2024 Beacon Award

Koopman Lumber

Beacon Award for Best New Store

From humble beginnings in 1939, Koopman Lumber has grown into a 12-location company. The third-generation family business continues to blend customer-centric design with deep-rooted community ties.

Click Below to Watch Koopman Lumber’s Beacon Award Presentation Video:

Koopman Lumber’s story began with a simple act of neighborly kindness. In 1939, New England builder Peter Koopman offered surplus building supplies from his garage in Whitinsville, Mass., just steps from what would become the company’s first store. From these humble beginnings, Koopman Lumber has grown into a family-run enterprise with 12 locations and more than 400 employees, serving professional contractors and homeowners across the central and eastern region of Massachusetts.

Today, the third generation of the Koopman family—Dirk Koopman, his sister Denise Brookhouse, and her husband Tony Brookhouse—leads the company with the same community-driven ethos that Peter Koopman established decades ago. Their success, particularly at the Beacon Award-winning Dennis, Mass., location, highlights Koopman Lumber’s commitment to customer service, innovation, and local involvement. With a focus on professional contractors and a deep connection to the community, Koopman Lumber continues to grow and thrive.

Builder Background Connects to Pros Today

Koopman Lumber’s deep roots in the construction industry are evident in the way it serves its customers. Although the company no longer builds homes, nearly 90 percent of its customer base consists of professional contractors. The third-generation leadership team continues to prioritize building lasting relationships with these customers, a value passed down from their grandfather.

“Although we no longer build houses ourselves, we started as builders by trade,” says Dirk Koopman, owner and CEO. “The most important building we do is building relationships with our customers to be a dependable resource for a lifetime.”

Managing pro accounts across 12 locations, Koopman Lumber relies on Epicor’s BisTrack system to keep operations running smoothly. This contractor-focused approach has been instrumental in maintaining the company’s close ties with the professional building community.

Creative Solutions to New Store Challenges

The Dennis, Mass., location represents a new chapter for Koopman Lumber. Located near the center of Cape Cod, this store was a greenfield project—a completely new venture in a previously untapped market. The company repurposed an antique dealership property to create a hardware store and lumberyard that would meet the needs of both contractors and homeowners.

Building a new store in Cape Cod came with its own set of challenges, particularly the need to adhere to strict historical community directives. Koopman Lumber worked closely with representatives of Cape Cod’s planning board to design a store that blends seamlessly into the area’s architectural landscape while still offering modern conveniences.

Koopman credits Orgill, the company’s wholesale partner, with helping navigate the intricacies of opening a new location. “Orgill’s support in merchandising and demographic insights has been crucial in optimizing store layouts and product selections,” Koopman says. “They’re a good partner and walked us through merchandising the new location. We’d tell them what we’re looking for, and they’d get it done.”

Design, Assortment Tailored to Customers

At the Dennis location, Koopman Lumber’s focus on professional contractors is clear, but the store also caters to homeowners and tourists. By carefully balancing the needs of both groups, the store has quickly gained traction in the market, exceeding initial sales expectations.

One of the key elements of the Dennis store’s design is its focus on kitchen and bath services. The state-of-the-art millwork and kitchen and bath displays draw both contractors and homeowners alike, providing a space where remodeling projects come to life. The displays have been instrumental in driving foot traffic and boosting return on investment (ROI) for remodeling products.

In addition to kitchen and bath services, the Dennis store features outdoor living and decking displays that make the most of the available space. These displays, along with a strong presence for grills and power tools, appeal to the area’s seasonal and year-round customers alike. Orgill played a key role in advising Koopman Lumber on the store’s product assortment, helping to ensure the location meets the diverse needs of its customers.

Another popular niche at the Dennis location is key cutting, which has proven to be a highly profitable service. Balancing seasonal products with year-round essentials, Koopman Lumber has created a store that serves as a hub for the local community, offering everything from home improvement supplies to specialty services.

Despite being a relatively new location, the Dennis store has already exceeded sales projections, particularly in lumber and hardware. Koopman credits the store’s success to its strategic planning and community focus, noting that these efforts have helped the store become a trusted resource for contractors and homeowners alike.
 

Looking Ahead: Expanding on Success

The success of the Dennis location serves as a model for Koopman Lumber’s future growth. With plans to explore new locations and product lines, the company is poised to continue expanding its reach while staying true to the values that have defined it for more than 80 years.

“The Beacon Award for Best New Store is a feather in the cap for our employees and is a thank you to them,” Koopman says. “This award confirms that they’re getting it done and doing the right thing. It’s also good for our customers to see we’re being recognized nationally.”

Koopman Lumber’s commitment to community involvement remains true to Peter Koopman’s legacy. The company donates to local sports teams, supports area schools, and even created an advisory board in 2009 to guide financial decisions and evaluate acquisitions. This advisory board, composed of local business leaders, has been instrumental in the company’s steady growth.

Koopman Lumber’s blend of innovative store design, customer-centric services, and deep community ties is a recipe for continued success. As the company looks to the future, it will continue to build on the strong foundation laid by Peter Koopman, ensuring that the values of neighborliness, quality service, and professional expertise remain at the heart of everything they do.

“This award is a testament to what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit,” said Koopman, who acknowledged the four Koopman Lumber employees attending the Beacon Awards. “Ever since we’ve been with Orgill, it has been a great relationship from top to bottom.”

Koopman concluded his remarks saying that both he and his sister have three children who are poised to continue the family retail hardware tradition and that the company will be in good hands for years to come.  

