8 | Orgill Case Study Before After The Challenges Because K&C Supply’s roots were in selling feed, farm and ranch equipment and trailer supplies, the operation’s hardware assortment grew over time. Without much guidance or support from their previous supplier on assortment strategy or merchandising, the legacy owners of the business added products wherever they would fit. After taking ownership, the Bundicks began cleaning up the store’s assortment, adding in fixtures and inventory they had in storage and creating a more extensive and cohesive merchandising presentation for their customers. The store itself, which sits inside a 5,000-square-foot corrugated aluminum building, presented some merchandising challenges for the Bundicks. The front half of the store featured departments such as lawn and garden, workwear, animal health products, hand tools and paint supplies, while the back half housed plumbing, electrical, more paint and sundries and pet supplies. The location also has an outdoor lumber facility, a sizable backroom for product storage and a large outdoor storage area for larger items such as gates, fencing supplies, pipe and outdoor furniture. Because the store had grown its categories over time, and with the addition of the purchased inventory and fixtures from another store, the overall look was a loose collection of assortments. Fixtures were different heights, and colors and products were scattered throughout the store in ways that allowed the merchandise to fit, but didn’t present customers with a cohesive flow. The management team knew even though they had augmented the products carried by the previous owner and reworked the salesfloor to accommodate a broader selection of items, they still needed help identifying holes in their product offering, maximizing their salesfloor space and creating a more appealing presentation. “We knew that we had cobbled a bunch of things together, but it was really just Dana, myself and the staff trying to get everything set up after we bought the business,” Jim said. “We were at the point where we had kind of done all that we could do, and it was time to turn to the experts at Orgill for some guidance and help.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjkzMjMw