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Grandview Lumber Makes a Move Online

Three years ago, Cliff and Michelle Lewis, owners of Grandview Lumber and PRO Hardware in Grandview, Washington, took a big step forward when they built a new building and multiplied the size of space they have to use. Now, they are expanding their product offering again, this time with a virtual salesfloor. They recently launched a brand-new website for the business, complete with online ordering, giving customers fast access to the thousands of items in their distributor’s warehouse.

Because of Grandview Lumber and PRO Hardware’s ongoing commitment to sales growth and retailing best practices, Horizon Distribution Inc. named the company its 2018 PRO Hardware Retailer of the year. It is the third time the company has received the award.

“Cliff and his team have showed a willingness to embrace new ideas so they can stay current and relevant to the market,” says Mike Dawson, sales manager at Horizon Distribution. “They are very committed to taking care of their current customers while looking for ways to attract new ones.”

Ever since Cliff and Michelle purchased Grandview Lumber in 1991, sales have been strong. As Cliff expanded inventory, the old building became more and more cramped for space. The next logical step was to move the business to a place where there would be room to grow. They found a location to build across town, and in April 2016, Cliff and Michelle welcomed customers to their new building.

“The building has opened up a lot of opportunities for us,” says Cliff. “We are near the highway so customers can get in and out quickly. We’ve expanded many of our product lines and we have plenty of room to expand in the future.”

Cliff also wanted to keep the momentum going. He knew traditional shopping habits were changing. “People like the convenience of being able to place an order on their phone. They want the convenience of shopping wherever they are and having a practically unlimited selection,” he says. He wanted to offer that service to his customers. Fortunately, his distributor had an easy solution.

“Horizon helped us tremendously with our website,” he says. “They helped us build the site and then attached the inventory of their entire warehouse to our page. Customers can browse through many more products than we can carry on our shelves. They can order and have it shipped to our store for pickup.”

Horizon has also helped him monitor his web presence, including enhancing SEO to make sure his website rises to the top when someone in the area searches for hardware and building materials. To further promote his business, Cliff has also started television advertising and has launched a Facebook page for the store.

Since he purchases through Horizon Distribution, Cliff also can tap into the benefits offered by PRO Group, including greater buying power and an additional arsenal of marketing and merchandising tools.

“We find tremendous value in being associated with PRO,” says Cliff. “They give us so many tools to use that if we need help, whether it’s with our merchandising or our margins or anything else, they are willing to help us figure out what will work for us. The relationship I have with both PRO and Horizon is very valuable to our business.”

About Jesse Carleton

Jesse Carleton has visited independent hardware retailers, conducted original research on the industry and written extensively about the business of hardware retailing. Jesse has written for more than a dozen of NHPA’s contract publishing titles, all related to the hardware retailing industry. He also was instrumental in developing the Basic Training in Hardware Retailing courses now used by thousands of retailers across the country.

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