Page 7 - BusinessWest January 20, 2025

“We’re willing to go where there’s opportunity.
But ideally, we would like to fill in the map; it would be great to have something between Great Barrington and Avon.”
Meanwhile, a large, effective online presence is also a must, and Carr has achieved that as well.
“It’s such a small part of our total volume, but it’s such a fast-growing piece; it grew by more than 100%,” he explained, adding that, while there’s a large volume of returns, consum- ers are becoming ever-more comfortable with buying hardware online.
Still, when it comes to most projects and products, consumers still need advice, which is why in-store service from qualified experts is another key to success, and Carr features that as well.
As for size, as he noted earlier, Raser said he’s continually looking for growth opportuni- ties, but they have to make sense, and he isn’t looking to grow just for the sake of growth.
“I’ve walked away from far more than I’ve bought,” he said of stores that come on the mar- ket, adding that everything has to be right with an acquisition candidate, from the location to the condition of the store to the price, obviously.
“In many cases, people value their business for more than it’s really worth; with these small businesses, there are emotional con- nections, and they’re multi-generational,” he noted. “We have a lot of things we look at when considering an acquisition, and the biggest is culture, but the metrics have to make sense as well.
“We’re willing to go where there’s opportunity,” he went on, when asked where the company might go next. “But ideally, we would
like to fill in the map; it would be great to have something between Great Barrington and Avon.”
Meanwhile, in the communities where it already has a presence, the company makes getting involved a huge part of its culture.
As Raser noted earlier, this is a top-down proposition. He has served, and continues to serve, on a number of different boards, and the company not only encourages employees at all levels to get
As part of Carr Hardware’s long tradition of being involved in the community, employees take part in downtown Pittsfield’s annual spring cleanup.
involved, it gives them the wherewithal — the time off and whatever else they need — to do so.
“If they’re passionate about being a volunteer firefighter, or they want to coach a soccer team, or get involved in Little League, what- ever their passion is, we really encourage them to do that,” he told BusinessWest. “And we’re happy to help them support the organiza- tion — that’s our starting point.”
It’s just one of many traditions, carried on for almost 100 years now, that promise to continue for decades to come. BW
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