INTERVIEW
OPE +: These are all localized decisions, how to serve their market, whether it’ s pellet grills or snowblowers, right? Flengte: The beauty of a co-op model and being small business owners is they ultimately have that decision. They can customize it based off of what’ s going to work within their market, which means they can go deeper into Stihl and carry those $ 30,000 zero turns, or they don’ t have to. And we have AceHardware. com and the ecommerce business within outdoor power equipment is really strong. So even if stores aren’ t able to have the space to carry it all, there’ s still the availability that they can order it through AceHardware. com and have it fulfilled. You know, somebody’ s going to drop it off at their door. It’ s not going to be a box truck that drops it at the end of your driveway.
OPE +: Beyond sharpening lawnmower blades, how do these retailers handle vehicle service, mower repairs, chainsaw work and other service? Boyle: When we look at some of the challenges that exist in the market, I think service is one of them. You look at the independent dealers, unfortunately, we’ ve had a decline of independent retailers and specifically outdoor power specialists that offer full engine repair and services, and that’ s continued to decline. Our big box competitors are not in that space.
A big opportunity for us and what we really strive for is how far can we take the service element and how far can we build upon it because somebody has to do it. Our stores have embraced jumping into service. We have more and more retailers every year that are not just doing basic things like, oh, you know, I’ ll help you unspool a jammed up trimmer line. They’ re working on carburetors. Our vendor partners are very supportive in making sure we’ ve got warranty programs and being able to have support. A majority of stores are doing some basic service, and then we continue to grow that base of full-on engine repair. Let’ s rip it open and let’ s figure it out for our customers.
OPE +: Related to that, how are the store owners doing with that? I know staffing shortages are an issue throughout power equipment retailers. Boyle: I think as we look at getting into services more deeply, it has remained challenging, but it’ s unique. Because there’ s a lot of technical schools with folks that are hungry to get in and start learning and developing. You might only get somebody for two years or you
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