October 29, 2025 • 28 mins
What if your store didn’t try to be the biggest in town and became the most unforgettable instead? We sit down with Bob Taylor, President Emeritus at Do it Best Corp, a fourth-generation retailer and former Do it Best CEO, to unpack how independents outmaneuver giants by pairing co-op scale with local soul. From a family business nearing 100 years to leading a national organization through major integrations, Bob shares the decisions, data, and culture that turn customers into raving fans.
We trace his family’s path from early True Value growth to a pivotal jump to Do it Best in the 1980's for better costs, rebates, and fill rates, then explore the recent True Value combination that’s already rebuilding confidence for retailers and vendors. You’ll hear why co-ops work: pooled buying power, deep talent, and tech that help small players “play big” without losing identity. More important, we dig into what scale can’t replace: the second-mile habits that make a local brand unmistakable.
Expect practical plays you can implement this week: greet and guide every shopper, cut wait friction, escort pros to exactly what they need, and follow up after major purchases. We talk about “Unreasonable Hospitality” as a competitive lens. Don’t copy what rivals do well, find what they do fine and make it unforgettable. Add community moments like a Santa event or the best Christmas tree lot in town. Use peer groups to share financials and steal proven ideas. Let technology extend your personal touch across email, checkout, and curbside so consistency becomes your signature.
If you lead an independent hardware store, lumber yard, or building supply brand, this is your playbook to raise the bar, earn trust, and win long-term.
Topics we covered:
• Co-op advantages that keep independents competitive
• Lessons from switching banners based on metrics and culture
• Executing integrations that restore retailer and vendor confidence
• Peer groups and benchmarking for real accountability
• Second-mile service as a daily operating system
• Unreasonable Hospitality and finding gaps competitors miss
• Small, personal gestures that become unforgettable stories
• Niche focus plus events that build community loyalty
• Using technology to play big while staying local
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stefanie Couch (00:00):
Create raving fans.
You don't need 10 millionpeople that love you if you're a
local business, but you need athousand raving fans.
Bob Taylor (00:07):
When your name's on the door, you care a little
more.
You're not gonna talk to thepresident and CEO of the big box
store when you go in.
In our member stores, likelyyou can and will.
You just gotta raise a bar.
Stefanie Couch (00:18):
Always go the second mile because you create
raving fans.
And when you do stuff likethat, it's hard to go back to
someone else.
The future of independentbusiness has been tested a lot.
Bob Taylor (00:28):
The landscape continues to change, and we're
gonna see more change.
But that's just that's part ofit.
Stefanie Couch (00:32):
Yeah.
Bob Taylor (00:32):
I still think there's a great future for
independence out there.
It absolutely is.
Stefanie Couch (00:36):
That's why I name my company Grit Blueprint,
is because what it takes to besuccessful in this industry, it
always starts with a grit.
Bob Taylor (00:43):
I think you're making some really good
connections with folks, and um Ilike the energy about it and
appreciate the grit.
Stefanie Couch (00:49):
Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast, the
playbook for buildingunmistakable brands that grow,
lead, and last in the builtworld.
I'm Stephanie Couch, thefounder of Grit Blueprint, and
I'm a lifelong building industryinsider.
I was raised here, built mycareer here, and now my team and
(01:11):
I help others win here.
The truth is, you can be thebest option in your space and
still lose to someone else whosimply shows up better and more
consistently.
Each week on the GritBlueprint, I'm going to show you
how to stand out, earn trust,and turn your brand into a
competitive advantage thatlasts.
(01:32):
If you're ready to be seen,known, chosen, and become
unmistakable, you're in theright place.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast.
I am your host, StephanieCouch, and I'm here today with a
very special guest on themarket floor.
Bob, welcome to the show.
Bob Taylor (01:53):
Thanks, Stephanie.
Happy to be here.
Stefanie Couch (01:54):
And we actually had the pleasure of meeting last
night at dinner.
So we're fast friends.
Bob Taylor (01:58):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (01:59):
But you have been around Do It Best for a
while, and you are the presidentemeritus.
You were the CEO formally, andyou are also the chairman of
your family's 21 store chain inVirginia.
Bob Taylor (02:11):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (02:11):
So I want you to tell me a little bit about you
and your family and how'd youget here?
Because it's been a cooljourney.
You told me last night.
I was like, wow.
Bob Taylor (02:20):
We're sitting here today with kind of really the
first big combination marketbetween good best and true
value.
And I look back on my historyand it's it's kind of surreal to
look around and see is thisreally all come together this
way.
And you know, because I I grewup in the family business, um,
uh worked elsewhere, but thenkind of came back to the
(02:40):
business, worked, had other jobsduring college and all.
But you know, when you have achance to work with your uh your
parents and in growing a familybusiness, and and ours will be
two more years will be ahundred, you know, and your dad
and so is 102?
102.
Now he wasn't there for allthose hundred years, but you
know, pretty close.
But uh he grew up in the smalltown of Virginia Beach back
(03:03):
then, which is now grown to bethe largest city in the state.
And you know, we grew up in thehardware business, and then my
my dad, when he came into thebusiness, you know, you're
always looking to kind of raisethe bar of what you're doing.
He said, you know, this co-opmodel looks really interesting.
It looks like an opportunity toreally help independence.
And that really the leading oneat the time, you know, he saw
(03:24):
was True Value out there.
And so he joined True Valueback in 1965.
And they were such a big partof our growth as a family
company from in the 60s and the70s and into the early 80s, and
um just uh made a heck of adifference for our company.
And we found ourselves,however, you know, late 80s,
(03:46):
starting to look and said, youknow, are there some different
options out there?
The performance, to be honest,at True Value had had slipped a
bit, and we were looking forsomebody who really might
partner with us a little bitbetter in our business.
And so we found HWI then, do itbest today, and said, Boy, this
just really looks likesomething different, looks like
a good fit for us.
And so we made the change whichco-ops went from true value to
(04:09):
do it best in 1990, and it uhkind of re-energized our
business, helped us continue togrow and expand and add
locations.
And I had the chance to serveon the Do It Best board as a
member uh for about six years,including a couple years as
their chairman.
And during my time as chairman,the CEO at the time uh was a
(04:33):
gentleman by the name of MikeMcClellan.
He'd been with the companyabout um almost 25 years,
including about nine or ten asas CEO, and done a great job in
helping the company grow.
But he was looking to kind ofretire.
And and so we as a boardstarted the search process.
And we were looking nationally,we had the the board of
(04:55):
directors involved in that, andunbeknownst to me, Mike talked
to a number of the board membersand said, I really like you to
consider Bob for the position.
And you know, it was aninteresting time, and I was
fortunate in the family businessto have two younger brothers,
both very capable, very engagedin the business, who could step
(05:17):
up and and do some things in myabsence.
