The impact of the Coronavirus on small business owners
Running ACE Hardware Stores and Dealing with the Pandemic
I own 13 ACE Hardware stores in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Across the country, home improvement stores, including small hardware stores, were classified as essential. Perhaps the benefit for us was that everyone wanted to fix everything, whether it was broken or not. Therefore, we were essential, but we had to deal with customers wanting to buy a lot of things that weren’t necessary.
Did you have to make significant changes to business operations and employee management?
We have always run our business and given our managers a lot of autonomy, but we increased autonomy almost when the COVID pandemic started. We shut down our back office, which includes marketing, human resources, and inventory, and they were sent to work from home. Then, my husband and I continued working at our headquarters, but we did not go visit the stores. We implemented a Zoom call three times a week with the managers – first to provide moral support, but secondly just to check in. We saw a significant increase in online sales, and we were not equipped for that. So, we had to ramp up and adjust operations to handle all the online sales. We had to change processes and modify and explain how to pick up goods from the car. Customers didn’t know how they could pick up goods from their car if they didn’t have one. Many of our locations do not have parking. So, if a customer could call me from the curb. That was great, except that small stores do not have 85 phone lines. Our phone lines increased, and people became very angry because they could not reach us. So, we immediately implemented a texting app in some of our stores so customers could text us. But then, you had to teach employees the texting protocol: you must respond in complete sentences. Don’t text as if you were texting your friends.
It seems you implemented good safety measures.
We were very early in putting up protective barriers and making sure they were available for other businesses to purchase. We were buying personal protective equipment, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer from various sources we had not bought from before. ACE is a cooperative if you didn’t know; we don’t have a franchise. So, we buy most things through ACE to support our cooperative, but they were facing the same supply chain issues that everyone else did. And when they couldn’t get hand sanitizers and masks, we had to look elsewhere. Otherwise, we would be waiting for ACE to figure out how to distribute them to all of us. So, we started purchasing some products from local coffee shops that began making hand sanitizers, or from manufacturers. We reached out to many of these resources that had pivoted, and that was really helpful to get a solution outside our regular purchasing system.
What is the impact of the pandemic on employees? What was the transition like?
We are always very busy in the spring, so we always increase the number of employees. We made the mistake of not increasing them because we didn’t think we would have a spring season due to COVID. Then we had to scramble to compensate because everyone wanted to start a garden, and everyone wanted to build a backyard room in their home. So, we really had to scramble to hire people to help us meet the demand for the gardening and landscaping season, even though we were still allowing only 10 people in-store. So, we had to keep up with the demand, much of which came through online channels. We had to train new people – and do a lot of that virtually – and make them understand how serious working in retail during COVID was. This meant social distancing, and “if the customer doesn’t come with a mask, don’t let them in,” and “don’t touch their phone when they want to show you their project.”
What
What are the biggest challenges regarding making this shift?
We feel lucky that we were able to stay open. I feel embarrassed to complain when I know that all the small businesses and restaurants around me had to close. I realize we were fortunate, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t face pressure from employees who tested positive, and then figuring out how to clean the stores. The impact of all the other businesses collapsing was that we showed a little bit of empathy. For example, if someone who usually shops at Home Depot couldn’t do that or wouldn’t, they were more forgiving with us.
What products were in high demand? You mentioned gardens.
At the beginning of the season, it was very hard to find patio furniture. Fire pits were sold out because it was still a bit chilly in the spring, and everyone wanted one. We started running out of plants because everyone was growing vegetables and seeds. Not necessarily flowers, but seed companies ran out of seeds, and everyone wanted to start growing seeds indoors so they could create a garden. And now, canning supplies are at their peak season. Vegetables are at the end, and anyone growing a lot of tomatoes who wants to can them is trying to do that now. So, continuing to keep them in stock is still a challenge.
What are you looking forward to now?
We’re not sure. Do we think we will retain those customers? Did we have a chance to gain a lot of new customers? We have always advocated for shopping local and supporting local businesses. But again, we are holding different standards, and many people prefer to shop on Amazon or go to Home Depot. But we hope to convert some people. We look forward to 2021, and we think we might remain busy this way. Maybe we found a lot of new and happy customers. The supply chain is supposed to bounce back, and we won’t run out of things as much.
What have you learned as a business owner during this pandemic? Has your perspective changed?
I’m always learning something. We have 30,000 products, so I always tell all of our employees that we can’t say we know enough because there’s always a new product to learn about. I’ve been very impressed by the businesses that had to pivot and do new things. I know there are a lot of side effects, but there are many restaurant and manufacturing owners who have really started doing great things, and they’ve changed their business models because of COVID. Growth and engagement are two core values we have, but this has really taught me the serious importance of sharing the knowledge we have about the products we carry with the outside communities.
Would you like to share your perspective as a small business owner? Share your story by emailing contact@thebalance.com.
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