Recipe for a Better Basket

Newspapers cover the picnic tables. Cardboard trays are stacked nearby. Pots of seasoned water steam as crawfish are poured in, and the unmistakable aroma of Cajun seasoning fills the air.

For Pierre Part Store, a company meeting is now called to order. About 20 to 30 employees gather around a crawfish boil to talk about the business, share ideas and discuss the direction of the company’s four stores. It reflects the ethos that fourth-generation owner Garrett St. Germain says has guided the business since 1911: “Our culture is all about entertaining and having a good time. We get together over a crawfish boil to discuss business.”

The gathering feels distinctly southern Louisiana, much like the company itself. Since opening in 1911, Pierre Part Store has grown alongside the community it serves, adapting its product mix as the region changed while holding fast to the customer service values that helped it become one of Louisiana’s longest continually operating independent retailers.

Today, the Hardware Connection Century Club business has four Louisiana locations, in Pierre Part, Larose, Lockport and Thibodaux. The company employs about 100 people in all and casts a wide net to serve its customers by offering hardware, lumber, groceries, a deli, lawn-and-garden products and specialty commercial fishing supplies.

FROM BAYOU TO HIGHWAY AND BEYOND

Pierre Part Store’s story begins on the banks of Bayou Pierre Part, where Garrett’s great-grandfather Honoré St. Germain opened a small general store that supplied local families and fishermen. There weren’t many roads then, and most customers arrived by boat as the budding company reflected the area’s economy. The business sold Spanish moss—harvested throughout the bayous and used in furniture manufacturing, it often became part of everyday trade.

St. Germain says the store has continually evolved as the community’s needs changed.

“They’d trade products because they didn’t always have cash,” he says. “They’d barter eggs or feed or different things around the house.”

As automobiles became the primary mode of transportation, the business relocated in 1968 to its current location along Highway 70, giving customers easier access while remaining rooted in Pierre Part. Since then, the company has continued to expand its offerings. Furniture, televisions and appliances all had their time before giving way to other product lines.

“This community has always been great and has always supported us,” St. Germain says. “We’ve always looked at what the community needed and tried to fill it.”

That philosophy recently led the company to expand its industrial offerings to serve nearby manufacturing plants. As regional demand shifted, the assortment shifted with it.

“Industrial has dropped off lately, so we’re carrying less,” St. Germain says. “Now we’re preparing for the next opportunity.”

AN ASSORTMENT WITH A SENSE OF PLACE

Diversification has long been one of Pierre Part Store’s strengths. Customers can buy groceries, pick up lumber for a project, grab supplies from the hardware department and stop by the deli all in one visit. That broad assortment has helped steady the business through changing economic times.

“Throughout the years, grocery might be challenging and lumber might be doing better,” St. Germain says. “It helps because you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.”

The product mix also reflects daily life in southern Louisiana. Commercial crawfishing remains an important part of the local economy, and Pierre Part Store stocks products few retailers would ever consider carrying.

“We sell a lot of commercial fishing supplies,” St. Germain says. “Stainless steel mesh and clamps that go around boat motors to keep lilies and crabs out are big sellers.”

Outdoor cooking provides another specialty. Large cast-iron jambalaya pots, burners and cooking accessories occupy prominent space on the sales floor, supporting everything from backyard gatherings to community events serving hundreds of people. Preparing for Louisiana’s relentless climatic conditions also shapes inventory decisions throughout the year.

“We have to watch the weather,” St. Germain says. “If we see a freeze coming, we increase orders for heaters and plumbing supplies because people aren’t equipped for extreme cold. Hurricanes can develop quickly, too, so we’re always prepared.”

That preparation extends beyond inventory. St. Germain says Pierre Part Store keeps a prebuilt emergency order ready through Do it Best, enabling the team to quickly submit replenishment orders and restore essential products as soon as severe weather passes.

PARTNERSHIP BUILT ON COMMUNICATION

Pierre Part Store joined Do it Best in 2013, and St. Germain says the relationship has become an important resource as the company continues to grow.

