Menards is a chain of home improvement stores in the Midwestern United States.
The privately held company headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin has 252 stores in 12 states: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wyoming.
Industry ranking
Since Menards is not publicly traded, it does not release sales figures. But, it is generally believed to be the third largest by sales home improvement company in the United States behind The Home Depot and Lowe's. In 2006, Menard Inc. ranked 24th on Forbes' list of "America's Largest Private Companies." The trade publication Home Channel News estimated 2007 sales at $8 billion.
Menards store in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Rumors of an Initial Public Offering sometime in 2010 persist. A significant public offering and subsequent store and distribution center expansion would catapult Menard's standing well beyond the current regional presence in 1/4 of the states to become the nationwide #3 rival to Home Depot and Lowes in over 3/4 of the states. Menards offers a different set of products from suppliers not carried at the other two.
Store structure
Exterior of the Menards store in Ankeny, Iowa
Every Menards store shares a common structure. Each store is primarily divided by departments: building materials, hardware, electrical, millwork, wall coverings, plumbing and housewares, floor coverings, cabinets and appliances, and groceries. Other areas of the store include the front end (cashiers, office functions, carryouts, etcetera) and the receiving crew (responsible for the lumber yard, shipments between the store and the distributions centers, and other delivery and merchandise logistics). In a typical store there is a Store Manager, two Assistant Managers, a Department manager, and various Sales Floor team members , which is dependent upon the guest volume typical at that individual store. Some departments are combined dependent upon store volume and guest traffic or only have a single Assistant Manager.
Menards stores are divided into categories based on store size and product range. These categories range from P1 (Prototype size 1) to P5 (prototype size 5), Hardware Plus (smaller than a P1 with fewer building materials item selections) and non-prototype (usually stores that have moved into pre-existing locations or locations where large prototype stores will not fit, such as the 2-story stores).
Recently, the 240,000 sq. ft and larger Menards stores began selling groceries. By adding a second story mezzanine for less often accessed items, space can be made for groceries on the main floor.
In March 2005, the company opened the first 2-story, 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m2) Menards megastore in St. Paul, Minnesota. It followed in November 2006 with another 2-story store in Hodgkins, Illinois. In March 2009, Menards opened its flagship megastore in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. The Waukesha megastore is the largest Menards in the United States and has two glass elevators, two massive industrial escalators, and a snack shop.
Brands
Menards also owns and exclusively sells some of its own brands. Some of the brands found at the Menards stores are:
Pittsburgh Paints
Dutch Boy Paint
Schrock Masterbrand, Medallion Elkay, and Kitchen Kompact (cabinets)
Mastercraft (interior/exterior doors) {exclusive}
Masterforce (Tools) {exclusive}
Patriot Lighting
Quantus Lighting
Performax
North Tech
Guidesman
Shell Rock Products (concrete products)
Stanley Works (tools)
Xtreme Garage
Tool Shop {exclusive}
FlorCraft
Mastercraft Doors (doors)
Masterpaws
Backyard Creations
Storage Shop
Classic Decor
Pumpkin Hollow
Resolution
Plumb Works
Crestline and Peachtree, Jeld-Wen (windows)
Turn of the Century (Ceiling Fans)
Tru-Bolt
Enchanted Garden
Enchanted Forest
Tuscany (Faucets)
Ultradeck (composite decking)
Homax Spray Textures
Focal Point
Menards manufactured its own concrete patio blocks as of 2008, however rumors circulated in 2009 which indicated a plan to switch back over to Anchor Block due to quality and sales issues. Menards offers its customers about 30,000 products in stock and even more through a Special Order Service.
[edit]Company history
In 1959, John Menard, Jr. began building post-frame buildings to finance his college education. By 1959, Menard found it necessary to hire extra crews, and to purchase more equipment to keep up with demand. After graduating from college in 1962, Menard purchased land in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and built an office and shop. Menards was founded at this time in 1962. When post-frame building customers often inquired about the possibility of purchasing lumber and other products, Menard opened the first Menards Cashway Lumber.
In 1969, Menard began adding manufacturing plants at the Eau Claire site. These plants included facilities for making trusses, treated lumber, boards, pre-hung doors, steel and nails. A distribution center was also added.
On July 15, 1980 Menards headquarters in Eau Claire was seriously damaged by the Western Wisconsin Derecho.
In 1994, Menards sold the post-frame building division.
In 1998, Menards opened a second distribution center in Plano, Illinois.
In 2005, Menards created an eCommerce website called Menards Online Collections.
In 2007, Menards opened two more distribution centers in Holiday City, Ohio and Shelby, Iowa. The Holiday City, Ohio, complex is 669,000 square feet (62,200 m2) and the Shelby, Iowa, complex is 735,000 square feet (68,300 m2).
Advertising
For many years, Menards' television commercials featured free-lance announcer Ray Szmanda, who became a cult figure as "the Menards Guy." In the late '90s, a young, hands-on woman temporarily took the role in Szmanda's absence. Recent commercials, however, feature Bo Landry in his place; although, a cartoon version of "the Menards Guy" still appears in Menards' print ads and in some in-store signs. The commercials end with the well-known jingle, "Save big money at Menards." (During the Christmas shopping season the jingle changes to "Warm seasons greetings to you all from Menards!")
Menards commercials are also accompanied with banjo music played by Gary Shaw of Wisconsin. In reference to creating the musical piece, Shaw said, "I just started playing on it and they said, 'That's perfect; that's exactly what we need.' Took me a half an hour. I got $50 for a one-time fee, and I've had to listen to that commercial every day for 20 years."
Racing interests
Founder John Menard, Jr. is active in auto racing. He started Team Menard which raced at the Indy 500. Menards also sponsors drivers in many other leagues. It has had its best success come with its Team Menards Indy 500 efforts in 1994, 1995, and 1996. In 2004 it affiliated with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. Since then, most of Earnhardt's Busch Series wins have been in Menards-liveried cars. Following Earnhardt's move to Hendrick Motorsports. The Menards logo is now mainly found on the #98 of Paul Menard, John Jr.'s son. In 2010, Menard's team, Yates Racing, merged with Richard Petty Motorsports.
IRL IndyCar Series
Ed Carpenter #20
IRL Firestone Indy Lights Series
Logan Gomez #23
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Matt Crafton #88
NASCAR Sprint Cup
Robby Gordon #7 (always associate, sometimes primary)
Paul Menard #98 (primary)
NASCAR Wisconsin Challenge Series
Charlie Menard #13
NHRA Top Fuel
Jack Beckman
Family-run business
John Menard Jr.'s brother, Larry, served as Menards Operations Manager for 40 years. Larry retired on March 31, 2009. Dennis Dixon ,the longtime Assistant Operations Manager, replaced him. Larry's son Charlie (actually named Larry as well, born 1973) served as the COO until October, 2007 when he became Manager of the Eau Claire Distribution center. John Menard, III ("J.R." Menard) is the current Corporate Treasurer.
See More:
(source:wikipedia)
No comments:
Post a Comment