Sherman’s Memorial Day Cookout

It’s not always easy getting the whole family together! With ours working in the business at different locations (and my mom and dad living in Florida) it’s quite a trick. But we were able to accomplish it for Memorial Day.

Jack and Sharon (sitting in front) now live year-round in Florida, enjoying the quality time together they never quite had during the grueling years building our business. They come back to Peoria a few times a year to visit. Even though they live in Florida, dad and I talk every week about the business (he gives great advice, we just have to do all the work!) My sister Marsha (standing to right) picks out all the furniture for our stores, no small job. Her husband Rich is our operations manager, running the warehouse and our all-important delivery department. He’s holding his grandson Gabe. That’s me in the green shirt, with my wife Bridget, and our kids Elizabeth and Zachary. Not in the picture are Gabe’s dad David, who is our Peoria assistant store manager, and his wife Cassie. Also attending our Memorial day get-together but busy TAKING this picture are my sister Sheila, who works in sales, and her husband Glen, who takes care of our builder customers and picks out all the appliances for our stores.

We had a great time together. After the usual stuff, like my brother-in-law Glen trying to convince my 5-year old that he’s set for a lifetime of disappointment as a Cubs fan and should switch allegiances to the Cards (ever try to reason with a 5-year old?), the conversations inevitably turned to business. Right now, it’s hard not to; we’re starting site work on our new Peru store next month (it will be our largest when complete in early 2009), and our 20,000 sq. ft. distribution center addition is underway. When you’re growing there is a lot to do and talk about!

And while you’d probably find our business discussions boring (budgets and schedules are like that) you will be interested to know that we came up with a plan for some killer email-only specials. Now would be a great time to click on the “sign up to stay informed” tab on our home page and give us your email address. Sign up and we’ll be in touch soon!

I hope you and your family had a great Memorial Day together like we did.

Strength in Numbers

Last week Robert from the Nationwide group flew into town and spent the day with us here in Peoria, to help make sure we were up to speed on all the latest deals from our manufacturers. Nationwide Marketing Group is the buying group Sherman’s belongs to that enables us to buy like the big chains. We and about 2,000 other dealers across the country pool our $2+ billion buying power when negotiating. While Sherman’s does a lot of business in central Illinois, alone we buy only a fraction of what a Best Buy or Sears does. But combined with our fellow Nationwide members, we have become one of the largest, fastest growing customers in the nation! In fact, many of our manufacturers have recognized that local businesses with long-term employees like Sherman’s do a better job than the national chains explaining their products, so they end up with more satisfied customers. That’s sure no surprise to us, but it’s nice to see the big companies recognize it. In the past, many quality retailers like Sherman’s had to charge more for this better service. But today with the benefits of the Nationwide Marketing/Buying group, we’re able to buy like the big chains AND offer the quality, knowledgeable help central Illinois expects.

Folks You Can Trust

This weekend I stopped by Beck’s Florist to pick up some Mother’s Day flowers for my wife. As is often the case, all the nice folks at Beck’s and I were soon discussing their past Sherman’s purchases and what they’d need soon. I love to hear about what customers do and don’t like about their purchases, so I can pass that along to our sales staff and improve their ability to help customers select the right products. And more than the products, they said they really liked the fact that their salesperson recognized them whenever they came in, even if it had been a year since their last purchase. While we spend a lot of time and effort having the right products and prices, I guess there just isn’t any substitute for dealing with a person you know and trust. My wife and I always want a good deal, but all else being equal we end up buying at a place we trust the people. That’s why I buy my flowers at Beck’s, and I’m glad to hear that it’s the reason people shop at Sherman’s.