Building customers' business builds distributor's business

<i>'The private label program keeps our name out in front of our customers, whether they're professional contractors or homeowners with a weekend project, and that's very important in our competitive business.'</i>

WANTED - Ab 04.09.08 im Kino!

Building customers' business builds distributor's business #1
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"Imagine a guy working late in the afternoon or on a weekend and realizing he's about to run out of nails. He can just hand the box to anyone there and say, 'go get me more of these.' They can look at the box and not only know what kind of nails to buy, but exactly where to go and get them," says Bob Spicher, a buyer for Curtis Lumber, one of New York's largest suppliers of building supplies. "And our name is on that box along with the address and phone number of the nearest location."
Curtis Lumber and its 22 locations in New York and Vermont is one of about 800 lumberyards and tool houses in the Northeast that are benefiting from a custom private label program provided to them by Northeast Wholesale Nail & Fastener Supply (NEW), Canton, MA. Curtis, headquartered in Ballston Spa, NY, has been serving the professional contractor for nearly all of its 114-year history. It understands the needs of these skilled customers and the demands of their profession. Its stores regularly stock more than 20,000 items and special order dozens more on a daily basis. For more than a century, Curtis has taken pride in customer service and customer loyalty.
"The private label program that NEW provides us keeps our name out in front of all our customers, whether they're professional contractors or homeowners with a weekend project," Spicher adds. "That's very important in our competitive business.
Saving time and $$
"Not only do the custom labels they create for us have our name and locations on it, it has our company SKU numbers and bar codes as well. We scan everything here, so that makes a lot less work for us — saving time and dollars," he adds.
Curtis Lumber began working out the details of its program more than two years ago, having met NEW's Irving Hurwitz through the LMC buying group. At first, Hurwitz told Spicher that, out of the location NEW was in at the time, it couldn't handle the Curtis demand — but that as soon as they moved into their new facility, they'd get together. Spicher appreciated the candor and as soon as NEW did open its current facility, talks resumed.
"NEW will do whatever it takes to partner with us," he explains, and that's the right word. They are not a supplier, they are truly a partner.
"They do fasteners, and they handle anything related to fasteners extremely well," he continues. "We started with nails, collated nails and screws and have expanded to include the GRK line of specialty screws and other things. Most recently, we've added the complete Bostitch line and it has gone exceptionally well.
"Behind everything is outstanding service. Northeast has a fill rate of at least 98 percent and if I need to, I can get Irving on the phone in a heartbeat — but I rarely need to because they have such a knowledgeable staff.
"From a buyer's standpoint the best thing that can happen is no customer complaints, and that's what happened here — sure, we had a bump or two in the road when we got started, but any issue was resolved quickly, usually within 24 hours," he concludes.
Making a name, without being seen
Northeast Wholesale has been making a name for itself behind the scenes in the Northeast's construction industry — by building a strong brand name for each and every one of its customers.
"We, as a company, wanted to separate ourselves from our competition just as our customers were trying to do in their competitive environment," explains Rick Hurwitz who's given credit for developing the customer color-coding and custom labeling program at Northeast Wholesale. "Our competition was out there pushing their programs for nails and screws, but didn't have anything special to back them up. We went to our customers with a different approach. We went to them asking, 'what do you need, what do you want, what can we create especially for you that will improve your bottom line?' We've designed everything to fit them."
"Once Northeast Wholesale gets a company like ours working with them, they've really 'got 'em.' Most suppliers try to build loyalty to their own name and then come to you saying 'you need me.' That's not the case here," says Tony Brookhouse, COO of Koopman Lumber & Hardware, a major player with four locations in Massachusetts. "Northeast Wholesale has worked hard to build our brand name, which has created a loyalty to us among our customers. That, in turn, has created a loyalty from us to buy from them. They have done so much to build our brand, we actually do need them. Theirs is a very forward-thinking approach."
Like many others, Koopman was linked to NEW via the LMC group, and the two companies have been working together for 10 years. Koopman has three retail locations in Massachusetts and a distribution center that spans eight acres — where a fleet of trucks hits the road each morning at 6 to meet the needs of professional contractors.
Nails are just the beginning
Established in 1939, the company is still family-owned and has a line card that stretches from outdoor power equipment for lawn care to power tools, fasteners and building materials.
"We started working with Northeast as a supplier of nails, but soon expanded. Now we rely on them for Ironclad products, the whole DeWalt line of tools and accessories and, most recently, the complete Bostitch line," Brookhouse continues.
"This is a company that really services what they sell, and that's key to our private label program," he adds.
"With things like fasteners, our customers aren't really loyal to one brand name over another. But, they have learned to trust us and are loyal to our company, and that carries through to products with our name on them, like nails. As long as they trust that the quality is there, our customers will buy our brand.
"NEW has done an excellent job of maintaining the quality control that's necessary to support that level of trust," Brookhouse concludes.
"We devote 100 percent of our resources to our customers," points out John Hurwitz, Northeast Wholesale's head of operations. We work hard everyday to build their business. Knowing that's what builds our business."
author: By A. D. "Butch" Horn




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