Business Spotlight: Cowan's Ace Hardware

Owner: Rick and Karen Cowan and Matt and Kim Cowan

Founded: Oct. 5, 2007

Address: 3310 W. College St., Springfield 65802

Phone: (417) 869-2912

Fax: (417) 869-4183

E-mail: cowanace4@aol.com

Services/Products: House and garden tools, hardware, paint, replacement windows and doors, custom framing, rental equipment and home décor

Revenues: $1.5 million (first-year projection)

Employees: 12

Hardware means more than nuts and bolts and door hinges.

At Cowan’s Ace Hardware, it means custom picture frames and screen and window replacements. It means a 5,000-square-foot garden center, rentals of log splitters and pressure washers, and Carhartt outfits for the family.

It also means something not often found in a hardware store – a home interior gift shop to catch the fancy of female shoppers.

“Couples come in and the man heads toward tools, windows, or other hardware, and the woman heads straight for the gift shop,” notes co-owner Kim Cowan.

Cowan’s is the newest of three Ace Hardware stores in Springfield. The family business – owned by Rick and Karen Cowan, and their son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Kim Cowan – will celebrate its first anniversary Oct. 5.

Although the hardware business is a new venture for the family, Matt and Kim, who serve as co-managers, each bring 15 years of retail experience in Wal-Mart management. Rick Cowan is retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and Karen Cowan is a director for The Wooten Co.

“Our aim from the beginning was to provide the same products that have made the Ace Hardware name so well known, add other specialized merchandise and services tailored to the needs of folks in this particular area, and then wrap it all up in a hometown atmosphere,” Matt Cowan says.

Turning the screw

The Cowan family jumped headfirst into this venture, embarking on a $1.3 million building project before ever selling a piece of hardware.

Construction on the 3310 W. College St. building began in early 2007 and was completed in September. The 21,900-square-foot structure in Chestnut Crossing, at Chestnut Expressway and West Bypass, includes a 5,000-square-foot garden center.

Turns out, the construction job netted the Cowans at least one direct regular customer: project general contractor Bailey Co.

“When you’re working on a big project, Cowan’s puts together a package deal of all the hardware, and everything else you need down to the smallest items,” says owner Matt Bailey. “I’ve been in this business for a while, and I honestly didn’t know a hardware store ever provided that kind of service.”

En route to its $1.5 million first-year sales projection, Cowan’s Ace Hardware has established a sales pipeline to meet the maintenance needs of The Wooten Co. property management, where Karen Cowan works. And the Cowans recently made Cowan’s Ace Hardware a member of the Springfield Apartment & Housing Association, hoping to further build a niche selling to rental property owners.

Tina Moorehead and Holly Rogers, property managers for The Wooten Co., agree that price is a primary consideration when they make purchases for Wooten Co.’s 4,000 rental units, many of which Moorehead says are more than 30 years old. “That means we buy a lot of maintenance stuff, and we have to be cost-conscious,” Moorehead says.

Set apart

According to Christopher Boniface, public relations manager for Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace, the Cowans have done a good job setting their store apart from the 4,600 Ace stores nationwide.

“A very few Ace locations do offer gift shops similar to Cowan’s in Springfield, but it’s not common for Ace and not common in the industry,” Boniface says. “It’s definitely unique. Ace independent store owners are entrepreneurs who are familiar with their areas and know what it takes to be competitive.”

Matt Cowan says the hardest part of starting the new business has been the marketing angle.

“Trying to decide whether to spend those advertising dollars on print versus radio and TV is really tough. So far,” he says, “we’ve been spreading it out and that seems to be working. Hopefully, folks will keep on buying from us.”