And so, long story short, Iended up taking, you know, 25
years on the retail side andmove it over to the co-op and
distribution side, and thenspent, you know, 16 years at do
it best, you know, 15 as uh CEO.
Moved to Fort Wayne, moved toFort Wayne, which was uh, you
know, my my son Roby was about11 or 12 at the time, and and um
(05:41):
he had just gotten a newsurfboard for Christmas.
So we tell him we're moving himto Indiana, he goes, Dad, we're
moving up with a bunch offarmers.
Stefanie Couch (05:50):
Can't surf in a cornfield.
Bob Taylor (05:51):
But they made such great friends in in Fort Wayne
that they still connect withtoday.
And um but uh and then so whenI retired, I it's hard to
believe it's it's 10 years ago.
Time just just flies, but uhit'll be 10 years in in January
and moved back home and now Iserve as as uh chair of our
family company, and my brothersare still doing a great job
(06:13):
running the business, and we'vegot five members of the fourth
generation involved in thebusiness too.
Stefanie Couch (06:17):
Well, and I just spoke with your amazing
daughter, Meg.
She's incredible.
And she's in the business, andand you have fourth generation,
is that correct?
Yeah, and she's got twodaughters, so I said we got to
get those girls in there for thefifth generation.
Bob Taylor (06:31):
So both hers who are still very young, uh, two and
three and a half, they all theyboth have their first market
badges already.
So they've been up to themarket and been here and that's
awesome.
Stefanie Couch (06:41):
I loved hardware shows when I was a little girl.
It was literally the thing Ilooked forward to my entire
year.
We had we had two or three we'dgo to.
It was our only vacations, youknow.
My dad couldn't get off work,but obviously this was a work
thing.
Yeah.
And I've seen so many amazingfamilies walk by today.
Uh, there's so much going on onthe floor.
With the true valueacquisition, the United Hardware
(07:03):
Acquisition, there's been a lotof action happening the last
year or so here at Do It BestGroup.
What excites you the most aboutthe future and the changes that
you see happening right now?
Bob Taylor (07:12):
It was um a really unique opportunity for Do It
Best.
And uh I think there there area lot of things that came into
play with them being able toexecute on that.
You know, having a strongfinancial foundation that that
you can springboard from so youyou don't have that as a
hindrance.
But also you're dependent somuch on the team to execute
(07:34):
that.
And I think we've reallyenjoyed for a number of years
having a a strong and a deeptalent level at do it best, and
that deep talent level helpedthem really spread that force
out, manage through a verydifficult combination uh and
executed on it in a way that youknow you just say, gosh, it was
(07:58):
we're we're barely, you know,seven, eight months into this
thing.
And already the performance atTrue Value has gone back to what
people are really happy withnow.
Yeah.
And we've restored confidence inthe their retailers, we've
restored confidence in thevendor community and really
(08:19):
supported that independentnetwork of businesses across the
country that depend on thatkind of support and
relationship.
So it's so now to come intothis is really you know, we had
the groups together for thespring market, but to come in
here now in in India at theOctober market and see it taking
up every square inch of off offloor space here.
Stefanie Couch (08:40):
We're out of room.
Bob Taylor (08:41):
And you know, obviously there are vendors who
um um took a haircut.
Yeah.
And um maybe not feeling so goodabout that.
I understand that.
But I hope they're encouragedand and um by seeing the
activity here at the market andthe response of the members and
(09:01):
seeing good things about theopportunities ahead.
So I think that's exciting, andand the member comment and the
vendor comment that I've had uhhas been outstanding.
Stefanie Couch (09:11):
Absolutely, me too.
I've talked to a lot of truevalue members, they're excited
about what's to come, excitedabout the leverage that they've
got.
Yeah, and then they want to seewhat's next for them because
before they didn't have options,but now they do.
One question I want to ask youis what did your dad say about
this true value acquisition?
And and I feel like this issuch a cool story because I
(09:32):
didn't realize that your storewas true value, and your dad in
the 60s had chosen that.
Yeah, and then you ended upmoving to do it best, you were
the obviously the CEO for a longtime.
Such a really circle moment tocome back.
What did dad say about that?
Bob Taylor (09:47):
You know, it was more about the memories than
than anything else.
And looking back, you know, theeverybody jokes if you've been
with True Value for a long time,you'd go back to when their
markets used to be right attheir offices on Clivern Avenue
in Chicago.
And we'd have these metalrolling carts that we'd push
around the market, and therewere peanut shells on the floor
(10:07):
every everywhere.
I don't know how people withpeanut allergies work the
market, but you know, it's uh itwould never be okay.
Stefanie Couch (10:14):
No, you wouldn't do that today.
Bob Taylor (10:15):
You just say no, that's not happening.
But but uh and peanut shells onthe floor, apple juice, it was
just all these things that werejust and and so when I was later
at do it best, and we wouldhave prospects come over and
come to a market here to kind ofkick the tires at at do it best
(10:36):
from true value.
And I would hear them say, youknow, do it best kind of feels
like true value did when theywere on Clivern Avenue.
And I said, Well, I knowexactly what you mean because it
did have a a culture about itthat was that was special.
And I think, you know, I hopethat we've continued to build
one here at Do It Best for thatthat does set us apart.
(10:58):
And and so I think you know, Igo back to when um we were
considering talking about mydad, considering the the switch
to do it best, and we we we hadjust been loyal true value
members.
We we weren't really lookingthat hard.
And we had talked about it andhemmed and hot a bit, and we got
(11:18):
a one-page sheet in the mail inAugust after Do It Best wrapped
up its fiscal year.
And my office and my dad'soffice were in two separate
locations.
And I got that and opened itup, and I said, you know, gosh,
I mean, looking at the cost oflow cost of operations, the high
year-end rebate, the return oninvestment, the high fill rates.
(11:39):
This is just we gotta take, Igotta talk to dad about this
again.
And I swear to you, 15 minuteslater, my phone rings.
It's my dad.
He says, Bob, I got this thingin the mail today from do it
best from HWI do it best.
I said, Well, I think we needto take a closer look.
I said, Yep, we're on the samepage.
(12:00):
Wow.
Um, so when he sees this, youknow, I I think he um it it's
the memories of what we wentthrough together, you know, and
and working with your parent, Imean, you know, yeah, is uh is a
pretty special opportunity.
It is, and so you reminisce onsome of those things that you
went through.
Stefanie Couch (12:16):
Absolutely.
My dad and I talk a lot aboutuh him working with with my
granddad, and um my granddadlived to be 101, and we'd we'd
all sit around and laugh aboutthings.
And my granddad liked to laughabout things that he did to my
dad, like with a lumber truckmaking him do horrible things
that were just, you know, andhe'd just laugh when he was 100
(12:36):
about it.
Like that was a great memory.
