Baywest Home Centre - Building a Loyal Clientele
©Kathy Smith: Dec, 2001 - Business Examiner

Perhaps it's fitting that someone as familiar with the building supply business as Brian Higgins works at a place called Home.

Higgins came to Victoria in 1986 to take over the franchise of Beaver Lumber in Hillside Centre, which opened in 1975 as a corporate store. "I took over the staff and operation as franchise partner with Beaver Lumber," he says.

Nine years later, corporate changes at Beaver Lumber spurred Higgins and his wife, lawyer Sylvia Blenkin, to buy out the Beaver interest, and the store became a dealer-owned Home Hardware Building Centre. Higgins says the Home Hardware Co-op is the largest network of Home Improvement Centres across the country in terms of outlets, of which there are approximately 1,100.

"An increasingly competitive marketplace, sharply rising rent and no outside handling space at Hillside forced a tough decision to not renew our lease in late 1999. We closed out the store in February of 2000," says Higgins. "But leaving wasn't easy. We had a dedicated clientele there and we missed the business, and the clients missed our presence."

At the same time, a personal tragedy was taking place that had a huge impact on Higgins and Blenkin. Their daughter, Erin, was terminally ill.

"She would have given anything to work 15 hours a day," says Higgins. "She was 34 when she died in October 2000. She was a booster for us to re-open the store and stay with the business." And stay with the business they did.

"We had been looking at a new facility and had looked at various places in Victoria. The old Goodwill building was for sale and Revelstoke had had a major fire and went out of business, so we put together a plan to alter the building and purchase it from the provincial government. The City of Victoria rezoned the property and we altered it to become a multi-use facility, incorporating retail and the lumber business of Home Hardware Building Centre as well as high tech office space - in total 40,000 square feet," says Higgins.

"We have two businesses; Great Western Exchange Corporation, which has purchased the building and leases the space and the store in the other end," says Blenkin. The zoning of the new facility allows high tech and call centre-type businesses. Their first high-tech tenant is Tactex Controls. It's Sylvia's job to look after the renovations and refurbishing of the space. "It's exciting to be working alongside our tenants," she says, adding there is about 7,000 square feet left to rent.

When Higgins and Blenkin took over the building in September of 2000, a lot of work was ahead of them. "We had to remove a whole hillside in the back to make room for parking and the building materials yard," says Higgins. "We excavated 10,000 cubic meters of rock from the site, graded and paved it. We revamped the west end of the building from a walled-receiving area to a store front."

Since the new store opened in February 2001, Higgins and Blenkin say they've been very well received. "There has been a lot of community support," says Blenkin. "The neighbours in the area are glad the building is being improved."

Adds Higgins: "We've had good comments from customers about the store layout and shopping space." He adds their former clientele from the Hillside location and people who used to shop at the Revelstoke store have now become steady customers of the new store.

Higgins says he knows the former local management people and the workers from the Revelstoke business. In fact, he hired some of them. "There is a tight-knit community in the building materials business," he says. Higgins was the president of the Vancouver Island Building Supply Dealer Association in the early '90s. He helped develop a training program with Camosun College for managers in the industry. He says the program helped open a community chain within the industry that still exists today.

Both Higgins and Blenkin give 100 per cent effort to their business. Higgins, besides looking after hiring main staff, running staff meetings, marketing, liaising with Home Hardware representatives, and establishing community relationships, also works the floor five days a week. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"There is an endless chain of events on the floor," he says. "It is the most gratifying aspect of the business. It's a magnet for me to spend time dealing with customers face-to-face." Blenkin says at first she didn't think there would be a major role for her in the new store, but has come to know otherwise. "The business is much more competitive than 10 years ago," she says. "Having a background in law is a great asset for any business operation."

But besides being the legal eyes and ears, she has been a salesperson, and is now one of four managers. She also looks after scheduling, accounts receivable, supervises office workers and cashiers. "The store takes up more and more of my time," she says.

Higgins and Blenkin believe strongly in high quality customer service and they believe that good will comes from successful staff management. "Brian's method of managing his staff engenders a lot of loyalty," says Blenkin. "I say this in admiration. When we closed the old store, there were some employees who had worked there for 20 to 25 years."

"Customer service, to me, is the absolute essential part of running a business," says Higgins. "And you can't do it without excellent rapport with your employee group. Mutual respect among employees is a cornerstone of delivering good service to customers." Blenkin agrees, saying: "Our staff (currently 25 employees) are so good and are working as hard as they can. It's a positive place to work."

How do they like their new location? "I think it's a really good spot. There is a gap in the market here," says Blenkin. "We are convenient. Our goal is to have what you need when you come. We see this as a long-term project, and we'll probably do it past retirement. It's a very exciting part of Victoria."

Over the years, Higgins has seen changes and trends in the industry and he's finding there are more people doing their own renovations. "People's skill levels are increasing," he says. "The most far-reaching advance is in cordless and specialty tools and easy to install cabinets and flooring laminates."
He recognizes the growth of female do-it-yourself renovators, and says there are now as many women as men doing renovations. "That in itself changed product line development," he says, adding that's where his expertise can help both the novice renovator and the professional builder.

"We know the marketplace and have a long history of dealing with customers," says Higgins. "We want to meet the needs of the renovating contractor to the do-it-youself home owner, and everyone in between."

For those thinking of renovating the interior of their home, the newly established 'door shop' is also a good place to start with home interior renovations. "We are able to custom-fit any type of door for a home or office building," says Higgins.

Higgins and Blenkin are happy to be in Victoria. "The city is a jewel of a place to live. We wanted to seize the opportunity to do business in a geographic area accessible to the majority of Victoria. I find it fascinating meeting a broad variety of people. It reconfirms our commitment to the city."

Higgins has been a renovator himself for many years. "I always did fairly extensive home renovations myself, but not commercially. It came naturally for me to get into this business," he says. "I was also interested in people's abilities to upgrade their home to be more liveable and functional. Now I don't have time to work on my own house!"

Higgins is having too much fun at what he does to think about stopping anytime soon. And the memory of his daughter is an ever-present reminder that this is what he wants to do. "It gives me the energy to forge ahead to give everything I have," he says. "I love this business. It's geared to helping people fix their problems and fill their dreams."