Page 7 - BusinessWest February 21, 2022

RBy Joseph Bednar But when businesses of all kinds were shut- second year of the pandemic, and affect indus-
tered almost two years ago, during the early days of COVID-19, hardware stores were, indeed, among the ‘essential’ businesses the state allowed to remain open.
And it’s a good thing, judging by the surge in demand that followed.
“What really took off with COVID, the first area we saw a spike, was home-improvement projects. When people were suddenly staying
occo Falcone II didn’t need a pandemic to tell him his busi- ness is essential.
His family business, Rocky’s Ace Hardware — helmed for the past 30 years by Falcone, its
third-generation president and CEO — has been proving that for more than 95 years.
tries of all kinds: namely staffing and supply- chain issues. At Rocky’s, the former involves mak- ing sure everyone is healthy.
“We employ more than 500 people,” Falcone said. “I would say not a day goes by when some- one in the company isn’t out on quarantine with COVID. It’s a challenge staffing stores. We have a
“We’re fighting with Home Depot and Lowe’s for these products, and you want to get your fair share, but there’s a disruption in the supply chain.”
great staff, though, and people are willing to help out. If a store’s assistant manager is out, or two assistants are out, we have someone from anoth- er store hop over to that store.”
The supply issue, however, is more complex, and doesn’t necessarily involve the same prod- ucts month to month. When Texas froze over in February 2021, paralyzing manufacturing and trucking down south, the situation crippled the supply of PVC piping and glues and adhesives — products produced in great volumes in Texas, a state most people associate more with oil and energy, Falcone said.
“The freezing created a big shortage in PVC, which you’d see when you’d go down the PVC aisles. The whole supply got disrupted.”
Rocky’s has grown from a single store in downtown Springfield to a 38-location chain in eight states.
home, the biggest thing they were buy- ing was paint. They wanted to be produc- tive working at home, and have a nice home office.”
When the weather warmed up, the next spike was backyard grills. “Everyone wanted to get outside because of COVID, and they were buy- ing Weber and Trae- ger grills and the Big Green Egg — gas, charcoal, smokers, pellet grills ... that business remained strong, and still is.”
He paused for a moment. “But we’ve had our challenges, too.”
The biggest have emerged during the
Tackle winter weather with new tires and support a good cause.
You’ll always find unbeatable are prices at Balise. And this month, your new set of ares will help support Square One and local youth development in the Springfield area.
Square One’s range of family-friendly educaaon and support services include early educaaon centers, aaer-school care, and parent educaaon.
For more informaaon or to make a donaaon, visit baliseauto.com
BusinessWest FEATURE
FEBRUARY 21, 2022 7