“Do it Best has been great,” he says. “We meet regularly to talk about business operations, where we’re looking to grow and how we can improve. We talk with our territory sales manager every week about issues, concerns and what we’re looking at over the next few weeks.”

In 2025, Pierre Part Store was named one of Do it Best’s Member of the Year stores in the “over 12,000-square-foot” category. And the co-op recently helped guide a major remodel at one of the company’s stores.

“We flipped the store upside down,” St. Germain says. “It gave the whole place a facelift, and with their guidance and assistance we were able to do it in about three months.”

As the company expanded from one location to four, he says his own leadership style changed as well.

“One location is a lot different than four. You have to trust your managers to do their jobs. Once you realize you can’t do everything yourself, life gets a lot easier,” he says.

GENERATIONS OF SERVICE

While products and departments have changed over the decades, St. Germain says the company’s foundation remains the same: customers, employees, teamwork. Effie Landry embodies the store’s philosophy. She joined Pierre Part Store at age 15 and spent 72 years with the company, becoming a familiar face to generations of customers. Even in her late 80s, she continued working one day a week in the boot and commercial fishing departments because, as she told a local television station, she enjoyed meeting people and helping customers. Her coworkers eventually honored her with a framed photo displayed in the store, celebrating a career that touched legions of locals down through the decades.

Landry’s story reflects a broader culture of longevity at Pierre Part Store. St. Germain says several employees have spent more than 40 years with the company, creating long-term customer relationships.

Technology continues to move the business forward, from electronic shelf labels in the grocery side of the business to operational improvements designed to place more employees on the sales floor. St. Germain says those investments help the company spend more time serving customers while improving efficiency behind the scenes.

After more than a century, Pierre Part Store keeps looking ahead. Around the picnic tables, however, the conversation—and the crawfish boil—remains familiar. Employees gather over the meal to share ideas and make plans. And so another chapter begins for a business that has spent more than 115 years growing alongside the bayou.

5 GROCERY STORE LESSONS HARDWARE RETAILERS CAN BORROW\

Operating both a grocery store and a hardware store gives Garrett St. Germain a unique perspective on customer behavior. He says many of the merchandising principles that drive grocery sales translate directly to hardware. Here are five.

1. Presentation matters. Hardware retailers often focus on product knowledge and project expertise, while grocery shoppers expect departments to feel organized and easy to navigate. That philosophy extends to hardware displays. Fresh presentation communicates quality, even for everyday products. “Customers want a certain structure and want something easy to find,” St. Germain says. “It’s very important to be neat and clean, with products in the right areas.”

2. Build project-focused endcaps. Endcaps work best when they solve a problem rather than promote a single item. Pierre Part Store regularly combines complementary products that support the same project or season. During mosquito season, for example, insect control products receive high-visibility placement. Before hurricanes, extension cords, batteries and emergency supplies move together into grocery traffic patterns where customers naturally shop. “The more stuff you put together in one spot, it’s going to bring up basket size,” St. Germain says.

3. Cross-merchandise throughout departments. Pierre Part Store constantly encourages customers to move between grocery and hardware. Grills appear near the meat department to remind shoppers of the larger assortment available in hardware. Light bulbs, candy and other frequently purchased items point customers toward expanded selections elsewhere in the store. The goal is simple: Introduce customers to departments they might not have intended to visit.

4. Promote every week. The company’s grocery circular arrives weekly, and hardware earns space alongside food promotions. Seasonal products rotate throughout the year, while larger anniversary events combine vendor promotions, meat sales, live radio broadcasts, cooking demonstrations and family activities. Keeping hardware visible throughout the year helps maintain customer awareness between major buying seasons.

5. Don’t chase zero shrink. Fresh food forces retailers to think differently about inventory. St. Germain says some shrink comes with serving customers well. If every product sells before reaching its expiration date, the store may be carrying too little inventory and missing opportunities to satisfy customer demand. The goal is finding the balance between availability and cash flow. “We’re working toward that sweet spot,” he says. “We can cut back inventory a lot and help cash flow tremendously. It’s something we’re continuing to learn.”