Two things for 2012: Energy and Community

(Originally published in the January 2012 issues of Merchant Magazine and Building Products Digest.)

It’s January, a time when we’re all staring into the headlights of an oncoming new year bearing down and wondering how it’s all going to turn out.  Perhaps you’ve had the same premonitions I’ve had about 2012.  Clearly, there are going to be some rough patches.  It’s an election year and the electorate seems in a bad mood.  The economy seems in a bad mood, too, with high unemployment, rising foreclosures, and little building activity. 

Some dealers will do well and some won’t – it’s going to be a mixed bag.  So what can you do to put yourself in the former category?  It all depends, of course.  Do you serve mostly pros or consumers?  Are you are a chain or a locally-owned indy?  There is no one size fits all strategy.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, green dealers seem more buoyant, more resilient.  But I think this year’s going to take a little more effort.  What’s my advice for taking your green strategy to the next level?  Two things:  energy efficiency and community.

First and foremost, make energy efficiency job one.  If you’re a dealer in this channel this needs to be top of mind for everything you do.  I’m talking about the whole picture – operations, products, merchandising.  If you can find a way to pay for it, do a lighting retrofit, install solar panels, insulate every building you’re heating. This is going to reduce your operating expenses and demonstrate your leadership.

Stock products that will save money for your customers:  insulation products that meet LEED or other green building program criteria, triple-glazed windows, insulated doors, LED lighting.  Finally, do your homework on rebates and other incentives and plaster the information everywhere.  Label products that are energy efficient and can reduce bills.  Stocking the right products and merchandising them effectively will help maximize your sales.

(Besides, if you don’t who will, BestBuy?  Yes, apparently.  They’re piloting a new home energy retail concept.)

Secondly, do everything you can to get closer to your community – customers and other stakeholders, too.  Whether you’re primarily serving pros or consumers, be energetic in learning about your customers’ needs and finding ways to serve them.  Who is building houses?  Who is remodeling?  What are homeowners doing on their own?  Host events in your store that bring your buyers and customers together and get them talking.  Walk the aisles and the yard with your customers and listen carefully to their feedback.  If you’re getting this information from manufacturer reps you are listening to the wrong people. 

Don’t be afraid to leave the comfy confines or your store, either.  Attend local USGBC meetings.  If your community has a “shop local” campaign or a business alliance, such as a chapter of BusinessAlliance for Local Living Economies, for example, join it.  And don’t forget other groups who are active in your community.  Forging these links may make all the difference this year.  It will keep you from stocking useless inventory and will identify the products and materials your customers need.

Energy and community.  It’s simple and clear.  It provides a solid mission for your staff that’s imbued with optimism.  It can provide the basis for a marketing campaign.  And if you follow through, if these are truly priorities for your organization, you will be doing all the right things to appeal to green builders and remodelers, home owners and DIYers.  Certainly, you’ll learn about other needs, products and opportunities along the way, too.  And whatever turmoil the year may have in store, I believe, you’ll find that energy and community will see you through.

Community Insulation

Community Insulation
(Originally published in the November '09 issues of Merchant Magazine and Building Products Digest.)


With the economy still in doldrums and the cold winter months around the corner, I continue to be fascinated with insulation. Not the rebate-earning, energy-efficient, recycled-denim kind your customers will love you for, but the economic kind that will sustain your business through the lean times and propel the inevitable upturn to come. There’s little doubt that energy efficiency and green building will define the shape of this industry for decades to come, so it makes sense for every LBM dealer to bone up on these issues, stock and promote the products, train the staff, etc. But creating sustainable “economic insulation” requires deep community collaboration.

There are good examples of multi-generational, family-owned dealers that are well-placed in their communities, have staved off the “big boxes” and done well, even in hard times. These are good models, but the reality is that these examples are getting harder to find and even harder to replicate. Two organizations, BALLE, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and AMIBA, the American Independent Business Alliance, are focused on helping local businesses thrive, creating new models.


In the Rockies just outside of Denver, sits Big Horn Building Materials, a big local supplier for the surrounding mountain towns and resorts. Founder, Don Sather, has been a big proponent of energy efficiency and green building, walking his talk – the store is fitted with solar panels and is involved with a local non profit studying the feasibility of wind power in the community. He was also one of the founding member of Summit Independent Business Alliance, (SIBA), an AMIBA affiliate. “A few years ago, our community successfully fought off a new 'big box' chain and that really opening my eyes,” Don told me. “One of the most important things about being involved in a local network is getting closer to local officials and educating them about the economic benefits of supporting locally-owned business versus national chains.” Strong relationships with other local businesses and SIBA’s shop local campaigns have kept his business doing well, even though the economy overall has been weak, he added.

Woodland Building Supply, a 9 year-old dealer in Philadelphia, is another interesting model. Larry Reese, president and co-founder, was determined to make Woodland a destination for green building, stocking a wide selection of products, and recently opening a green showroom. “We’ve always focused on the triple bottom line and building relationships with local green builders,” Reese said. They joined Greater Philadelphia Sustainable Business Network, a BALLE affiliate, about a year ago. “It seemed like the natural thing to do. We’ve developed many more strong relationships with local builders, developers, and vendors and, to be honest, they’ve kept our business really busy over the last year.”

Paula Burke of Burke’s Hardware, a family-owned dealer with a 72 year history in Raleigh, North Carolina, told me a similar story. They recently joined their local network, Shop Local Raleigh, and were immediately impressed with the results. “We participated in a Shop Local TV ad, and even though we’ve been in the community for a long time, it was amazing how many people came into the store who’d never heard of us before!,” she said. They were motivated to join the network in part by the down economy, but mostly, she said, “because it was just the right thing to do, to support your community.”

