Where customer is king
Feb 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Rick Weber
For a manufacturer that places great emphasis on its retail stores, Ranch Hand Truck Accessories knew it needed a boost in Houston.
Ranch Hand was operating out of an inadequate facility in a low-traffic area about 10 miles northwest of downtown. In 2005, the company found a gold-mine, one-acre spread in a retail-heavy area 11 miles northwest of the old store. On the vacant lot, Ranch Hand built a 9,000-square-foot facility with an old-school barn appearance and an installation bay that allows technicians to work on up to three vehicles at one time — with the potential for an expansion that would allow room for six vehicles.
It was the truck-parts equivalent of the famous Field of Dreams mantra: If you build it, they will come.
They came in droves. In 2006, the first full year of operation there, the Houston outlet increased its sales 54%.
“It's all attributable to the move,” store manager Carl Sawyer says. “The foot traffic in the old store was a few people a day. Here, we're getting 50 to 60. The move has treated us well, to say the least.”
The Houston retail outlet is the key location in a network that also includes three other outlets in Texas (Irving, San Antonio, Boerne) and one in Oklahoma (Oklahoma City). It has by far the largest volume — 30% above the average of the other stores.
Ranch Hand's products also are sold through distributors, new-truck dealerships, and truck/SUV accessory dealers. Ranch Hand's wholesale distribution goes to 43 states and Canada.
Ranch Hand, which bills itself as the largest manufacturer of heavy-duty truck accessories in the United States, has two manufacturing plants in Texas: Shiner and Beeville.
In addition to the standard Ranch Hand parts and accessories (grille guards, back bumpers, front-bumper replacements, headache racks, toolboxes, and steps), the stores offer a full line of truck accessories for full-size?Ford, Chevy, GMC, and Dodge pickups and sport utility vehicles from half ton and up, including winch-attachment systems, gooseneck hitches, spray-in bedliners, window tinting, lift kits, and nerf bars.? In addition,?the Toyota Tundra and Sequoia grille guards are now available, as well as the Jeep Bullnose and back bumper.
“We offer pretty much anything for a truck or SUV,” regional sales manager Scott McClaugherty says. “We work with several distributors and have access to anything you may want for your truck or SUV.”
Says Sawyer, “We can accommodate the average consumer who doesn't have the aptitude, ability, or desire to put on a product, and also the do-it-yourselfers. We offer many different product lines, and at the same time we recently tapped into the diesel and gas performance side of the market as far as exhaust systems, and programmers. It truly has turned into a one-stop shopping affair. I can take care of your van, your truck, your Jeep, your SUV, even the larger commercial series trucks. We handle a lot of oil-field accounts, putting product on trucks to facilitate their needs out in the field: winches, lighting, toolboxes, emergency-type accessories.