And my dad's like, yeah, itstill burns as much as it did 40
years ago when you sent me outon that load.
Bob Taylor (12:42):
But it's I had to under unload those hundred-pound
bags or whatever it was all bymyself with no.
Stefanie Couch (12:52):
What what's it to throw a hundred squares of
roofing by hand in the July heatin Georgia?
Bob Taylor (12:56):
We can handle that.
Yeah, yeah.
Stefanie Couch (12:58):
It did make him tough though.
Yeah.
And uh, and my dad made metough.
And I think that that's one ofthe things about our industry is
we have a lot of grit.
That's why I named my companyGrit Blueprint, is because what
it takes to be successful inthis industry, it always usually
starts with a grit.
Bob Taylor (13:13):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (13:13):
And I think that's an endearing thing about
our industry.
This episode of the GritBlueprint Podcast was sponsored
by Do It Best Group.
Do It Best Group is the largestco-op in the world, and they
help independent hardware andlumber yards all over North
America win.
Do It Best offers services,products, and people that can
(13:35):
help you win long term.
They are the champion ofindependence.
The future of independentbusiness has been tested a lot.
I mean, there's a lot of biggiants out there that are
competing for the pro contractorbusiness.
They're competing for theconsumer business.
And I believe partnerships arethe way to win in life.
(13:56):
Co-ops are a great opportunityfor that partnership.
What do you think the future ofindependent business looks
like?
And what do you see that peopleare doing that are innovating
to win at a major level?
What are you doing at yourstores to win?
Bob Taylor (14:09):
I still think there's a great future for
independence out there.
Absolutely is.
If you're not gonna sharefinancials, you're not in the
(16:20):
group.
Yeah.
You know, you gotta be able touse the tools that we have to
benchmark against one another toreally grow and expand.
Stefanie Couch (16:45):
That's a great point.
I do love how open people areto sharing because they know,
hey, you're not my enemy.
We're not even most of thetime, we're not even competitors
because you're not even in thesame market.
But I've even seen competitorsshare information because they
believe there's enough marketshare and they want to kind of
bind together to go up againstthe bigger dogs.
And I think it's one of thegreatest things in our industry
(17:07):
is how much people help eachother.
It really is that spirit ofcommunity with independent
businesses.
And I see that a lot when I'mhere.
I'm always invigorated by theseevents.
I think it's seeing the theyoung, hungry people coming into
our industry as well.
You know, like your daughter,we have a family history, so we
do have a tie here, but we bothwent out and did something
(17:28):
different.
Bob Taylor (17:28):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (17:29):
And now we've come back and we're doing, I'm
doing my own thing.
She's working in the familybusiness.
It's really fun to use thatleverage we had from what we
came from to build what we wantit to be in the future.
Bob Taylor (17:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And she's, you know, um, she'snot on Capitol Hill anymore, you
know, carrying two cell phonesand on call 24-7.
But when you're in a familybusiness, you're gonna be
wearing a lot of hats.
Yeah.
And it's not, you know, may notbe 24-7, but it's pretty close
to it.
And, you know, I think thefolks that do it best, you know,
have a work to have anappreciation of that, that you
(18:03):
know, their time is veryvaluable.
And so when you're connectingwith those members, keep that in
mind because the same guy whois the CEO, he's also the truck
driver sometimes and the janitorother times, and he's got a lot
of stuff to do.
Stefanie Couch (18:18):
There's a lot of days my dad ended his day in a
lumber truck.
Yeah, you know, if that drivercalls in, that load's gonna go.
Yeah.
I also think though, thatspirit is what makes them so
successful because that person,that builder or that homeowner
that came in that needed thathelp, they realize that that
person will go the extra mile.
You know, Chick-fil-A is acompany from I'm from the
(18:40):
Georgia area.
So go the second mile.
Yeah, always go the second mileand give a customer experience
that people will want toreplicate again and again in
their lives because you createraving fans.
And when you do stuff likethat, it's hard to go back to
someone else.
Bob Taylor (18:55):
You know, Chick-fil-A is a a great example
of folks who really work to umconnect with our customer.
And one of their, I love um oneof their onboarding videos that
they have about if you've seenit, it's called Every Person Has
a Story.
And you're putting yourself inthe um in the customer's place.
Stefanie Couch (19:13):
Yeah.
Bob Taylor (19:13):
And, you know, I can't have a bad day because I
don't know how bad their day is.
Stefanie Couch (19:17):
That's so true.
Bob Taylor (19:18):
And so um, they've got an issue, may not have hit
you at a good time, but we gotwe gotta take care of that.
Yeah, we gotta make what makethe steps necessary to make that
happen.
Stefanie Couch (19:27):
Talking about branding and culture being
strong, I've been going toChick-fil-A my whole life, and I
can't imagine what would happenif I pulled into the
drive-thru, Bob, and someonesaid, You're welcome.
Bob Taylor (19:36):
You're about to freak out.
Yeah, I would be like, What'dyou just say?
Stefanie Couch (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, um, because it's my pleasure is all
there.
And so it's just the littlethings that end up being the big
things.
And I think that is whatresonates deeply with me is that
we gotta keep hitting all thebase hits, and we gotta keep
remembering that we gotta changeand and and have new things
happening.
But these little things arereally what adds up to winning.
Bob Taylor (20:00):
Yeah, and you know, we were talking about it last
night and and talking about uhthe technology element and all
of that.
And and you know, I made thecomment about you know, it yeah
it helps it you know, smallerretailers play big, but it also
helps big ones play small.
And so you you have tounderstand that.
And a lot of times you hearfolks talk about service.
Well, if you don't reallyunderstand what that means, um,
(20:24):
because there's there's a higherexpectation on independence.
Stefanie Couch (20:28):
I agree.
Bob Taylor (20:28):
You know, if if you go in a big box and you're able
to park within half a mile ofthe front door and you don't get
hit by somebody going in andthe forklift doesn't run over
you in the aisle and you foundwhat you needed in 35, 40
minutes, and it's a good day.
You know, it's a good day.
I went to tell everybody.
If you come in my store andheaven forbid you gotta wait
behind more than two or threepeople at the checkout, yeah,
(20:50):
and you didn't park right upfront and somebody didn't greet
you at the door and take you towhere you wanted, it you know
you you just gotta raise a bar.
Stefanie Couch (20:57):
I agree.
There's a book I love.
It's called UnreasonableHospitality, such a good book.
Bob Taylor (21:02):
I'm listening to it right now.
Stefanie Couch (21:04):
Oh, we did not plan this.
Bob Taylor (21:06):
No, I'm listening to it right now.
Stefanie Couch (21:07):
It's probably one of the best books I've ever
read.
Bob Taylor (21:09):
It's awesome.
