Seacoast Ace Hardware Combines Old-School Customer Service with 21st Century Technology

Tim Roberts, the new manager of Seacoast Ace Hardware in Portsmouth (just off Lafayette Road, behind the Pizza Hut and next to Heritage Storage), would seem to have retailing in his DNA: his parents owned a television store and a pet shop in Plaistow while he was growing up. And he wears his love of helping people like a badge of honor. 

But it’s not every day when your friendly community hardware store owner can boast of having run the IT “help desk” at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, a world-renowned, federally-funded research and development center which develops technologies for national security. Especially when it’s someone as down to earth and humble as Roberts.

After helping out at his parents’ stores while growing up, Roberts started at Servistar, which was then bought by the Tru-Value chain. After 10 years learning the hardware business, he took his considerable technological acumen to Lincoln Labs as a self-described “information technology guy”, helping to keep the computer network up and running for some of the nation’s brightest engineering minds. While some would crack under the pressure of keeping a complicated and highly classified compute network running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it was Robert’s genuine love of helping people that served him well in that demanding role.

“I’m a people person,” Roberts exclaims enthusiastically. “I love helping people solve their problems, but I also love using technology to improve performance.” And Roberts is doing that in spades at Seacoast Ace: shortly after the Roberts’ family purchased the business, one of his first strategic goals was to modernize the business through a state of the art point-of-sale system that provides multiple benefits to his customers.

“This new system allows me to get a better handle on my inventory, have fewer stock outages, and improve accountability,” says Roberts. “But most importantly, it allows me to do a better job of staying stocked with the right amount of the right products. If I know I’m selling four units per week of a certain product, now I can place an order when I’m down to just one or two. Or, if I’m only selling one every two weeks, I know that I don’t need to carry 5 of them.”

“Not only does that allow me to manage my cash flow more effectively, but I’m also lowering my store’s carbon footprint; I’m getting fewer deliveries of goods I don’t need immediately, and that’s reducing my suppliers’ fuel usage, and my delivery charges,” proclaims Roberts with his ubiquitous broad smile.  He’s even offering a computerized paint-matching service.

 But Roberts is still known best for his devotion to customer service, which is why he jumped back into the retail business. He and his staff genuinely enjoy interacting with customers, which differentiates his store from some of his nearby, bigger name competitors. “Anyone can go to a big-box store, but at Seacoast Ace, you get customer service, not just products.”

And Roberts’ honesty actually saves his customer money on many occasions. “I’m not afraid to tell people the truth, even though it might mean they purchase a less expensive product from me,” said Roberts. “I wouldn’t sell a customer something I know won’t fit their needs.“ He recalled an instance when a customer was trying to repair furniture that had its screws stripped out. But instead of selling the customer a product with a decent profit margin, he recommended a workaround involving glue, toothpicks, and some inexpensive screws. Because of that honesty, he’s now gained a repeat customer. “I love sharing knowledge, and this business gives me ample opportunity to do that.”

Roberts has also continued the green initiatives set in motion by the store’s previous owner: people can still purchase a wide variety of “green” products, including low and no-VOC paints, CFL light bulbs, all-natural pesticides and herbicides, organic fertilizers, and more. But Roberts is pushing the envelope even further by reducing his use of paper through computerization of his procurement and receipt systems, and strongly promoting the use of cross-linked polyethylene (commonly known as PEX) pipes as a sustainable alternative to copper pipes. “PEX is very user-friendly; it requires no soldering, so there’s no problem with lead,” mentions Roberts. “And the zero-lead rule, which is already in place in Vermont for rental housing and day care centers, may be coming to New Hampshire within five years.  So this is a good way to achieve compliance with that rule even before it arrives.”

He’s also maintained his partnership with the Green Alliance, a union of 90 green businesses across New Hampshire, southern Maine, and northern Massachusetts, to connect with the region’s burgeoning eco-conscious community. Green Alliance members receive 10% off all merchandise at Seacoast Ace.

Thus far, business has been good. “The community has been amazing,” exclaims Roberts. “This is a community that looks for help, is very willing to listen, and has welcome me with open arms.” And his quick acceptance within the community has him thinking long-term. “In three years, I want Seacoast Ace Hardware to have a reputation as a trusted advisor who’s able to refer reputable contractors.”

“But you get there by providing great customer service, one customer at a time.”   

For more information:

Seacoast Ace Hardware: www.seacoastace.com

Green Alliance: www.greenalliance.biz