2008 Young Retailer of the Year Honoree
TODD KIRSCHNER
A Study in Efficiency
There’s
likely not a wasted minute in Todd Kirschner’s day. Between working
six days in the hardware store and doling out volunteer time in the
community, he would aptly describe himself as someone who just can’t
sit still.
So appropriately, visit his store and you’ll find there’s not a wasted
square inch of space there either. The 3,400-square-foot store offers
46,000 SKUs.
Kirschner has always loved hardware and worked at Trio Hardware in
Plainview, N.Y., during high school. But the real drive that pushed
him into the fast-paced world of hardware retailing that he lives today
literally happened overnight.
A late-night fire leveled Trio Hardware and two other stores in the
strip mall where they were located. Sifting through the remains, Todd
found a can of spray paint and, in a moment of inspiration, painted,
“We Will Be Back” on the boards covering the entrance. The store’s
owner, Bruce Carlow, had long been Kirschner’s friend and mentor. But
devastated at the loss, he scratched his head at Todd’s optimism.
“He wasn’t sure how he would be able to rebuild the store,” Kirschner
says. “But I said I was going to make it happen.”
Through the next few months, Todd put his leadership and energy into
action as he guided the remodel of the store. He scaled back college
classes to allow more time for work on the store, and reopened a temporary,
1,000-square-foot retail space in a different location. Less than nine
months later, ahead of schedule, the doors of Trio Hardware were once
again open for business.
Carlow promptly promoted Kirschner to store manager. Since then,
it seems his drive for rebuilding the store was only the beginning
of his repertoire of talent.
One of the biggest challenges of Trio Hardware is its limited space.
The strip mall has the store locked in, so Kirschner needed some creativity
if he wanted to grow sales.
He quickly discovered that standard planograms for products usually
took up more space than he could afford. An avid do-it-yourselfer,
Kirschner enjoyed woodworking, so decided to create his own displays.
Sometimes that meant stacking drawers of product to the ceiling or
finding new ways of displaying products that would normally hang on
a rack.
In 10 years, without expanding the footprint of the salesfloor, Kirschner
has tripled annual store sales to $1.5 million. In addition, the store
is very profitable. His average margin is 50 percent.
He also found other ways to increase his efficiency. He personally
installed new T5 energy efficient fluorescent lighting throughout the
entire store. The store is brighter and has cut his electricity bill.
A giant, inflatable dinosaur hanging from the ceiling holds a sign
declaring, “Customer Service is Not Extinct Here.” Kirschner is fortunate
to have long-time, knowledgeable employees, but he’s done his part
to keep them on his team. He offers a 401(k) plan with a company contribution,
a free full health insurance plan for full-time employees, and a profit
sharing program. Needless to say, what’s extinct is employee turnover.
When he’s not buzzing around the store, Kirschner is giving his time
to the same community and school system where he grew up. He might
be spending time downstairs in the store’s workshop helping students
work out the details of a project for their Robotics club. Or he might
be donating merchandise to a local church for a fundraiser. In the
evenings, he might be at the YMCA teaching a class.
He also has a degree in marketing, so he’s savvy to the value of
getting his store’s name in the press. He welcomes local media who
need hardware related information for their programming.
“The media loves us,” he
says. “They know they’re always welcome here to do a story and they
know we’ll help them. It’s free publicity for us. We’re very community
involved and I think that has really helped us survive even with all
the big boxes around us. Everybody loves coming here.”