Stefanie Couch (21:09):
I don't want to spoil it, but one thing that I
will tell you that uh Will, theauthor of that book, he had he
had a great restaurant.
It became the number onerestaurant in the world.
And that's on the back cover,so I didn't spoil the story for
you.
But what if I'm a little waysin, you're okay.
Okay, one of the things that Ihe says that I really love is
(21:30):
you can go to another restaurantand you can have the best meal
in the world.
Don't pay attention to whatthey're doing right.
Don't pay attention to howamazing the steak is or how
beautifully the appetizers aredisplayed, or maybe the china
that they're serving on.
Pay attention to the littlethings that they don't do well.
Pay attention to where peopleare actually falling short that
(21:50):
you could shine.
And I believe that independentswho niche and choose to have
that amazing service plus aniche that they choose to really
do well in.
He chose coffee service andcraft beer because he went to a
few of the other restaurantswith his team in the area and
everything was exquisite.
And so they sat down and theysaid, Oh, these things were
(22:11):
amazing.
And then he flipped the scriptand said, What wasn't amazing?
It wasn't terrible.
Yeah, it just wasn't amazing.
Bob Taylor (22:18):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (22:19):
And how do we surprise and delight our
customers?
And if you could go out and dosomething for one person, one
kid, one wife or spouse on ananniversary or whatever it is,
surprise and delight people.
I think we lose that whimsy.
We need to bring some of thatback.
Bob Taylor (22:37):
How do you touch people?
You know, and um when we werein Fort Wayne, uh we had a um a
cat that showed up at ourdoorstep in Virginia Beach when
Meg was one.
I think, and and maybe she wastalking, so but all she could
say was bright eyes.
So that became the name of thecat.
So the cat followed us to FortWayne.
(22:57):
Well, the cat comes to the endof cat life.
And um so we have to take herto the vet and have her put
down, and and Meg's with us, andand she's in tears and
everything.
But the cat was so good that umjust um best bedside met her
and everything.
So we get through the trauma,bury the cat, all that.
(23:18):
About um three or four weekslater, we get a um card from
Purdue University, and he hasmade a donation in the name of
Bright Eyes to the animal healthdepartment at Purdue.
Wow.
Do you think I'm going toanother vet?
No.
Never.
And so how do you find ways toto really connect with people uh
(23:42):
at a personal level?
Stefanie Couch (23:43):
I agree.
And you don't have to do it,everything is not scalable.
That's something that I thinkis really important in business
that you get wrapped up in it,oh, I gotta get bigger and I
gotta do this.
Sometimes the things that meanthe most to people, you could
only do for 10 people or youcould only do for one person,
but that might make such adifference and create raving
(24:03):
fans.
You don't need 10 millionpeople that love you if you're a
local business, but you need athousand raving fans.
You need those people to thenteach their kids to come to.
I heard about your Santa eventthat you do at your store.
I did ask if you were Santa, Iwas told that no.
Bob Taylor (24:19):
No.
Stefanie Couch (24:21):
But I think it's amazing not yet, not yet.
Bob Taylor (24:24):
Not yet.
Stefanie Couch (24:24):
That Meg had that experience as a child, and
now her girls are gonna have it.
And you have customers, I'msure, for generations that can
say they've been coming to theseevents at your store.
Those are things that theyaren't really scalable.
You can't do that worldwide.
Bob Taylor (24:37):
So, and you know, and and you think about those
family kind of event things, andum I think we have some folks
who do some amazing stuff onthose.
You know, what was kind of neatthis year on uh just the you
know, fresh-cut Christmas treesthat we sell.
They do a best of forTidewater, and and so you've got
Virginia Beach and Norfolk andChesapeake, and then and and in
(24:58):
all those cities, they had acategory that was best place to
buy a Christmas tree.
We got best place to buy aChristmas tree.
Stefanie Couch (25:05):
That's cool.
Bob Taylor (25:06):
So, you know, there are a lot of stories behind each
one of those Christmas treepurchases when they show up at a
lot with the kids in tow.
Stefanie Couch (25:13):
Absolutely.
Bob Taylor (25:13):
So, you know, if we're getting that already, what
can we do to make it evenbetter?
Stefanie Couch (25:17):
Hot cocoa with marshmallows?
Bob Taylor (25:19):
Absolutely.
Stefanie Couch (25:20):
I have ideas, Bob.
I have ideas.
You know, but I think that isthe thing, is a lot of times it
is something that costs almostnothing.
I mean, a cup of hot cocoa withsome marshmallows might be 75
cents or something.
I don't know.
I'm not a mathematician.
I just do things that I thinkpeople like, and then I let my
husband figure out the PL.
But at the end of the day,there's a lot you can do for a
(25:42):
very little amount, andsometimes it's just something
you say or a phone call.
So I think that's what I wantthe heart of independence to
continue to grow, and I thinkthat's how they do it.
Bob Taylor (25:51):
We had a at a member a while back at who right on
the front of the store when yourname's on the door, you care a
little more.
So true.
And it's um, I mean, you'reyou're not gonna talk to the
president CEO of the big boxstore when you go in.
No.
At our member stores, likelyyou can.
Stefanie Couch (26:08):
That's right.
Bob Taylor (26:09):
And will.
Stefanie Couch (26:09):
They may be the one checking you out or loading
your mulch in your truck.
Bob Taylor (26:13):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (26:14):
I love that.
Well, I'm really excited thatwe got to sit down.
I'm so glad we met last nightat dinner, and you've got an
amazing family business.
You've had a great historyhere, and I know a lot more to
come.
We got to get you in that Santasuit.
Bob Taylor (26:27):
Yeah, there you go.
Stefanie Couch (26:28):
I mean, that's I feel like that's something you
probably need to check off yourmind.
You know what?
I actually, Bob, now that youmention it, I think I might have
a pink hat.
Ben, can you make this happen?
I want to make this man's dreamcome true here.
Bob Taylor (26:40):
I had a couple people dare me to do that.
Dare you to do it.
Stefanie Couch (26:44):
So well, I am here to make things happen.
I'm here to give unreasonablehospitality, Bob.
Bob Taylor (26:49):
That's right.
Perfect.
Stefanie Couch (26:51):
That is that is what I'm here to do.
So we're gonna we're gonna makethis happen.
Bob Taylor (26:55):
Uh-oh, here we go.
Stefanie Couch (26:57):
I think this is your color, and you're wearing
blue.
Bob Taylor (26:59):
This might be a photo op here.
I love it.
Stefanie Couch (27:01):
Well, he has a camera and we are filming.
I love this.
All right, let's uh let's do aphoto.
You look great.
It's like it was meant to be.
I think so.
I think you should wear that to80s night.
Bob Taylor (27:12):
Good guys wear pink hats.
Stefanie Couch (27:13):
I think so.
I love it.
Bob Taylor (27:17):
Good.
