Short-Form Storytelling, Long-Term Loyalty — Sullivan Hardware & Garden Wins Digital Beacon Award for Digital Excellence
In an era in which customers can buy nearly anything online, Pat Sullivan, owner of Sullivan Hardware & Garden in Indianapolis, employs a different strategy: Make the store an experience worth leaving the house for.
That philosophy has fueled Sullivan’s growth and earned the store the inaugural Beacon Award for Digital Excellence, which recognizes independent retailers using digital tools to amplify their brand, connect with customers and drive business forward. Sullivan Hardware & Garden stood out for its end-to-end digital approach—blending website visibility, e-commerce capabilities, event marketing and a distinctive social media presence that draws customers in, both online and off.
A Business Built on Experiences
Sullivan Hardware & Garden began in 1954 as a small neighborhood store and has evolved into a multi-location destination combining hardware, lawn and garden, patio and seasonal products. By the early 2000s, Sullivan recognized that competition wasn’t just coming from other independents but from big boxes and, increasingly, the internet.
When Lowe’s entered the local market, Sullivan responded by expanding and modernizing. But as online shopping became mainstream, he realized simply adding square footage wasn’t enough. If customers could order products from anywhere, Sullivan Hardware needed to offer something they couldn’t get elsewhere.
That’s when the company began leaning into what Sullivan calls being an “experience-driven retailer.” Seasonal products like live plants, grills and patio furniture became anchors, but the store also turned into a gathering place built around events, storytelling and connection. The lawn-and-garden business helped give the store a natural advantage—after all, customers can’t fully replicate the experience of browsing trees, plants and flowers through a computer monitor.
By 2008, Sullivan Hardware was investing in entertainment-driven retail, and social media quickly became the megaphone it used to share that story.
Building a Digital Strategy That Feels Human
Sullivan Hardware & Garden’s digital presence isn’t an afterthought—it’s a core part of business operations. Its website (sullivanhardware.com) showcases depth in core categories like grills and outdoor living and seasonal items such as artificial Christmas trees, helping customers plan purchases and often motivating them to make long drives to visit in person.
E-commerce supports that strategy without replacing it. Annual online sales fall between $700,000 and $1 million, focused on larger-ticket items such as patio furniture, grill accessories and local pickup and delivery. “People will drive a couple hours because we have such a large selection,” Sullivan says. “The website shows them why it’s worth coming.”
But it’s social media where Sullivan Hardware’s personality shines. Led by Pat’s daughter-in-law Arden, who serves as the creative force behind most content, the store produces short, fast-moving videos that blend humor with promotion. Posts usually run under a minute and a half, catering to customer attention spans and platform trends.
Content ideas come from everywhere: the team, TikTok and spontaneous moments in the store. Arden filters those ideas into watchable stories, giving Sullivan Hardware’s online presence a playful, approachable voice.
Sullivan Hardware & Garden’s Instagram is a variety show, not a catalog: quick bits, running gags and seasonal cameos that end with a simple invitation to stop by.
Making Fun of the Hook
Sullivan Hardware’s social media strategy goes beyond traditional “product-price” advertising. While posts occasionally spotlight new items or promotions, much of the content focuses on showing off the store’s personality.
A favorite example is the “Hanging Basket Arm Association” video, which pokes fun at the garden center staff’s ritual of constantly reaching up to place and retrieve hanging baskets. The post resonated with garden center employees nationwide and generated a surge of engagement.
“It had nothing to do with selling anything,” Sullivan says, “but it still helped our business.”
That mindset—that content can entertain first and sell second—has helped Sullivan Hardware’s videos gain traction, with some going viral over the past year.
