Marking a Milestone
Johnny Falcone (left) and Rocco Falcone
For the Rocky’s Ace Hardware chain, there are many numbers of significance to consider.
Let’s start with 100. That’s the round-number anniversary the family business that started in downtown Springfield is celebrating this year.
But there’s also 52 — the number of stores in the chain. (It was 50 before two recent additions in Kennebunk, Maine and Manchester, Conn.) And also nine, the number of states in which you will now find the Rocky’s chain — five of the New England states (there are none in Vermont) as well as Ohio (which boasts 10 stores), New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
There’s also the number four, connoting the number of generations of the Falcone family that have been involved with managing the chain, with the fourth being led by John ‘Johnny’ Falcone, who carries the all-encompassing title of ‘director of growth.’
“In our industry, there are a lot of senior folks like myself who don’t have families ready, willing, or able to take on the family business.”
Indeed, quite a bit goes with that designation, especially the numbers just mentioned and what they will be in five, 10, or 20 years.
There has been a wave of consolidation in the hardware business over the past few decades as the small, independent store that almost every city or town could boast has given way to larger chains, especially as Baby Boomers, many with no succession plans in place, moved into retirement, a process accelerated, in many cases, by COVID.
Instead of cutting a ribbon, officials chainsawed a board to mark the opening of the Rocky’s in Manchester, Conn, one of the latest additions to the chain.
“In our industry, there are a lot of senior folks like myself who don’t have families ready, willing, or able to take on the family business,” said Rocco Falcone II, third-generation owner of Rocky’s and the one who has been instrumental in much of the company’s expansion, even if he didn’t take the same title as his son. “So we’re still seeing opportunities for acquisitions for that reason.”
Beyond growth in the number of stores, the company is looking ahead to the next 100 years, with an eye toward anticipating and embracing change, and keeping its focus where it has always been: on the consumer.
“Every decision we want to make is with the consumer in mind,” Johnny said. “We think about our customers and the options they have when they want to buy. When we look at growth for this business, it has a lot to do with allowing the customer to choose the method with which they want to buy that item or help them with their project — whether that’s buying in store, online, on a mobile app, through third parties like DoorDash, or other apps that are out there — and then meeting them in the method they want to receive that product, whether it’s picking it up themselves, having someone deliver it, or having someone assemble it for them.
“It’s really reinventing what convenience means,” he went on. “Fifteen or 20 years ago, convenience meant a neighborhood hardware store; today, convenience means so much more when it comes to technology, especially with how consumer behavior has changed. So for us, every one of our decisions is made with the customer in mind; we’re working hard at redefining what convenience looks like in the digital world.”
“Every one of our decisions is made with the customer in mind; we’re working hard at redefining what convenience looks like in the digital world.”
For this issue, we take an in-depth look at the first century in the history of the Rocky’s chain and what will come next for what can only be called a retail institution — in this region and now far beyond it.
Changing with the Times
For those not familiar with the Rocky’s story — and by now, most are — it begins in 1926, when Rocco’s grandfather (also named Rocco), who saved some money while selling newspapers in front of the Paramount Theater and, later, working at Zundel’s Hardware in downtown Springfield, decided to go into business for himself.
Equipment and tool rentals were a big part of the Rocky’s success formula for decades.
He started with a small hardware and tool rental business, with the latter half thriving because, at that time, many people could not afford to own equipment.
The company remained on Main Street for decades, but as the population moved out from downtown (and in many cases out from Springfield), the company went with it, eventually adding hardware and rental locations in other parts of the city, such as Breckwood Boulevard, before moving its headquarters and flagship hardware store into a former sawmill on Island Pond Road in the ‘60s.
In the ‘70s, the company, now under the leadership of Rocco’s father, Jim, expanded to a seven-store chain and joined the Ace Hardware cooperative to leverage national buying power. It also eventually eased out of the rental business while also adding paint and wallpaper, and transitioning into home centers, with lumber, building materials, kitchens, baths, doors, and windows — and larger stores to accommodate all that.
With the arrival in the ‘90s of Home Depot, which took much of that business, the company, now with Rocco at the helm, transitioned again, to maintenance and repair as well as lawn and garden supplies — and smaller stores, with the outside lumber yards on Island Pond Road and the Agawam store converted to garden centers.
“People will shop at Rocky’s not for price, but for value, and the combination of the national brands that we feature and the service, knowledge, and advice we can give. That’s a value that brings people back.”
