September marked the first Hardware Innovators Revenue Mastermind, bringing B2B, marketing, and store leadership into one conversation about growth.
The new format made one thing clear right away: store events are not just a marketing project. They can support sales, introduce new customers to the store, strengthen community partnerships, create useful content, and build trust that lasts well beyond one Saturday.
The stores seeing the most value are the ones that are open to new ideas and testing new events. They are showing up consistently, learning what their communities respond to, and giving people more reasons to come back.
Revenue Mastermind Takeaways
Takeaway 1: Measure the Return Beyond Event Day
A hardware store event does not have to pay for itself before the parking lot clears. One Innovator said grilling events rarely sell a grill that same day, but customers often return later to make the purchase.
That makes same-day sales only one part of the story. An event can also create future purchases, product interest, repeat visits, email signups, social content, community goodwill, and stronger relationships with vendors or nonprofit partners.
One store typically spends about $150 to $200 on food and schedules roughly five extra staff hours for an event. Rather than expecting an immediate return, the team is committed to repeating successful events long enough for them to become familiar. A Mother’s Day planting event drew about twice as many people in its second year.
Start with simple measurement.
Compare the event day and the next few days with a typical week, then record:
- Transaction count and average ticket
- Sales of featured products during the following seven days
- Event attendance and partner participation
- Email signups, social engagement, and customer photos
- Estimated event costs, including food, supplies, and labor
The goal is to learn which events are worth repeating and what needs to improve next time.
Takeaway 2: Let Community Partners Expand the Event
Some of the strongest September examples started with a partner.
One small-town store has been hosting dog adoption events and seeing nearly one adoption each time which provides great social content and a growing audience of in person attendees. At another location, shoppers bought treats and other pet supplies to donate while the rescue group was there, even though no adoption happened that day. The event still created foot traffic, donations, photos, and a positive experience for the organization.
Another Innovator is planning an event with Children’s Miracle Network, local police and fire departments, and possibly an animal shelter. Bringing several groups together gives each partner a reason to promote the event to its own audience.
The lesson is simple.
Don’t carry the whole event alone. Invite nonprofits, food trucks, schools, first responders, vendors, and neighboring businesses to contribute. A good partner can add an activity, reach a new audience, share the workload, or help cover costs.
Takeaway 3: Become the Place Where the Community Gathers
One Innovator shared a difficult challenge: their Ace store is now the only operating business left in its shopping center. Customers can drive about 20 minutes to a larger town and complete several errands in one trip, making it harder for the local store to compete on convenience alone.
But the empty center also creates an opportunity. The store has a large parking lot and may now be the only business in town consistently hosting public events.
The group suggested talking with the landlord and local economic development leaders about plans for the vacant spaces, possible business recruitment, a reduction in rent equivalent to the occupancy rate, and ways the store can help. As one Innovator put it, “When you do well, I do well.”
A hardware store can become a reliable gathering place by hosting useful, welcoming events and giving local organizations a place to show up. That role can protect visibility and keep the store connected to customers who might otherwise drive elsewhere.
Takeaway 4: Local Trust Supports Online Revenue Too
The combined Revenue Mastermind also opened the door to a useful e-commerce conversation. One multi-store Innovator reported that August e-commerce revenue was up 74.2% year over year, while average order value increased 40.1%.
The group discussed why sending shoppers through a local store website before directing them to AceHardware.com was one contributor and that WebStop as a landing page transition from local site to the corporate site was also driving big time traffic and ecomm sales. The extra step gives customers familiar store names, employee faces, local information, and confidence that they are shopping with the right location.
That same principle applies to event promotion. Generic product graphics have a place, but local photos and recognizable people build trust. Show the employees preparing for the event, introduce the community partner, share what happened afterward, and make it easy for customers to find the correct store online.
Local visibility matters across every channel.
The store experience, community events, website, reviews, and social content should all reinforce the same message: this is your local store, and these are the people ready to help.
Know another hardware store that would benefit from these insights? Share this recap with them!
Join Us in October for Our Revenue Mastermind
We kicked off our first Revenue Mastermind in September to great success! The B2B, Marketing, and Owners / General Managers conversations will come together again in October for one Revenue Mastermind. The goal is simple: put the people responsible for store growth in the same room. We’re going to break down the silos and focus our conversations on how each of the innovators are increasing revenue.
October Topic: Building the perfect B2B Sales Team
Need help signing up? Send us an email: hello@hardwareinnovators.com
Ready to Join the Conversation?
Does the idea of a monthly meet-up with other retail hardware stores sound valuable?
Would you like to share resources, ask questions, and participate with your peers on-demand through an exclusive Slack channel?
Email us at hello@hardwareinnovators.com to get access to the Slack Channel! The best part? It’s 100% free and connects you with hardware store owners, general managers, marketers, and B2B teams who are willing to share what’s working, what’s not, and what they’ve learned along the way.