Going Local

(Originally published in the October '09 issues of Merchant Magazine and Building Products Digest.)

For most of us independent business owners, the idea of buying local is pretty familiar – at least with respect to our own businesses.  We know that money spent in our stores, from folks in our own community, tends to stay in the community.  A good chunk of our salaries and those of our employees will likely be spent and invested locally, for other goods and services, as well as for local taxes that pay for fire, police and other municipal services.  Awareness of these benefits is spreading and giving rise to hundreds of buy-local campaigns which could be an important component of your green strategy.

Recently, the media has covered the growing interest in buying locally produced food as “locavores” seek to reduce the “food miles” and carbon footprint of their daily meals.  Right alongside, the shop local movement has been quietly picking up steam.  Organizations like BALLE, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, (www.livingeconomies.org) and AMIBA, the American Independent Business Alliance, (www.amiba.net), and a few others, are experiencing rapid growth.  Combined they represent over 30,000 independent businesses and over 130 local networks, with the bulk of those forming over the last two years.  Not surprisingly, a growing number of these businesses are LBM dealers, such as Kenyon Noble Lumber in Montana and Burke Brother's Hardware in North Carolina.

“Joining an Independent Business Alliance, or starting one in your local community, is not unlike joining a co-op, where members can benefit from group buying on advertising, supplies, etc.,” says Jeff Milchen, co-founder of AMIBA.  Milchen, counts the recession and growing interest in reducing environmental impacts as two of the main drivers lifting the number of independent business alliances they work with from 30 before the recession to an anticipated 75 by year’s end. 

Both organizations provide support to locally-focused business networks to educate the community about the benefits of buying and “thinking local.” Alissa Barron, of BALLE, points out that there’s a strong economic case for local businesses to form collaborative networks that promote buying locally.  “Dollars spent at locally-owned businesses circulate in the community 2-4 times longer, and do 2-4 times more good, than those spent with chains,” says Barron.  “We’re also finding that businesses end up collaborating on broader issues, too, like pooling resources for buying renewable energy.“ 

Seeking to tap this trend with some innovative twists is San Francisco start-up, Viv, (www.doyouviv.com). It’s a forward-thinking rewards program that helps green customers entice participating retailers to continuously green their operations with a simple card scan. The businesses take green steps based on the number of customer visits, while the Viv team offers consulting, free energy audits, and discounts from affiliated wholesalers.  Meanwhile, your customers share pride in your accomplishments and become more loyal.

For most independent LBM dealers, this trend plays to your natural advantage, but you can’t sit on your hands.  Join your local network, put signs in your windows, buy your supplies locally, and start educating your customers – both contractors and home owners - about the community benefits of buying local.   There may be opportunities to pool resources with fellow local businesses, too.  If you’re sourcing local materials, make sure to point them out - they can also contribute to LEED regional credits.  All in all, by fully embracing your local selves, your business will benefit and your community will, too.

 

Get Connected: building community around your store

(This appeared in the July '08 issues of Merchant Magazine and Building Products Digest.)

For generations, the hardware store was a focal point in the community, where folks could get great advice, discuss the issues of the day, or catch up on the latest gossip. Obviously, things have changed as “big box” retailers have muscled in and literally changed the landscape. And it seems the bigger “the box”, the less community connectedness. In contrast to that disturbing trend, a recent report from Conscientious Innovation, a sustainability think tank, found that consumers ranked feeling connected to family and community as their most important sustainability issue. Also ranking high was the desire to support locally-owned businesses. These results lead to an important insight - forging deep connections within your local community just may be one of the greenest ways you can grow your business.

Last month we talked about things you can do to “green up” your store’s operations, suggesting that offering CFL, battery and paint recycling provides a valuable community service. Recycling programs provide convenience to your customers, but deliver something more important to your community. By diverting toxic waste, such as mercury that accumulates in the food chain, from the local landfill where it can leach into the ground water, you demonstrate a concern about the health and well being of your patrons.

But to get really connected with your community, you’ve got to get involved. Contact your local green building organization - it might be a city agency or a local non-profit – call them on the phone as soon as you’ve finished this article, go to their meetings, and let them know you want to be involved. This will get you access to valuable know how and help you connect with local green building leaders. Most cities with green building programs embrace interested retailers and will even include them in promotions. In San Francisco recently, the city took out ads in the local paper promoting the local hardware stores stocking green building products.

But don’t stop with green building, connect with other non-profit organizations. If your store is locally owned, join the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, or BALLE, (www.livingeconomies.com). BALLE’s mission is about building community through local business networks. They can help you build the “buy local” advantage in your market. Don’t forget to support your local schools and parent groups. Making a small donation of organic compost for the school garden, participating in their fundraisers, sharing information about non-toxic alternatives – those small ways of showing your support will help to build long-lasting relationships. There are probably other organizations in your area that are focused on protecting local watersheds and bays, wilderness areas or providing job opportunities for young people. Find out what your staff members are interested in and encourage them to get involved, too.

You should also consider participating in local green events where you can educate your local community members about what your store is doing to make less-toxic, environmentally friendly, and resource conserving choices available. Better yet, host a green event at your store. If you’ve gone out and developed relationships with local green building and other sustainability organizations, you should find no shortage of enthusiastic help. Enlist the aid of your local green product manufacture and distributors, as well. After all, they are an important part of your community, too.

Getting connected with concerned community groups will make you feel good about offering eco-safe and non-toxic alternatives. It will also build your reputation and generate excellent word-of-mouth referrals, bringing new appreciative customers into your store. You can do good and do well and that’s what getting connected is all about.