2013 was a wild year for the Fastener Industry. The number of major supplier/manufacturers that we use continued to decline with more bankruptcies and mergers than ever before which has made purchasing all the more challenging. Factoring in the weak economic recovery as well and you’ve created a very challenging situation, especially with the broad range of inventory that we carry.
For the past 5 years we have been “treading water” ….waiting for the economy to come back. We’ve pulled every rabbit out the hat that we could; cutting costs, juggling the inventory and finally, much to our dismay, cutting payroll. In November we said a sad good bye to our trusted friend and counter manager Richard Bower aka “HD”. It will be new season for me as I haven’t run this business by myself in quite a long time, but I must confess, I am finding the challenge exhilarating!
Soooo, with 2014 now a reality and some breathing room in our budget, we are excited in our renewed focus on the growing the inventory and expanding into new lines. We’ve even tried some advertising for the first time in over 20 years. With encouragement from my wife, and the talents of my oldest son Ryan, we produced our own ad which has been running at the Harkins movie theatre at Happy Valley Road and I-17. The results and the feedback has been awesome!
As always, we are grateful for how the Lord continues to provide for us and we are very thankful for your support!
Mark