Retailer2Retailer: The Hardware Store Is the Star

By Ben Ginn

Looking back, I guess it was a different childhood than most people had, but it never felt unusual to me. It was simply where our family spent its time. My papaw started the plumbing supply business in 1978 after seeing a need in our community. Four of his sons eventually joined him. Three became plumbers, while my dad stayed with the supply business. In 2001, my papaw was ready to retire, and my dad saw an opportunity to build something bigger. He bought a larger building down the road, moved the inventory and opened Ginn Hardware.

I was 11 years old.

I still remember the excitement of those early days. I remember the building being remodeled, walking through the hardware shows, seeing products I’d never imagined and watching the store slowly take shape. Those experiences probably had more influence on me than I realized at the time.

I grew up doing homework at the counter of my papaw’s plumbing supply store. I was about 7 years old when I started getting off the school bus there every afternoon. It wasn’t a big place—just a couple aisles and showroom where I’d help put vanities together.

When you grow up in a hardware store, you naturally learn a little bit of everything. You learn how products work. You learn shortcuts and problem-solving tricks. More importantly, you learn how to communicate with people. A hardware store teaches you quickly that success is about listening, asking questions, managing your time and helping people solve problems. Those lessons have followed me everywhere.

Like a lot of people from entrepreneurial families, I didn’t always take a straight path. I’ve managed our family’s gas station, started and sold a newspaper, worked in corporate marketing and purchasing for a company serving the HVAC, plumbing and hardware industries. I even owned a pizza restaurant for a few years.

Through every one of those experiences, I kept finding my way back to the hardware store. In 2017, I decided to make it my full-time focus again. Looking back, it always felt like home.

FINDING MY VOICE

For years, my wife and I talked about creating content around hardware. Every time we’d attend a hardware show, we’d come home saying we ought to share some of the interesting products, demonstrations and ideas we were seeing. The conversation kept coming up, but life always seemed busy enough that we never actually started.

Eventually, I realized I already had something worth sharing. I had spent years learning products, watching customers solve problems and collecting stories that most people outside this industry never hear. I didn’t need to create content. It was sitting on the shelves around me every day. That was the beginning of “Ben from the Hardware Store.”

From the start, my philosophy was simple: Talk about things I genuinely find interesting. If I think a new tool is clever, I’ll talk about it. If there’s a trick for using a tape measure that makes someone’s project easier, I’ll share it. If there’s a product that deserves more attention, I’ll put it in front of the camera. People can tell when you’re excited about something. They can also tell when you’re pretending.

One decision I made early on has probably shaped the channel more than anything else. I intentionally didn’t make it about Ginn Hardware. And that surprises some people. Our store has its own social media accounts, and that’s where we focus on promoting our business. “Ben from the Hardware Store” has a different mission.

Growing up in a family hardware store gave me an appreciation for what local retailers mean to their communities. We’re located about 30 minutes from the nearest big-box store. If we weren’t here, people in our community would absolutely feel it. The same is true for thousands of independent hardware stores across the country.

I used to watch project videos online in which creators would finish by saying, “Run to Lowe’s or Home Depot and pick this up.” Every time I heard that, I’d think, Why not tell people to visit their local hardware store? That’s the creator I wanted to become.

The big companies don’t need free advertising from me. Local hardware stores do. By talking about “the hardware store” instead of one specific store, I hope people watching in California, Kentucky or Maine picture their own neighborhood hardware store. Maybe the next time they have a project, they’ll stop there first instead of automatically driving to a national chain.

That broader focus has opened doors I never imagined. A simple tape measure video eventually climbed past 1.3 million views. Suddenly, I was answering hundreds of comments every day, talking with people from all over the country and realizing this little project had become much bigger than a hobby. The funny thing is, the videos that perform best usually aren’t complicated. People genuinely enjoy learning something useful.

Five years from now, I hope people don’t remember me because I had a viral video. I hope they remember learning something. More importantly, I hope they feel increasingly comfortable walking into their local hardware store. Some people avoid the big boxes because they’re overwhelming. Others are intimidated by the local store because they don’t know the right terminology or they’re afraid of asking a question whose answer they think they should already know.

If my videos help remove that hesitation—if someone walks into their neighborhood store feeling more confident than they did before—that’s a success I’ll always be proud of. Because at the end of the day, the real star has never been me. It’s always been the hardware store.

BEN’S SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYBOOK

Ben Ginn, @benfromthehardwarestore on Instagram, shares his 10 tips for making your social media content stand out.

1. Start with what you know. Your store is full of content. Every product, repair question and customer project is an opportunity to teach someone something new. You don’t have to invent ideas—you already deal with them every day.

2. Think like a customer. Ask yourself which questions customers ask most often. If one person asks, chances are hundreds of others are searching for the same answer online.

3. Show products in action. A product sitting on a shelf is just inventory. Demonstrate how it works, explain what problem it solves or share a quick tip that makes it easier to use.

4. Make your associates part of the story. Customers enjoy seeing the people behind the counter. Feature employees explaining products, sharing project advice or demonstrating a favorite tool.

5. Don’t chase viral trends. A video that helps one homeowner solve a problem is more valuable than chasing the latest internet frenzy. Educational content has a long shelf life and continues to attract viewers well after it’s posted.

6. Every platform is different. The same post won’t perform the same way everywhere. Pay attention to what resonates on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and adjust your approach for each audience.

7. Show what makes hardware stores different. Explain services many customers don’t realize independent hardware stores offer: key cutting, screen repair, glass cutting, pipe threading, rental equipment, specialty product knowledge and more.

8. Invite people into the store. Take viewers behind the scenes. Show your team receiving freight, setting seasonal displays, unpacking new products or preparing for a customer event. People enjoy seeing how a hardware store operates.

9. Talk like you’re helping just one customer. Avoid sounding like an advertisement. Imagine you’re standing in the aisle helping one customer solve one problem. That conversational approach feels more natural and keeps viewers engaged.

10. Make it easy to get started. You don’t need expensive equipment or professional editing software to get going. A smartphone, good lighting and useful information are enough to begin building an audience.

Ben Ginn is part of the team at Ginn Hardware in Vanceburg, Kentucky, and the face behind “Ben from the Hardware Store,” a social media channel with more than 80,000 followers. He’s still a little surprised that a tape measure video turned into a career highlight. Follow Ben on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.