Ring's End Ready to Fill Keeler's Shoes

Wilton may have lost , the much-loved independent hardware store, last October, but another retailer in town would like residents to give them the chance to meet any hardware and home-supply needs.

Mike Burkhart, general manager of , said that even though 'lumber' is on the sign out front*, there’s a lot more than just wood at the Wilton location. He said his staff is making every effort to bring in a wider variety of products knowing that Keeler’s closing left a need in town.

“We’re trying to listen every day, and see what people are asking for. For instance, we just brought in bird seed—I don’t think a lot of other lumber businesses stock bird seed. We started cutting keys, we started selling chains, water softener, salt, which we never had before but a lot of people in Wilton have wells. We’d like to get more seasonal things out there. In the winter, have ice melt or wood brick fuel, out there, and more consumer-friendly type things," said Burkhart. 

In addition to the fully operational lumber yard, the Ring’s End location in Wilton has a dedicated paint center with a separate paint staff, as well as showrooms for kitchens, windows and doors, moulding and millwork, architectural hardware, cabinetry, counters and faucets.

But Burkhart said they’re making a concerted effort to step up service to Wilton residents. “The biggest thing has been listening to our customers, for what people are asking for outside of the normal realm of a lumber yard. We’re keeping a running list of things that customers ask for if we don’t stock it and we’ll add it to the list to get it in. This is an evolving thing that we’ve taken on, and we want as best as we can to help meet the needs of Wilton homeowners.”

He said they’re even changing the look of the store to make it more consumer friendly.

“We’re raising every aisle shelving unit 18-inches, to just bring in more stuff. When we opened here in 2005, there were two hardware stores within a mile of here. Now there’s none. The shelves were low before, because it presents more of an open feel, you can see all of the signage. But we thought it was more important to get more inventory in here to meet the needs of people in town. Light bulbs, for example—we’ve expanded our electrical aisle a great deal. A lot of people don’t want to have to go all the way down to Norwalk to fight the traffic for things like that.”

Burkhart also wanted to correct the misperception he says he’s heard—despite the company’s multiple locations, Ring’s End is a small, local community business.

“It’s still a family-owned company, all local owners that live in Fairfield County.  In fact, one of the owners lives in Wilton. Even though we have 15 locations, it still does have a family atmosphere,” said Burkhart.

Wilton residents have often thought of Ring’s End as primarily a source for contractors and construction business professionals. Patch reader commented on a : “…Rings End which to be honest I never considered after going there several years ago. One of the clerks there told me that largely contractors shopped there rather than being stocked with what a homeowner might be shopping for as a minor repair.”

Corey Bates, assistant merchandise manager, countered that Ring’s End will directly address those kinds of concerns.

“One of the things that’s intimidating for a homeowner is to see power tools as the first thing. You think, 'Oh this is just for contractors, nothing that we want is going to be here.' That’s going to be one of the things we’re going to change, it’s going to be lawn and garden in the front," said Bates.

Bates speaks from experience—he used to work at Keeler’s, and was welcomed to Ring’s End when Keeler’s closed. Burkhart agreed with Bates’ take on things.

“Obviously contractors are a big part of our business, on the lumber and material side of things. But we do a pretty good job with homeowners and do-it-yourself types of people too,” he added. “Having Rte. 7 right here we get a lot of that kind of traffic. We like to present ourselves as not just a typical lumberyard. We wear ties, the store is presentable, we do a nice upkeep on the building and the property, and try to make it presentable to homeowners too. Especially the last couple years as the housing economy has not been doing so well, that’s become more and more a focus of ours. It’s helped us to be able to stay profitable and continue to grow.”

Christopher Quintal, the store’s merchandise manager, said they’ll try to do whatever they can to make customers happy. “We’re not going to be able to have everything, it will be a mix that constantly gets tweaked, depending on what customers want. But we can always try to special order things too. We might not have the floor space to show gas grills, but that doesn’t mean we can’t special order one or have the sheet behind the counter because we can have it available in two days.”

His boss, Burkhart, agreed: “We have great sources for a lot of things we don’t stock. Just because we don’t have it, doesn’t mean we can’t get it.”

*Ed's note: The original sentence read "even though 'lumber' in the name." This has been changed because the business is officially known as Ring's End Inc.