Village Hardware & Home Center

Findlay, Ohio

Beacon Award for Best New Store

From humble beginnings in Leipsic, Ohio, to a state-of-the-art store in Findlay, Ohio, the Evers family’s commitment to customer service, community, and innovation earns them the 2024 Beacon Award for Best New Store.

Click Below to Watch Village Hardware & Home’s Beacon Award Presentation Video:

Kevin and Ann Evers never set out to run a hardware store. In 1982, Kevin was working as a cabinetmaker, but when a downturn in the housing market slowed his business, fate intervened. During a visit to a local hardware store, he learned the owner was retiring. By the end of the week, the Evers family had the keys to Village Hardware in Leipsic, Ohio, marking the beginning of a family business now spanning decades.

Fast forward to 2024, and Village Hardware’s second location in Findlay, Ohio, has earned the Evers family the Beacon Award for Best New Store. The Findlay store is a testament to their unwavering dedication to customer service and community, built from the ground up on a nine-acre plot with the guidance of their co-op, Do it Best. What began as a single store in Leipsic has grown into a thriving enterprise, now run with help from their sons, Jeff and Jay, with a focus on meeting community needs and expanding product offerings.

Seeds of Growth into New Market

The family’s store in Leipsic saw impressive sales volume, partly because of business from nearby Findlay. Regular customers from Findlay, a town of 40,000, often expressed the need for a hardware store closer to home. After paying attention to their customers and relying on market analysis from their co-op, Do it Best, the family explored acquisitions in Findlay, ultimately deciding to build a new store from the ground up.

In 2022, the Evers family began building on a nine-acre plot.  With assistance from Do it Best, they optimized the store layout and determined an ideal assortment. Designed with a modern feel and open layout to appeal to today’s shoppers, the store also integrated local historical photos to highlight their community ties.

Innovative Tech, Assortment Planning

Village Hardware & Home Center’s Findlay location combines sustainability and convenience with its modern, customer-focused design.

On the tech side, the Findlay store installed solar panels that now pay for most of its electrical use.

“Using federal tax breaks and incentives, we jumped at the chance to make our new store a little greener,” explains Jeff Evers, Kevin and Ann’s son, who bought into the business. The solar panels handle 89 percent of the store’s electrical usage, significantly reducing costs. “Within our first month of using it, we’ve saved about $1,500. Figuring in the incentives, we’ll recoup the costs in five to six years.”

Located on a main highway, Village Hardware Findlay is easily accessible for customers. The store stocks a large assortment of products for DIY, farm, ranch, and construction needs. Landscapers, contractors, and builders know Village Hardware for its large selection of mowers, power tools, plumbing, and electrical products.

Just 18 months after breaking ground, Village Hardware Findlay held its grand opening in June 2023. The event welcomed more than 1,000 guests into the new, 19,000-square-foot showroom.

“Do it Best made their cost analysis projections, and we’ve already exceeded it,” Jeff says. “We’re up a half million in sales than where we projected we’d be in a year.” Regular events, like the weekly Friday Night Out, have garnered large turnouts and increased daily foot traffic.

Strong Niches Drive Sales

Village Hardware has built its success by identifying niche markets that address the unique needs of its community. From a comprehensive fireplace showroom and grilling department to custom golf cart services, the store has expanded its offerings to meet customer demand and keep them coming back.

One of Village Hardware’s most prominent niches is home fireplaces and outdoor firepits. The new Findlay store features a vast showroom of fireplaces, firepits, mantels, hearth finishes, and accessories. “We do the complete job, from construction to installation,” says Jeff. “We don’t subcontract anything, because we can do it all ourselves.” This all-inclusive approach to fireplace installation and remodeling makes them unique in their market, drawing customers from a large area.

The store’s large grilling department features several grill brands and includes a large selection of grill pellets and barbecue accessories. “We invested in a diverse range of spices, seasonings, and barbecue sauces,” Jeff says. “Selling a grill brings them in once, but these items drive repeat sales from grillers and attract culinary enthusiasts.”

Village Hardware’s most unique niche is golf carts. A decade ago, the Evers family noticed the growing popularity of golf carts in Leipsic. Kevin frequently saw golf carts driving through neighborhoods and campgrounds. The category started as a side business, refurbishing used carts. Village Hardware now is known as the go-to destination for golf carts and offers customizations, such as special logos, lights, and paint jobs.

Expanding Customer Base

The Evers family continues to reach out and find new segments of the northwest Ohio market.

Village Hardware Findlay’s customer base is 75 percent DIY and farming, and 25 percent contractor, so they utilize a customer loyalty program to draw in those shoppers and keep them coming back.

“If we sell it, we back it up with service,” Jeff says. “This level of support deepens customer relationships and sets Village Hardware apart from the big boxes.”

Building relationships within the area’s large industrial base has been key. “We’re in farm country, but we have a large industrial following,” Kevin says. Nearby manufacturing facilities of Marathon Oil, Goodyear, and Whirlpool contribute to their customer base. Village Hardware also targets contractors, new homeowners, and builders in the rapidly growing Liberty Township. These strategies have enabled them to expand their business and strengthen community ties.

“It’s pretty exciting to know that my family built one of the best hardware stores in the United States,” Jeff says. “I really want to thank the Do it Best development and team, a great group of people who put their heart and soul into designing hardware stores. Also, I want to thank all the vendors here at the conference. It’s amazing to have so many engaged vendors to help grow our business.”