Page 8 - BusinessWest February 21, 2022

Oh, and back to those grills — it’s been very difficult at times to stock them, especially when big-box stores responded to the shortage by buying up six months’ worth. “That disrupted the supply chain even more. 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.”
Or Stihl leaf blowers. “We’d be order- ing at 8 in the morning, going on every day, seeing what they have. All our store managers were trying to reserve leaf blowers and other things. By 8:05, they were gone.”
All of which has spurred inflation,
so store owners are seeing vendors push through price increases of 5% or 10% across the board, Falcone noted. “These are crazy times with the supply chain; now we’ve got price increases, and we’ve got to stay on top of that. It’s different for everyone. I know in the car business, new cars have gone up 5% to 10%, but used cars went up 25%. It’s kind of crazy. And we’re seeing that inflation in our prices, too.”
But here’s the thing: two years of economic disruption and shifts in customer expectations aren’t going to slow down a family business that has endured even more dramatic changes over the years — including, perhaps
most notably, the rise of the big boxes starting in the early ’90s.
Tools for Success
The Rocky’s story begins much earlier that that, however — in 1926, to be exact — when Falcone’s grand- father, also named Rocco, opened a 500-square-foot hardware store at the corner of Main and Union streets in Springfield, soon relocated into larger quarters across the street, and later opened a rental center that would soon match the hardware store for annual revenue — just one of the fam- ily’s many smart ideas over the past century.
The original operation was a clas- sic mom-and-pop operation, run by Rocco and his wife, Clara. Later, their son, Jim Falcone, would pitch in after school and on weekends. The venture survived the dark days of the Great Depression, and Rocco eventually expanded the operation in the early ’40s. When he passed away in 1965, his son, Jim Falcone, took the helm of the family business and, with his sis- ter, Claire, as vice president, steered it toward steady growth.
Rocky’s became a chain with the acquisition of a small hardware store on the corner of White Street and Belmont Avenue in Springfield, with another location soon to follow on
the corner of Breckwood Boulevard and Wilbraham Road in the 16 Acres section of the city. The chain became regional with the acquisition of a small hardware store on Walnut Street in Agawam, owned by a longtime family friend.
In the mid-’70s, Jim recognized a shift in the hardware retail realm, one that would ultimately change the size and scope of the stores, increasing their size and shifting to a ‘home cen- ter’ model.
“We started with rentals, hardware, paint, and wallpaper,” the younger Rocco told BusinessWest. “By the ’60s
“We started with rentals, hardware, paint, and wallpaper. By the ’60s and ’70s, when my father ran
it, they were converting the stores to home centers, with kitchen cabinets, windows, lumber, and sheetrock.”
and ’70s, when my father ran it, they were converting the stores to home centers, with kitchen cabinets, win- dows, lumber, and sheetrock.”
By the late ’80s, the Rocky’s chain had grown to seven locations and launched an affiliation with the Ace Hardware co-op, which offered Rocky’s the buying power of a national chain, national advertising, and the comput- erization of accounting and inventory procedures while still maintaining its identity.
“We really focused on automation, computerizing the business, stream- lining inventory,” he recalled. “These individual-owner stores weren’t able to do that; they were still ordering with pencil and pad in the ’70s and ’80s. We got everything automated, and it took a lot of labor out of the process. That way, we could focus more on sales and customers, and spend less time order- ing stuff.”
Rocco II, who moved up the ladder
THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
“The City of Springfield is requesting proposals for the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds in the following categories: Small Businesses, New Businesses, Nonprofits, Household Assistance, Senior Assistance, and Economic Development/Job Creation. The RFPs are available at 70 Tapley Street in Springfield, and through the City’s website: https://www.springfield-ma.gov/ finance/arpa. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis, starting November 1, with qualified respondents receiving grants to address negative health and/or economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Interested parties are strongly encouraged to apply.”
“La Ciudad de Springfield está solicitando propuestas para el uso de los fondos de la Ley del Plan de Rescate Americano en las siguientes categorías: Pequeñas empresas, Nuevos negocios, Organizaciones sin fines de lucro, Asistencia al Hogar, Asistencia para Personas Mayores y Desarrollo Económico
/ Creación de Empleo. Las RFP están disponibles en 70 Tapley Street en Springfield, y a través del sitio web de la Ciudad: https://www.springfield-ma. gov/finance/arpa. Las propuestas se aceptarán de forma continua, a partir del 1 de noviembre, y los encuestados calificados recibirán subvenciones para abordar los impactos negativos para la salud y / o económicos de la pandemia de COVID-19. Se recomienda encarecidamente a las partes interesadas que presenten su solicitud.”
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FEBRUARY 21, 2022
FEATURE
BusinessWest