Epic sales of Ice Melt keep Headley Hardware hopping

Friday, February 7, 2014
Readying a load of Ice Melt, Randall Jones of Headley Hardware positions a full skid on the back of a pickup truck bound for delivery to the Round Barn Manor Apartment complex in Greencastle.

While this may be the winter of our discontent for much of Greencastle and Putnam County, all that ice and snow and cold has been a boon to those Hoosiers in the hardware business.

In fact, it's practically made Headley Hardware of Greencastle the center of the Ice Melt universe in Indiana and the Midwest.

Selling an incredible 225 tons of salt and Ice Melt this winter as of Wednesday morning, Headley Hardware has not only set a store sales record (with six weeks to go until spring arrives March 21), but stands No. 2 for all single Do-It-Best stores in the country. And that includes stores in Chicago, Detroit and other big cities.

"We've gone through 14 truckloads just since Dec. 10 or whenever that first snowstorm was," third-generation proprietor Randall Jones noted, ticking off the major customers as snow-removal contractors, apartment complexes and local factories.

He's even sent Ice Melt to Indianapolis, providing 14 skid loads to the guy who clears the 60-acre FedEx portion of the Indianapolis Airport.

"The question," Jones suggested, "is 'When do you quit ordering?' I don't mind carrying over 30 or 40 tons (of Ice Melt), but I just don't want to run out."

And to assure that isn't happening any time soon, Headley's still has three or four outstanding truckloads slated for delivery this winter.

But it is not necessarily the epic Ice Melt sales as much as the attention to service that really puts a smile on Jones' face.

"Nobody loves winter like we do," Jones conceded, adding however that more importantly having the items people need when they need them has been and always will be a hallmark of the Headley operation.

And this season that has also included snow shovels, heat tape, generators, kerosene heaters and more to battle the snow and cold.

"We had things when they needed them," Jones said, speaking to a symbiotic relationship between customer and proprietor.

For example, a pre-snowstorm Jan. 5-6 run on generators and kerosene heaters at Headley's embodies that mutually beneficial relationship.

"We had 35 (kerosene heaters) left over from three years ago and a dozen generators left from the 2011 ice storm," Jones said, gesturing toward the storage area at the rear of the building while noting the past two winters never created much of a need for heating and electrical alternatives.

Yet the store still had those items when appreciative Putnam County residents were in dire need this season.

"Almost every person who came in and got those two items (generators and kerosene heaters) before the storm made a point to thank us," Jones said. "That's very rewarding."

Getting customers through the misery of broken water pipes, Jones recalled, has been another wintertime hurdle this season.

In fact, it hasn't been unusual to find members of the Headley staff laying out pipe on the store floor, trying to figure out customers' problems, oftentimes while squinting at some cellphone photo taken at the affected residence.

"That's our one real overriding reason for being here," Jones assured. "Eighty percent of the people who coming in here have a problem. Customer service is all about understanding that you have a problem and doing what we can to help you out.

"I hope it comes through that we care."

It's also rewarding, said Jones who runs Headley as a third-generation operation with wife Jamie Headley Jones and has now seen son Lossan make it a fourth-generation family-owned business.

Headley's recently marked 60 years and has continued to thrive despite a destructive fire 14 years ago.

But the conversation lately always seems to come back to the winter, now just seven inches away from being the snowiest winter on record in central Indiana.

"This is not your grandfather's winter," Jones said. "This is a winter not like any winter we've seen. Nobody's seen a winter like this."

Jones says his operation continues to be pro-active, watching the weather and noting seasonality, all while "staying focused on the season in progress."

"And if we end up with Ice Melt or snow shovels or heat tape left over," Jones said, "we'll just hold onto them for next year."

Hardware sales can be somewhat seasonal, he agreed.

"The difference," Jones said, "is that spring is always going to come versus the vagaries of winter. Two winters in a row it's been mild. Winter is the real variable."

Which is why Headley's will continue to focus on being completely stocked and able to help people with pride in customer service and a nod to convenience.

"Now, from a convenience standpoint with the traffic patterns and all," Jones smiled, "I can't guarantee you'll always be able to turn left out of our parking lot."

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  • Once again, thanks to our local business' for all they do. Our part is to support them so they can continue operating.

    -- Posted by cmgrove on Sat, Feb 8, 2014, at 7:28 AM
  • Skip WalMart. If Headleys doesn't have the item you need they will order it for you, have it in a few days, and if you are a senior you get a 10% discount.

    -- Posted by dumpsterdiva2 on Sat, Feb 8, 2014, at 9:24 AM
  • Wow I really Hope that trucks frame don't buckle trying to support the weight of that entire skid. Lol.

    -- Posted by Reader2 on Sun, Feb 9, 2014, at 6:58 AM
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