Stefanie Couch (27:17):
Well, thank you for joining me on the grit
blueprint.
Bob Taylor (27:19):
This was fun.
This was fun.
Um enjoy catching up.
And you know, you've only beenwith do it best now a short
time, but uh, think you'remaking some really good
connections with folks.
And um, I like the energy aboutit.
And I appreciate the grit.
Stefanie Couch (27:32):
Well, thank you so much, and thank you for
joining me on the grit blueprintpodcast.
Yeah, and let's go celebratethe 80th anniversary of do it
best tonight.
Party time.
Party time.
Let's go.
We'll see you on the nextepisode.
Thank you for listening to theGrit Blueprint podcast.
If this episode helped youthink a little differently about
how to show up, share it withsomeone in your building world
(27:53):
who needs it.
If you're ready to turnvisibility into growth, then
head to gritblueprint.com tolearn more and book a call to
talk to us about your growthstrategy.
Until next time, stayunmistakable.
Create raving fans.
You don't need 10 millionpeople that love you if you're a
local business, but you need athousand raving fans.
Bob Taylor (00:07):
When your name's on the door, you care a little
more.
You're not gonna talk to thepresident and CEO of the big box
store when you go in.
In our member stores, likelyyou can and will.
You just gotta raise a bar.
Stefanie Couch (00:18):
Always go the second mile because you create
raving fans.
And when you do stuff likethat, it's hard to go back to
someone else.
The future of independentbusiness has been tested a lot.
Bob Taylor (00:28):
The landscape continues to change, and we're
gonna see more change.
But that's just that's part ofit.
Stefanie Couch (00:32):
Yeah.
Bob Taylor (00:32):
I still think there's a great future for
independence out there.
It absolutely is.
Stefanie Couch (00:36):
That's why I name my company Grit Blueprint,
is because what it takes to besuccessful in this industry, it
always starts with a grit.
Bob Taylor (00:43):
I think you're making some really good
connections with folks, and um Ilike the energy about it and
appreciate the grit.
Stefanie Couch (00:49):
Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast, the
playbook for buildingunmistakable brands that grow,
lead, and last in the builtworld.
I'm Stephanie Couch, thefounder of Grit Blueprint, and
I'm a lifelong building industryinsider.
I was raised here, built mycareer here, and now my team and
(01:11):
I help others win here.
The truth is, you can be thebest option in your space and
still lose to someone else whosimply shows up better and more
consistently.
Each week on the GritBlueprint, I'm going to show you
how to stand out, earn trust,and turn your brand into a
competitive advantage thatlasts.
(01:32):
If you're ready to be seen,known, chosen, and become
unmistakable, you're in theright place.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast.
I am your host, StephanieCouch, and I'm here today with a
very special guest on themarket floor.
Bob, welcome to the show.
Bob Taylor (01:53):
Thanks, Stephanie.
Happy to be here.
Stefanie Couch (01:54):
And we actually had the pleasure of meeting last
night at dinner.
So we're fast friends.
Bob Taylor (01:58):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (01:59):
But you have been around Do It Best for a
while, and you are the presidentemeritus.
You were the CEO formally, andyou are also the chairman of
your family's 21 store chain inVirginia.
Bob Taylor (02:11):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (02:11):
So I want you to tell me a little bit about you
and your family and how'd youget here?
Because it's been a cooljourney.
You told me last night.
I was like, wow.
Bob Taylor (02:20):
We're sitting here today with kind of really the
first big combination marketbetween good best and true
value.
And I look back on my historyand it's it's kind of surreal to
look around and see is thisreally all come together this
way.
And you know, because I I grewup in the family business, um,
uh worked elsewhere, but thenkind of came back to the
(02:40):
business, worked, had other jobsduring college and all.
But you know, when you have achance to work with your uh your
parents and in growing a familybusiness, and and ours will be
two more years will be ahundred, you know, and your dad
and so is 102?
102.
Now he wasn't there for allthose hundred years, but you
know, pretty close.
But uh he grew up in the smalltown of Virginia Beach back
(03:03):
then, which is now grown to bethe largest city in the state.
And you know, we grew up in thehardware business, and then my
my dad, when he came into thebusiness, you know, you're
always looking to kind of raisethe bar of what you're doing.
He said, you know, this co-opmodel looks really interesting.
It looks like an opportunity toreally help independence.
And that really the leading oneat the time, you know, he saw
(03:24):
was True Value out there.
And so he joined True Valueback in 1965.
And they were such a big partof our growth as a family
company from in the 60s and the70s and into the early 80s, and
um just uh made a heck of adifference for our company.
And we found ourselves,however, you know, late 80s,
(03:46):
starting to look and said, youknow, are there some different
options out there?
The performance, to be honest,at True Value had had slipped a
bit, and we were looking forsomebody who really might
partner with us a little bitbetter in our business.
And so we found HWI then, do itbest today, and said, Boy, this
just really looks likesomething different, looks like
a good fit for us.
And so we made the change whichco-ops went from true value to
(04:09):
do it best in 1990, and it uhkind of re-energized our
business, helped us continue togrow and expand and add
locations.
And I had the chance to serveon the Do It Best board as a
member uh for about six years,including a couple years as
their chairman.
And during my time as chairman,the CEO at the time uh was a
(04:33):
gentleman by the name of MikeMcClellan.
He'd been with the companyabout um almost 25 years,
including about nine or ten asas CEO, and done a great job in
helping the company grow.
But he was looking to kind ofretire.
And and so we as a boardstarted the search process.
And we were looking nationally,we had the the board of
(04:55):
directors involved in that, andunbeknownst to me, Mike talked
to a number of the board membersand said, I really like you to
consider Bob for the position.
And you know, it was aninteresting time, and I was
fortunate in the family businessto have two younger brothers,
both very capable, very engagedin the business, who could step
(05:17):
up and and do some things in myabsence.
And so, long story short, Iended up taking, you know, 25
years on the retail side andmove it over to the co-op and
distribution side, and thenspent, you know, 16 years at do
it best, you know, 15 as uh CEO.
Moved to Fort Wayne, moved toFort Wayne, which was uh, you
know, my my son Roby was about11 or 12 at the time, and and um
(05:41):
he had just gotten a newsurfboard for Christmas.
So we tell him we're moving himto Indiana, he goes, Dad, we're
moving up with a bunch offarmers.
Stefanie Couch (05:50):
Can't surf in a cornfield.
Bob Taylor (05:51):
But they made such great friends in in Fort Wayne
that they still connect withtoday.
And um but uh and then so whenI retired, I it's hard to
believe it's it's 10 years ago.
Time just just flies, but uhit'll be 10 years in in January
and moved back home and now Iserve as as uh chair of our
family company, and my brothersare still doing a great job
(06:13):
running the business, and we'vegot five members of the fourth
generation involved in thebusiness too.
