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Release Date: October 10, 2003
FROM 'GASOLINE ALLEY' HARDWARE STORE TO BOLT KING
A shift in home improvement
is taking place. Almost half of the independent hardware stores
that were doing business in 1985 are gone. Hardest hit have
been small-town stores. Contrary to popular belief, Home Depot
and Lowe’s did not arrive on the scene with a mission
to kill the downtown hardware store. Retailers of all kinds
have grown in size to offset the increasing cost of doing business.
For the many small stores, being debt-free is still not enough.
What they need is a niche in the market, a way to distinguish
themselves.
The story of BoltDepot.com starts
with Cazeault Ace Hardware and provides a classic example. Cazeaults
has been doing business at the same N. Weymouth Ma. location
since 1949. Starting out as a family-owned, family-operated
store in a working class neighborhood, the small store always
managed to provide a good living for its owners. In those days,
the store carried a little bit of everything. There were even
rifles and shotguns displayed within easy reach, with ammunition
sitting on the shelf below. And this was suburban Boston, not
rural Vermont.
With almost a dozen repair garages,
the road through town was known to locals as ‘Gasoline
alley’. The area was also home to a large commercial fishing
fleet. Soon the combination produced a bee-hive of fix and repair
activity. Over time, increased competition and consumer mobility,
led first to the demise of the toy business, followed by housewares.
These changes, along with the owner’s interest in nuts
and bolts, naturally led to an increase in the fastener stock,
for which the store became well known.
The company discovered an interesting
fact. Most customers did not know the names of different fasteners.
Even the most mechanically inclined folks often declined help,
preferring to keep looking until they finally spotted the bolts
or screws they wanted. Through trial and error, a method of
questioning was devised to speed the sales process, easing the
confusion and mild embarrassment of customers who literally
did not know what to ask for. This method, used in the original
store, became the model for the navigation on a new direct sales
web site.
Using the website’s simple
visual selection process, visitors can quickly find the fasteners
they need, and purchase by the piece, box, or any combination.
There is no minimum order required. Visitors can easily access
relevant technical information such as, correct pilot hole size
or help determining screw diameter. Any customer wishing to
speak to a fastener specialist can call toll-free.
Bolt Depot’s history has
allowed it to fill a unique role online. This can be seen in
its web site, which preserves the atmosphere of the family-owned
business it grew out of. Despite online growth the company is
still happy to send orders as small as a single screw and according
to second generation owner Jordan Cazeault always will be. The
idea he says is to preserve the best parts of the hardware store
while using the latest internet technology to do business in
the computer age.
For more information on fasteners, including the many head styles
and materials available, visit us at www.boltdepot.com
Contact
Jordan Cazeault
Bolt Depot
286 Bridge St.
North Weymouth, MA. 02043
1-866-337-9888
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