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Round's Hardware

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Activant Eagle Helps to Provide Efficient Business Operation for Round's Hardware

If you search the Internet for Round's Hardware of Stoneham, Massachusetts, you'll find an endorsement from an unlikely source: Boston Bikers. Motorcyclists looking for high-quality chrome hardware to "customize their rides" will find a complete, well-organized selection unmatched by big-box retailers, motorcycle shops or online catalogs. Serving the Stoneham and Boston metro since 1960, Round's provides quality Do it Best products and uncommon items typical of independent hardware stores nationwide.

"We bought our first Activant Eagle system in 1986," says Bill Round, president and second-generation co-owner. "I've never been faced with the decision to go to another system, because I've had confidence in Activant's progression path. I have seen people pour their money and time into other systems, only to see them fall by the wayside. Activant hasn't done that to me!"

In 1980, Round's Hardware grew from a small, independent store to a 6,500-square-foot operation. "Now we have come full-circle," says Bill. "My father started the business as a little hole-in-the-wall, nuts and bolts emporium. We went big, and now in relation to everything else in the market, we're small. We have become a nuts and bolts emporium once again."

For Round's, the Activant system has progressed from a tabulation machine to an "operating system," helping them establish business processes that deliver quality service. "We've been successful because we use software to deliver inventory information and merchandise features and benefits to customers." With Activant, a customer coming into Round's Hardware can ask for animal repellant and, in response, the sales associate can search on the key words, "animal" and "repellant." The resulting viewer shows several SKUs that match the key words. With this information, the associate can tell the customer the type and cost of the product in stock and help them locate the product in the store.

Round's provides an assortment of uncommon merchandise so customers feel confident they'll find what they're looking for. "I tend to view myself as a general practitioner with a few extra herbs and potions in the medicine cabinet," says Bill. "We try to carry a general assortment of merchandise and then go into depth on those lines that make sense."

But like other independents, Round's battles perception every day. "I could offer a screwdriver for a buck, and that screwdriver could be two dollars at one of the big-box retailers. The customer will still come into my store and say, ‘I could get that cheaper.' I am perceived as being small and small connotes high prices and stringent return policies." Bill says customers assume an item doesn't exist if it is no longer offered at the big-box store. "Routinely, customers come in and say, ‘Gee, I'm glad you have this. I've been in four other stores looking for it.' My challenge is to make that fourth or fifth stop at Round's into the second or third—possibly first—shopping stop."

Round's uses Eagle to electronically transmit orders, maintain files and receive price changes from Do it Best. Orders are transmitted quickly and efficiently, and Bill receives an e-mail message acknowledging the order. "The best thing to do is to bring merchandise in two or more times a week from your primary vendor, allowing them to be your warehouse. In fact, I'd like minimize our warehouse space," reflects Bill.

Bill says, "Activant technology enables me to bring merchandise in the store before customers come in to buy. You can't sell promises and you can't sell rain checks. We need to stock the products that customers want. And yet, not overstock, and tie up our capital, in slow-moving inventory. The Eagle system helps us on both sides."

Round's uses Eagle Viewers to quickly evaluate new lines. First, Bill assigns a vendor code to anew line and later use Viewers to analyze sales history. "If an item isn't pulling its weight after six months, we cut our losses and get rid of it. I'm able to use the system to make those decisions, even if I don't do it often enough," asserts Bill.

Bill won't go to the sales floor without an RF gun. With RF, Round's can simultaneously create orders, correct inventory and code for later review. Rounds empowers sales associates with RF guns to keep shelves and bins stocked at optimal levels. Associates scan the shelf or bin tag, enter the quantity they need to pull from the warehouse upstairs, get the items and scan them at the new location to complete the move. This efficient process minimizes the number of trips to the warehouse and gives staff the satisfaction of participating more fully in the business.

The independent hardware business is filled with small, closely held corporations and family businesses. Bill believes the heart—the salvation—for independent stores is a computer system that provides the state-of-the-art services and results customers expect. "Customers expect more than a cash register that goes ding-ding. You need an operation where the computer system helps to provide tangible customer service."

Round's is trying to build its own brand. Its own future. "And I think there is a future," says Bill. "I have temporary tattoos with my brand, ‘Round's Hardware Forever, Main Street, Stoneham.' Because a brand hasn't arrived until customers are willing to tattoo that brand on their arms."

To quote the Boston Bikers Web site, "Round's Hardware. Easy to get to, plenty of parking, a well-stocked store and friendly staff. What more could a biker ask for?" Well, maybe just one more of those tattoos.