This evolutionary process has continued, as has expansion of the chain across this state and into other states, with more of the same projected in the years to come as new opportunities continue to arise.
Rocco Falcone noted that there are still smaller, independent stores doing business, but far fewer than a few decades ago, especially in this region, which has seen many familiar names disappear from the landscape, with Manchester Hardware in Easthampton, which closed in 2021 after being in operation for 125 years, being one of the latest.
There are more independent stores in other regions and other states, he said, adding that Rocky’s will get calls on a steady basis gauging interest in acquisitions, and the company has let it be known that it’s interested in further expansion — if the fit is right.
“A good source of referrals are the owners of the stores we’ve bought,” he said. “That’s how we ended up with the store in New Jersey; a fellow from Pennsylvania said, ‘my buddy in New Jersey, who’s only 20 minutes away even though it’s in a different state, is ready to sell.’”
And while there are a few acquisition opportunities remaining in the 413, most of them are in other markets, Rocco said, citing those recent additions in Maine and New Jersey as examples of where growth is happening for this company.
“We want to fill in the map,” he told BusinessWest, referring to both gaps between states and gaps between stores in states where there is already a presence. “Between New Jersey and Pennsylvania and up the Connecticut coast is a great place to look; the I-91 corridor would be nice.
“There are still more opportunities in Worcester … we just can’t find good locations,” he went on, adding that the company’s longer-term goal is to cluster stores in the Worcester market, as it has in the 413, with locations in Springfield (two), East Longmeadow, Agawam, Westfield, South Hadley, and Ludlow. “We could have eight stores in that [Worcester] market, but we only have one or two now. And then we can move up the coast of Maine and into New Hampshire; there’s a lot of opportunity there.”
What’s in Store?
Johnny Falcone says Rocky’s continues to adapt to a changing retail landscape and “reinvent what convenience means.”
Continued growth makes sense for many reasons, especially the economies of scale that come with larger numbers, Rocco said, adding that, as with banks, insurance agencies, and other types of businesses, size is certainly an advantage.
Meanwhile, the company continues to adjust and react to that need to continually reinvent convenience, as Johnny Falcone described it.
That includes growth of the company’s online business, which includes the DoorDash option for smaller items and company-coordinated delivery of larger products like grills, serving as an effective complement to the brick-and-mortar stores, which will always be needed in this business.
“The retail space is not going away,” Rocco said. “The online component just brings the product closer to the customer rather than being in an Amazon warehouse 500 miles away.”
While coping with changes on the retail spectrum, Rocky’s, like all businesses, is adapting to a new workforce landscape as well. Indeed, while many young people are still landing their first or second jobs with the chain, many of those patrolling the aisles have gray hair, said Rocco, noting that this has been the trend over the past several years, especially at the company’s Florida stores, but also in other markets, including this one.
It’s a reflection of changing demographics — fewer young people — but also a desire among many seniors to stay active and remain in the workforce, often on a part-time basis.
“They don’t want to work full-time, they want a purpose, they want to come in and be helpful, which is one of our core values,” Rocco said, adding that these older staff members serve as mentors to the younger men and women learning the hardware business.
And many of those young people are staying with the company, he said, noting that, with 52 stores and growing, there are ample opportunities to advance and move into management positions.
As for those core values, they are being re-emphasized and reinforced — such as at the company’s recent Leadership Summit at the Marriott in downtown Springfield — as Rocky’s turns 100. Other values, Johnny said, include ‘helpful,’ ‘responsible,’ ‘caring,’ ‘excellence,’ and ‘fun.’
That’s not an acronym, but rather an operating philosophy, he said, and one that separates the company from its competitors, especially the large, big-box variety.
“We all focus on ‘helpful,’ especially the customer-facing employees, as the most important value, because that’s really what sets us apart from our competition,” he told BusinessWest. “People will shop at Rocky’s not for price, but for value, and the combination of the national brands that we feature and the service, knowledge, and advice we can give. That’s a value that brings people back.”
As for the 100th anniversary, the company will be marking that milestone in many different ways, from a kickoff at the Leadership Summit to several ‘hometown days’ events coinciding with holidays this spring and summer, as well as a larger celebration in October, including promotional sales.
Mostly though, Rocky’s will be doing what it’s been doing for the last century — changing, adapting, growing, and, well… being helpful.
