Page 10 - DoitBest 2021 Report

“Best Rewards helps us understand who our customers
are and what they are spending their money on,” said
Joe. “We know from a demographic standpoint where our
business is coming from and which ZIP codes our print
promotions need to prioritize.”

The retooled HHC gained momentum. As sales at both
locations increased, Gary and Joe continued to reinvest
in their business, expanding inventory and accumulating
even more preference shares.

In 2020, their hard work and discipline paid off in a
big way. Sandia National Laboratories, another federal
research lab headquartered in Albuquerque, approached
HHC about being their hardware and building materials
supplier. While it was a major opportunity, it also
required a major commitment. In order to duplicate the
level of service HHC was providing to the Los Alamos
lab, the new location would need to be close to
Sandia National Laboratories.

“Working with Los Alamos National Laboratory gave
us a lot of experience and understanding of how to
do business with the federal government,” said Joe.
“We knew we could utilize the same platforms to add
customers in the federal sector.”

Do it Best helped Gary and Joe find an ideal location
for the newest store, to be named HHC Supply. They
also found an added bonus. The location was close
to a military airbase and a major airport, giving HHC
access to an underserved market — and potentially
dramatic growth. Redeeming their preference shares “Before we started going after more
to supplement funding for the project, Gary and Joe customers, we had to make sure
purchased an existing building close to the research lab
our own infrastructure was up-
and began renovation.
to-date,” said Gary. “Mike was an
“We always knew those preference shares would be
for future growth and the opportunity to open more extraordinary help — he attended
locations,” said Gary. “Having those funds available was
one of the reasons we were willing and able to go forward a lot of our manager meetings
with the new store.”
and shared what the rest of the

industry was currently doing.”

10 | 2021 REP OR T