Stefanie Couch (06:17):
Well, and I just spoke with your amazing
daughter, Meg.
She's incredible.
And she's in the business, andand you have fourth generation,
is that correct?
Yeah, and she's got twodaughters, so I said we got to
get those girls in there for thefifth generation.
Bob Taylor (06:31):
So both hers who are still very young, uh, two and
three and a half, they all theyboth have their first market
badges already.
So they've been up to themarket and been here and that's
awesome.
Stefanie Couch (06:41):
I loved hardware shows when I was a little girl.
It was literally the thing Ilooked forward to my entire
year.
We had we had two or three we'dgo to.
It was our only vacations, youknow.
My dad couldn't get off work,but obviously this was a work
thing.
Yeah.
And I've seen so many amazingfamilies walk by today.
Uh, there's so much going on onthe floor.
With the true valueacquisition, the United Hardware
(07:03):
Acquisition, there's been a lotof action happening the last
year or so here at Do It BestGroup.
What excites you the most aboutthe future and the changes that
you see happening right now?
Bob Taylor (07:12):
It was um a really unique opportunity for Do It
Best.
And uh I think there there area lot of things that came into
play with them being able toexecute on that.
You know, having a strongfinancial foundation that that
you can springboard from so youyou don't have that as a
hindrance.
But also you're dependent somuch on the team to execute
(07:34):
that.
And I think we've reallyenjoyed for a number of years
having a a strong and a deeptalent level at do it best, and
that deep talent level helpedthem really spread that force
out, manage through a verydifficult combination uh and
executed on it in a way that youknow you just say, gosh, it was
(07:58):
we're we're barely, you know,seven, eight months into this
thing.
And already the performance atTrue Value has gone back to what
people are really happy withnow.
Yeah.
And we've restored confidence inthe their retailers, we've
restored confidence in thevendor community and really
(08:19):
supported that independentnetwork of businesses across the
country that depend on thatkind of support and
relationship.
So it's so now to come intothis is really you know, we had
the groups together for thespring market, but to come in
here now in in India at theOctober market and see it taking
up every square inch of off offloor space here.
Stefanie Couch (08:40):
We're out of room.
Bob Taylor (08:41):
And you know, obviously there are vendors who
um um took a haircut.
Yeah.
And um maybe not feeling so goodabout that.
I understand that.
But I hope they're encouragedand and um by seeing the
activity here at the market andthe response of the members and
(09:01):
seeing good things about theopportunities ahead.
So I think that's exciting, andand the member comment and the
vendor comment that I've had uhhas been outstanding.
Stefanie Couch (09:11):
Absolutely, me too.
I've talked to a lot of truevalue members, they're excited
about what's to come, excitedabout the leverage that they've
got.
Yeah, and then they want to seewhat's next for them because
before they didn't have options,but now they do.
One question I want to ask youis what did your dad say about
this true value acquisition?
And and I feel like this issuch a cool story because I
(09:32):
didn't realize that your storewas true value, and your dad in
the 60s had chosen that.
Yeah, and then you ended upmoving to do it best, you were
the obviously the CEO for a longtime.
Such a really circle moment tocome back.
What did dad say about that?
Bob Taylor (09:47):
You know, it was more about the memories than
than anything else.
And looking back, you know, theeverybody jokes if you've been
with True Value for a long time,you'd go back to when their
markets used to be right attheir offices on Clivern Avenue
in Chicago.
And we'd have these metalrolling carts that we'd push
around the market, and therewere peanut shells on the floor
(10:07):
every everywhere.
I don't know how people withpeanut allergies work the
market, but you know, it's uh itwould never be okay.
Stefanie Couch (10:14):
No, you wouldn't do that today.
Bob Taylor (10:15):
You just say no, that's not happening.
But but uh and peanut shells onthe floor, apple juice, it was
just all these things that werejust and and so when I was later
at do it best, and we wouldhave prospects come over and
come to a market here to kind ofkick the tires at at do it best
(10:36):
from true value.
And I would hear them say, youknow, do it best kind of feels
like true value did when theywere on Clivern Avenue.
And I said, Well, I knowexactly what you mean because it
did have a a culture about itthat was that was special.
And I think, you know, I hopethat we've continued to build
one here at Do It Best for thatthat does set us apart.
(10:58):
And and so I think you know, Igo back to when um we were
considering talking about mydad, considering the the switch
to do it best, and we we we hadjust been loyal true value
members.
We we weren't really lookingthat hard.
And we had talked about it andhemmed and hot a bit, and we got
(11:18):
a one-page sheet in the mail inAugust after Do It Best wrapped
up its fiscal year.
And my office and my dad'soffice were in two separate
locations.
And I got that and opened itup, and I said, you know, gosh,
I mean, looking at the cost oflow cost of operations, the high
year-end rebate, the return oninvestment, the high fill rates.
(11:39):
This is just we gotta take, Igotta talk to dad about this
again.
And I swear to you, 15 minuteslater, my phone rings.
It's my dad.
He says, Bob, I got this thingin the mail today from do it
best from HWI do it best.
I said, Well, I think we needto take a closer look.
I said, Yep, we're on the samepage.
(12:00):
Wow.
Um, so when he sees this, youknow, I I think he um it it's
the memories of what we wentthrough together, you know, and
and working with your parent, Imean, you know, yeah, is uh is a
pretty special opportunity.
It is, and so you reminisce onsome of those things that you
went through.
Stefanie Couch (12:16):
Absolutely.
My dad and I talk a lot aboutuh him working with with my
granddad, and um my granddadlived to be 101, and we'd we'd
all sit around and laugh aboutthings.
And my granddad liked to laughabout things that he did to my
dad, like with a lumber truckmaking him do horrible things
that were just, you know, andhe'd just laugh when he was 100
(12:36):
about it.
Like that was a great memory.
And my dad's like, yeah, itstill burns as much as it did 40
years ago when you sent me outon that load.
Bob Taylor (12:42):
But it's I had to under unload those hundred-pound
bags or whatever it was all bymyself with no.
Stefanie Couch (12:52):
What what's it to throw a hundred squares of
roofing by hand in the July heatin Georgia?
Bob Taylor (12:56):
We can handle that.
Yeah, yeah.
Stefanie Couch (12:58):
It did make him tough though.
Yeah.
And uh, and my dad made metough.
And I think that that's one ofthe things about our industry is
we have a lot of grit.
That's why I named my companyGrit Blueprint, is because what
it takes to be successful inthis industry, it always usually
starts with a grit.
Bob Taylor (13:13):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (13:13):
And I think that's an endearing thing about
our industry.
This episode of the GritBlueprint Podcast was sponsored
by Do It Best Group.
Do It Best Group is the largestco-op in the world, and they
help independent hardware andlumber yards all over North
America win.
