True Value 2012 Annual Report Download - page 14

 TRUE VALUE  ANNUAL REPORT
MEETING THE NEED FOR SMALLTOWN HARDWARE STORES IN ILLINOIS
TWO TOWNS CALLED. SARAH ANSWERED.
Elmwood, Ill., needed a hardware store. Sarah Carter saw the chance to realize her
dream of owning a True Value. It was a match made in heaven.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Sarah Carter grew up working
at her father’s hardware store
in Princeville, Ill. Aer being
devastated by a tornado in ,
nearby Elmwood was looking
for someone to open a hardware
store there. When her father
declined to pursue it in , Sarah picked up
the phone. One year later, Sarah’s Friendly True
Value was in business.
A UNIQUE SITE, A GREAT LITTLE STORE
Investors had acquired a ,-square-foot,
L-shaped former filling station in a downtown
corner location with the help of disaster relief
funds, which they made available for the store.
When Sarah and her True Value retail consultant
agreed it was a great site, the project was off
and running. “I really kind of surprised myself
with how much I knew from the years I spent
working for my dad,” she says. “Things just fell
into place.”
SHOWCASE FOR THE FLEXIBILITY OF DTV
“I knew I wanted DTV. It’s crisp and fresh and
professional. It wasn’t a hard sell for me,”
Sarah says. “When you’re a shopper, you come
in, it looks good and it’s easy to find things.
It was easily adaptable to the location’s unique
footprint. And I built a wrought-iron fence to
utilize outdoor space on the site. People tell
me it shops like a mini-big box!”
SUPPORT FROM TRUE VALUE Sarah has been
pleased with the support True Value provided
as she was puing her store together. “Oh my
gosh!” she gushes. “I can’t say enough about the
assistance they provided. The paint person’s
expertise — priceless. Others I worked with,
some I’d call friends today. So supportive and
inspirational. I still use the help desk all the time.
The insights and advice I get from everyone are
always dead on.”
NEXT: A TRUE VALUE FOR CANTON, ILL.
“While I was going through the process of
planning and opening my store in Elmwood,
I got a call from folks in Canton, Ill., saying,
‘When you finish that project, we’d like to talk
to you about opening a store here, too.’ I’m going
to open a ,-square-foot DTV store there
in spring of .”
When you talk to Sarah, her work ethic and
enthusiasm come shining through. She’s clearly
having fun. There’s no doubt that the people
of Elmwood and Canton are glad that when
their communities called, Sarah was the one
who answered.
“THE FENCE
GAVE ME LOTS
OF OUTDOOR
RETAIL SPACE.”