Fighting the Big-Box stores :: essays research papers

Introduction The Just family has operated our hardware store in this community for three generations. Our store has supported all of our family members very well in all of our years in business. We have recently been informed that Home Depot is planning on opening a new store in our community. The following is our plan of action to stay in business and continue to serve our community. Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Currently Home Depot is planning on opening a new store in our community. We foresee this posing a huge financial threat to our business. Being a small locally owned hardware store, we are not able to obtain huge volume discounts like the big box stores. Currently our hours of operation are significantly shorter than Home Depot. Home Depot is a nationally renowned name brand store, which in itself will be a significant hurdle to overcome. Home Depot has a huge advertising budget, which includes NASCAR sponsorships and national television advertisements. The paramount concern for us is the competition they will impose relative to our customer base. Current Situation Seymour currently has one other hardware store located in the heart of the city in addition to ours. Both of our businesses have the same hours of operation, which are Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm and 8am until noon on Saturday. Our store has seven employees currently. Four are very knowledgeable individuals with a total of 120 years of experience between them. Two other members work part-time throughout the week stocking shelves and cleaning, while the last employee does the paperwork and ordering for the store. A huge percentage of our customers look to us for advice on how to repair their problems. They value our expertise in plumbing, electrical, paint, and personalized customer service. We believe we have an advantage in this area. Currently, we don’t offer any other services except waiting on the customers, answering questions, and on a limited basis, filling small orders from a limited supply base. Possible Causes of the Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We believe that Home Depot’s purchasing power could be the biggest issue facing us. They are a multi-billion dollar industry dispersing products nationwide. The result is providing lower cost product to the customer, while at the same time offering convenient one-stop shopping. Alternative Approaches After doing some sole-searching and conducting some poles within the community, we have come up with some ideas that might help us overcome the competition with Home Depot.