winner will be selected based on its support of new products, commitment to open communication and information sharing, logistics capabilities and overall ease of doing business.

At the same time, the leading industry professionals that make up the Golden Hammer Retailer Committee will help select the winners of the first Golden Hammer Communications Award. This new award seeks to recognize excellence among suppliers, service companies and consumer products and brand marketing firms for their work in promoting and marketing home improvement products and programs. Winners will be selected in five categories: point-of-purchase advertising, business-to-business advertising, business-to-consumer advertising, packaging and signage. Companies interested in submitting their work for consideration for any of the Golden Hammer Communication Award categories should contact Carol Spells, project manager for the Golden Hammer Awards, at (212) 756-5167, or by e-mail at cspells@lf.com.

Finally, NHCN is working to expand the number of retail merchandising executives who play such an important role in the entire Golden Hammer effort by participating on our retailer committee. Currently, this prestigious group is made up of executives from many of the home improvement industry's leading companies, including BMC West, Lanoga, Carolina Holdings, House2Home, Orgill, Payless Cashways, Scotty's, Sears Hardware and the three major dealer-owned buying groups -- Ace Hardware, TruServ and Do it Best. For 2001, we've asked each of the co-ops to nominate one of its dealer-members to join the committee for one year to extend representation to a broader mix of retailers.

It's our desire at NHCN that each change further promotes and rewards the growth of constructive, meaningful relationships between retailers and suppliers. We hope you'll agree and will join us when we recognize the winners of the 2001 Golden Hammer Award on Aug. 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m at the Chicago Marriott Downtown. To register. contact Sonya Ruff, director of conferences and events, at (212) 756-5015, or by email at sruff@lf.com.