Do It Best offers services,products, and people that can
(13:35):
help you win long term.
They are the champion ofindependence.
The future of independentbusiness has been tested a lot.
I mean, there's a lot of biggiants out there that are
competing for the pro contractorbusiness.
They're competing for theconsumer business.
And I believe partnerships arethe way to win in life.
(13:56):
Co-ops are a great opportunityfor that partnership.
What do you think the future ofindependent business looks
like?
And what do you see that peopleare doing that are innovating
to win at a major level?
What are you doing at yourstores to win?
Bob Taylor (14:09):
I still think there's a great future for
independence out there.
Absolutely is.
If you're not gonna sharefinancials, you're not in the
(16:20):
group.
Yeah.
You know, you gotta be able touse the tools that we have to
benchmark against one another toreally grow and expand.
Stefanie Couch (16:45):
That's a great point.
I do love how open people areto sharing because they know,
hey, you're not my enemy.
We're not even most of thetime, we're not even competitors
because you're not even in thesame market.
But I've even seen competitorsshare information because they
believe there's enough marketshare and they want to kind of
bind together to go up againstthe bigger dogs.
And I think it's one of thegreatest things in our industry
(17:07):
is how much people help eachother.
It really is that spirit ofcommunity with independent
businesses.
And I see that a lot when I'mhere.
I'm always invigorated by theseevents.
I think it's seeing the theyoung, hungry people coming into
our industry as well.
You know, like your daughter,we have a family history, so we
do have a tie here, but we bothwent out and did something
(17:28):
different.
Bob Taylor (17:28):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (17:29):
And now we've come back and we're doing, I'm
doing my own thing.
She's working in the familybusiness.
It's really fun to use thatleverage we had from what we
came from to build what we wantit to be in the future.
Bob Taylor (17:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And she's, you know, um, she'snot on Capitol Hill anymore, you
know, carrying two cell phonesand on call 24-7.
But when you're in a familybusiness, you're gonna be
wearing a lot of hats.
Yeah.
And it's not, you know, may notbe 24-7, but it's pretty close
to it.
And, you know, I think thefolks that do it best, you know,
have a work to have anappreciation of that, that you
(18:03):
know, their time is veryvaluable.
And so when you're connectingwith those members, keep that in
mind because the same guy whois the CEO, he's also the truck
driver sometimes and the janitorother times, and he's got a lot
of stuff to do.
Stefanie Couch (18:18):
There's a lot of days my dad ended his day in a
lumber truck.
Yeah, you know, if that drivercalls in, that load's gonna go.
Yeah.
I also think though, thatspirit is what makes them so
successful because that person,that builder or that homeowner
that came in that needed thathelp, they realize that that
person will go the extra mile.
You know, Chick-fil-A is acompany from I'm from the
(18:40):
Georgia area.
So go the second mile.
Yeah, always go the second mileand give a customer experience
that people will want toreplicate again and again in
their lives because you createraving fans.
And when you do stuff likethat, it's hard to go back to
someone else.
Bob Taylor (18:55):
You know, Chick-fil-A is a a great example
of folks who really work to umconnect with our customer.
And one of their, I love um oneof their onboarding videos that
they have about if you've seenit, it's called Every Person Has
a Story.
And you're putting yourself inthe um in the customer's place.
Stefanie Couch (19:13):
Yeah.
Bob Taylor (19:13):
And, you know, I can't have a bad day because I
don't know how bad their day is.
Stefanie Couch (19:17):
That's so true.
Bob Taylor (19:18):
And so um, they've got an issue, may not have hit
you at a good time, but we gotwe gotta take care of that.
Yeah, we gotta make what makethe steps necessary to make that
happen.
Stefanie Couch (19:27):
Talking about branding and culture being
strong, I've been going toChick-fil-A my whole life, and I
can't imagine what would happenif I pulled into the
drive-thru, Bob, and someonesaid, You're welcome.
Bob Taylor (19:36):
You're about to freak out.
Yeah, I would be like, What'dyou just say?
Stefanie Couch (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, um, because it's my pleasure is all
there.
And so it's just the littlethings that end up being the big
things.
And I think that is whatresonates deeply with me is that
we gotta keep hitting all thebase hits, and we gotta keep
remembering that we gotta changeand and and have new things
happening.
But these little things arereally what adds up to winning.
Bob Taylor (20:00):
Yeah, and you know, we were talking about it last
night and and talking about uhthe technology element and all
of that.
And and you know, I made thecomment about you know, it yeah
it helps it you know, smallerretailers play big, but it also
helps big ones play small.
And so you you have tounderstand that.
And a lot of times you hearfolks talk about service.
Well, if you don't reallyunderstand what that means, um,
(20:24):
because there's there's a higherexpectation on independence.
Stefanie Couch (20:28):
I agree.
Bob Taylor (20:28):
You know, if if you go in a big box and you're able
to park within half a mile ofthe front door and you don't get
hit by somebody going in andthe forklift doesn't run over
you in the aisle and you foundwhat you needed in 35, 40
minutes, and it's a good day.
You know, it's a good day.
I went to tell everybody.
If you come in my store andheaven forbid you gotta wait
behind more than two or threepeople at the checkout, yeah,
(20:50):
and you didn't park right upfront and somebody didn't greet
you at the door and take you towhere you wanted, it you know
you you just gotta raise a bar.
Stefanie Couch (20:57):
I agree.
There's a book I love.
It's called UnreasonableHospitality, such a good book.
Bob Taylor (21:02):
I'm listening to it right now.
Stefanie Couch (21:04):
Oh, we did not plan this.
Bob Taylor (21:06):
No, I'm listening to it right now.
Stefanie Couch (21:07):
It's probably one of the best books I've ever
read.
Bob Taylor (21:09):
It's awesome.
Stefanie Couch (21:09):
I don't want to spoil it, but one thing that I
will tell you that uh Will, theauthor of that book, he had he
had a great restaurant.
It became the number onerestaurant in the world.
And that's on the back cover,so I didn't spoil the story for
you.
But what if I'm a little waysin, you're okay.
Okay, one of the things that Ihe says that I really love is
(21:30):
you can go to another restaurantand you can have the best meal
in the world.
Don't pay attention to whatthey're doing right.
Don't pay attention to howamazing the steak is or how
beautifully the appetizers aredisplayed, or maybe the china
that they're serving on.
Pay attention to the littlethings that they don't do well.
Pay attention to where peopleare actually falling short that
(21:50):
you could shine.
And I believe that independentswho niche and choose to have
that amazing service plus aniche that they choose to really
do well in.
He chose coffee service andcraft beer because he went to a
few of the other restaurantswith his team in the area and
everything was exquisite.
And so they sat down and theysaid, Oh, these things were
(22:11):
amazing.
