Hartville Hardware opens massive store
After two years of planning, Hartville Hardware opened its doors yesterday with some 245,000 square feet of retail space.
Inside the massive seven-acre facility, customers find a log cabin, a drive-through lumberyard, house facades, and a farm and pet area, an idea house with American-made products.
“We wanted to make a statement, and this is definitely a statement,” said Christa Domer, marketing, in a video at CantonRep.com. “We hope that you are wowed, as most of the people we talk to have been.”
The new Hartville store replaces the company’s former location that had been operating since 1974.
Hardware stores, others, confront new Facebook
Social media marketers are learning a few new tricks now that Facebook is rolling out a new interface design called “Timeline."
They have to. Consider the following Facebook posting from Milton, Wis.-based Dave’s Ace Hardware about the new Timeline format offered by the social media network:
“I knew it was coming and it’s finally here. The Dave’s Ace Hardware page has been automatically converted to Timeline. What used to be my comfortable and familiar refuge has now been reduced to a foreign and stressful exercise. This is going to take me some time to get used to.”
For small businesses wondering how to make the most of the new format, Seth Lieberman, CEO of Pangea Media, offered several tips.
“Cover and profile photos, tabs and favorite apps, milestones and more must all be considered in order to maximize all that Facebook’s new Timeline layout offers,” Lieberman said.
The company’s web site offers tips for mareters at a post called “Top 5 things marketers should know about Facebook’s Timeline brand pages.”
Among them are:
• It’s not optional;
• Facebook pages look different;
• Private messaging is here; and
• Interaction is more important than ever.
Lieberman added the following general Facebook advice: “News, humor, entertainment and insider insights grab your audience’s attention and motivate them to return for more. Simply pouring out post after post of advertising copy will mean losing fans and readership — people want to be engaged with the material, not spammed."
McLean’s Hardware holds a grand reopening
According to an article in The Leader of Traverse City, Mich., McLean’s Hardware of Kalkaska, Mich., will officially emerge from a major renovation this weekend.
The remodeling of the 45-year-old hardware store and rental center included new floors, new counters, paint, exterior signage and a rearrangement of shelving, fixtures and merchandise.
Owner Gene McLean told the newspaper that a survey of customers found that their most common recommendation was to increase store hours. As a result, the store no longer closes at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Instead, as of April 9, it remains open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.
The store remodeling began in January.
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May-23-2012 04:13 am