Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JULY 2016 12 On Tuesday evening, NRHA recognized its 2016 Young Retailer of the Year honorees: Under $2 Million in Annual Sales • Travis Hellvig—operations manager, Hartford Building Center, Hartford, SD Over $2 Million in Annual Sales • Marc Currie—president, Niece Lumber, Lambertville, NJ • Richard Lukowiak—general manager, Johns Creek Ace Hardware, Johns Creek, GA • Kyle Martinez—owner/president, Interstate Building Materials, Many, LA • Jared Sawyer—owner/manager, Sawyer's True Value, The Dalles, OR Multiple Stores • Christian Herrick—CEO, Randy's Do it Best Hardware, Timberville, VA • Dan Moulton—dealer-owner, Alliston Home Hardware Building Centre and Hanover Home Hardware Building Centre, Alliston, Ontario and Hanover, Ontario • Aimee Nichols—business owner and manager, Berger Hardware, Hawthorne and Port Chester, NY Each of the honorees spoke after accepting their awards during a ceremony Tuesday night, repeatedly acknowledging the privilege of getting to know the other outstanding recipients. "It's been really cool to hear where other people have come from and why they're here," Travis Hellvig of Hartford Building Center in South Dakota. Christian Herrick of Randy's Do it Best Hardware in Virginia echoed the sentiment, saying fellow independent home improvement retailers aren't competitors and need to support each other. "We're one of the last holdouts in the independent retail world," Herrick says. The Spirit of Independents Award was presented by NRHA and Hardware Retailing magazine. Bill Lee, president and CEO of NRHA, recognized retailers, manufacturers and a distributor who have worked with NRHA to support the work of The Fuller Center for Housing, which is a nonprofit organization with a mission to eliminate poverty housing. "NRHA is committed to bringing the channel together to support this worthwhile effort," Lee says. "This is a cause our industry can get behind." David Snell, president of The Fuller Center for Housing, also spoke, praising the donations and other contributions from the companies represented. "We are helping families establish independence," he says. "What we're doing improves lives, improves communities." NRHA presented The Industry's Top Guns award, which recognized the accomplishments of four of the home improvement industry's most innovative independent retailers. This year's honorees are Eli Bliffert of Bliffert Lumber & Hardware, Tim Fansler of Family Farm & Home, Jack Foxworth of Foxworth-Galbraith and Jeremy Melnick of Gordon's Ace Hardware. The four retailers shared stories about the business challenges and successes they have weathered, and what they have done to grow their operations. Adding new store locations, and branching out into suburban markets rather than sticking only with urban stores, have been key to the success of Gordon's Ace Hardware. "In the end, it's been about diversification and diversifying risk," Melnick says. "It's part of survival. When you're a single-store operation, you have all your eggs in one basket." Growth for Bliffert Lumber involved cleaning house in the retail space as well as in back office processes, Bliffert says. "We're really old, so every store I went to, there would be stuff from the '50s," he says. The Paint and Decorating Retailers Association and the National Hardware Show teamed up to present their annual $5,000 scholarship to James Nathan Koerperich with J & M Paint & Decorating Center in Garden City, Kansas. In addition, this was the 50th year Hardware Retailing recognized some of the most innovative products in the industry with the Retailers' Choice Awards. LANCASTER BUYING SHOW Once again, paint sundry source Lancaster co-located its show with the National Hardware Show. The Lancaster Buying Show was held at the Westgate Resort Hotel & Casino and included more than 100 brands, such as Wooster, Purdy, Krylon and many others. EXHIBITOR OPPORTUNITIES Exhibitors working on new products had several opportunities at the Show to get feedback on or gain exposure for those products. In addition to the Product Review and Vetting Program, which allows exhibitors to have their products reviewed and vetted by buyers from some of the industry's biggest distributors and buying groups, there were buyers participating in the Presidents Council Buying Days, a Pitch the Experts panel, the QVC Sprouts Product Search and a panel from The Grommet. SAVE THE DATE FOR 2017 The 2017 National Hardware Show will take place Tuesday, May 9 through Thursday, May 11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. For more information on the National Hardware Show, please visit www.nationalhardwareshow.com. RO NATIONAL HARDWARE SHOW ® Opportunities

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