From Hardware to High End

How does a mom and pop hardware store turn into a successful high-end gift outfit? Change. That's one word Bob Plummer, the second-generation owner of Greensboro, NC-based retailer Fleet Plummer, articulates quite often. And it's certainly a word he's not afraid of. “If you can't take a risk on a new product, then you ought not to be in this business,” says Plummer. “You've got to be willing to do new and unusual things.”

Opened in 1948 by Plummer's father, now retired, Fleet Plummer was originally a downtown hardware store in a small southern town. As Greensboro grew, so did Fleet Plummer, eventually bringing in high numbers of female customers. When Plummer joined his now-retired dad in the business in 1978, he saw an opening. He added a few toys and gifts, and as sales grew in those departments, they shrank in the more traditional hardware supply categories. It didn't take Plummer long to see where the store's future was headed.

Today, Fleet Plummer's eclectic product mix includes patio furniture, Christmas decor, grills, fireplaces, outdoor living, jewelry, women's apparel, baby, tabletop, gifts; even a few hardware supplies.

“We kept the same customer base, but I've enjoyed it more,” Plummer tells Gifts & Decorative Accessories.

The retailer's passion for finding the unique and unusual — what he calls products with personality plus — radiates from the store. With such a wide range of merchandise, Fleet Plummer runs the risk of confusing customers, but it doesn't. The majority of its clientele are high-income women, who love the fact they can shop for patio furniture and jewelry in the same store, and then pick up a gift for their friend's new grandbaby.

Fleet Plummer's 'personality plus' also comes from employees, most of whom have been with the company for years, and from Plummer himself who, speaking in an honest, no-nonsense Southern drawl, is featured in all the store's TV commercials.

Fleet Plummer is made for leisurely shopping, more entertainment than errand, with merchandise in different themes, colors or moods tucked into every corner.

“If you can create an atmosphere of entertainment, people are willing to pay,” says Plummer. Display is key, he says, as is frequently changing merchandise and layout for an element of surprise. “That creates the fun and excitement,” he says.

Refitting lighting, installing new carpets and keeping paint fresh are always priorities. Plummer recently ditched the glass shelves that for years had displayed items and invested in a wide variety of wooden tables and shelves in an assortment of shapes and sizes. It adds a feeling of warmth, he says, adding that it makes his merchandise pop. The displays continue on several levels in a waterfall effect, with lighting at each step — especially in the displays below the tables, where dark corners can lurk.

Repeat customers are crucial to business, and Plummer keeps them coming back not just with the promise of always finding something new and exciting, but with incentives like a card containing a gift certificate on their birthdays. Plummer is a big believer in gift certificates, which he says have almost a 100 percent usage rate, compared to coupons, which may or may not bring customers in.

He adds that small things like offering gift-wrapping mean customers always finish their shopping with a positive experience. Plummer says he buys the most expensive gift-wrap he can. “My customers want it to look nice. They want it to look like a million dollars.”