And then he flipped the scriptand said, What wasn't amazing?
It wasn't terrible.
Yeah, it just wasn't amazing.
Bob Taylor (22:18):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (22:19):
And how do we surprise and delight our
customers?
And if you could go out and dosomething for one person, one
kid, one wife or spouse on ananniversary or whatever it is,
surprise and delight people.
I think we lose that whimsy.
We need to bring some of thatback.
Bob Taylor (22:37):
How do you touch people?
You know, and um when we werein Fort Wayne, uh we had a um a
cat that showed up at ourdoorstep in Virginia Beach when
Meg was one.
I think, and and maybe she wastalking, so but all she could
say was bright eyes.
So that became the name of thecat.
So the cat followed us to FortWayne.
(22:57):
Well, the cat comes to the endof cat life.
And um so we have to take herto the vet and have her put
down, and and Meg's with us, andand she's in tears and
everything.
But the cat was so good that umjust um best bedside met her
and everything.
So we get through the trauma,bury the cat, all that.
(23:18):
About um three or four weekslater, we get a um card from
Purdue University, and he hasmade a donation in the name of
Bright Eyes to the animal healthdepartment at Purdue.
Wow.
Do you think I'm going toanother vet?
No.
Never.
And so how do you find ways toto really connect with people uh
(23:42):
at a personal level?
Stefanie Couch (23:43):
I agree.
And you don't have to do it,everything is not scalable.
That's something that I thinkis really important in business
that you get wrapped up in it,oh, I gotta get bigger and I
gotta do this.
Sometimes the things that meanthe most to people, you could
only do for 10 people or youcould only do for one person,
but that might make such adifference and create raving
(24:03):
fans.
You don't need 10 millionpeople that love you if you're a
local business, but you need athousand raving fans.
You need those people to thenteach their kids to come to.
I heard about your Santa eventthat you do at your store.
I did ask if you were Santa, Iwas told that no.
Bob Taylor (24:19):
No.
Stefanie Couch (24:21):
But I think it's amazing not yet, not yet.
Bob Taylor (24:24):
Not yet.
Stefanie Couch (24:24):
That Meg had that experience as a child, and
now her girls are gonna have it.
And you have customers, I'msure, for generations that can
say they've been coming to theseevents at your store.
Those are things that theyaren't really scalable.
You can't do that worldwide.
Bob Taylor (24:37):
So, and you know, and and you think about those
family kind of event things, andum I think we have some folks
who do some amazing stuff onthose.
You know, what was kind of neatthis year on uh just the you
know, fresh-cut Christmas treesthat we sell.
They do a best of forTidewater, and and so you've got
Virginia Beach and Norfolk andChesapeake, and then and and in
(24:58):
all those cities, they had acategory that was best place to
buy a Christmas tree.
We got best place to buy aChristmas tree.
Stefanie Couch (25:05):
That's cool.
Bob Taylor (25:06):
So, you know, there are a lot of stories behind each
one of those Christmas treepurchases when they show up at a
lot with the kids in tow.
Stefanie Couch (25:13):
Absolutely.
Bob Taylor (25:13):
So, you know, if we're getting that already, what
can we do to make it evenbetter?
Stefanie Couch (25:17):
Hot cocoa with marshmallows?
Bob Taylor (25:19):
Absolutely.
Stefanie Couch (25:20):
I have ideas, Bob.
I have ideas.
You know, but I think that isthe thing, is a lot of times it
is something that costs almostnothing.
I mean, a cup of hot cocoa withsome marshmallows might be 75
cents or something.
I don't know.
I'm not a mathematician.
I just do things that I thinkpeople like, and then I let my
husband figure out the PL.
But at the end of the day,there's a lot you can do for a
(25:42):
very little amount, andsometimes it's just something
you say or a phone call.
So I think that's what I wantthe heart of independence to
continue to grow, and I thinkthat's how they do it.
Bob Taylor (25:51):
We had a at a member a while back at who right on
the front of the store when yourname's on the door, you care a
little more.
So true.
And it's um, I mean, you'reyou're not gonna talk to the
president CEO of the big boxstore when you go in.
No.
At our member stores, likelyyou can.
Stefanie Couch (26:08):
That's right.
Bob Taylor (26:09):
And will.
Stefanie Couch (26:09):
They may be the one checking you out or loading
your mulch in your truck.
Bob Taylor (26:13):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (26:14):
I love that.
Well, I'm really excited thatwe got to sit down.
I'm so glad we met last nightat dinner, and you've got an
amazing family business.
You've had a great historyhere, and I know a lot more to
come.
We got to get you in that Santasuit.
Bob Taylor (26:27):
Yeah, there you go.
Stefanie Couch (26:28):
I mean, that's I feel like that's something you
probably need to check off yourmind.
You know what?
I actually, Bob, now that youmention it, I think I might have
a pink hat.
Ben, can you make this happen?
I want to make this man's dreamcome true here.
Bob Taylor (26:40):
I had a couple people dare me to do that.
Dare you to do it.
Stefanie Couch (26:44):
So well, I am here to make things happen.
I'm here to give unreasonablehospitality, Bob.
Bob Taylor (26:49):
That's right.
Perfect.
Stefanie Couch (26:51):
That is that is what I'm here to do.
So we're gonna we're gonna makethis happen.
Bob Taylor (26:55):
Uh-oh, here we go.
Stefanie Couch (26:57):
I think this is your color, and you're wearing
blue.
Bob Taylor (26:59):
This might be a photo op here.
I love it.
Stefanie Couch (27:01):
Well, he has a camera and we are filming.
I love this.
All right, let's uh let's do aphoto.
You look great.
It's like it was meant to be.
I think so.
I think you should wear that to80s night.
Bob Taylor (27:12):
Good guys wear pink hats.
Stefanie Couch (27:13):
I think so.
I love it.
Bob Taylor (27:17):
Good.
Stefanie Couch (27:17):
Well, thank you for joining me on the grit
blueprint.
Bob Taylor (27:19):
This was fun.
This was fun.
Um enjoy catching up.
And you know, you've only beenwith do it best now a short
time, but uh, think you'remaking some really good
connections with folks.
And um, I like the energy aboutit.
And I appreciate the grit.
Stefanie Couch (27:32):
Well, thank you so much, and thank you for
joining me on the grit blueprintpodcast.
Yeah, and let's go celebratethe 80th anniversary of do it
best tonight.
Party time.
Party time.
Let's go.
We'll see you on the nextepisode.
Thank you for listening to theGrit Blueprint podcast.
If this episode helped youthink a little differently about
how to show up, share it withsomeone in your building world
(27:53):
who needs it.
If you're ready to turnvisibility into growth, then
head to gritblueprint.com tolearn more and book a call to
talk to us about your growthstrategy.
Until next time, stayunmistakable.
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