Nailed It!

Shop Local, Save Money at HomePro Building Supply

Story by Jen Calhoun

As owner of HomePro Building Supply in Westmoreland, Terry Garrison has a pretty good idea about the preconceived notions most people have about local lumber, plumbing, and hardware stores. Businesses like his, they figure, could never keep their prices competitive against big players like Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Tractor Supply.

But he says that’s just not true. “We shop prices pretty much daily, and we try to stay competitive,” says Terry, who recently overheard a customer tell an employee that HomePro’s prices were lower than the big-box stores on a significant portion of items. “I heard him say, ‘We always come here first, because we realized about 50% of the time, you’re cheaper than Lowe’s.’”

The contractor sales desk is where the plans come together. Douglas, the store’s sales manager, takes an order over the phone.

Terry was so happy to hear the comment that he walked out of his office to shake the man’s hand and introduce himself. “It’s an awesome compliment to hear. They were comparing us to a company that does billions in sales.”

Slaying The Giants

HomePro’s prices compete with, and sometimes even beat, the big-box stores.

There’s a reason HomePro can compete against the corporate retail giants. Bigbox stores offer low prices on some items, then increase the prices on others to make up for the loss of revenue. “Those stores are obviously very good at what they do,” Terry says. “But they target. They know what areas to target because they know what the consumer is focusing on. So, they price according to that.”

But HomePro tries to keep prices low all the time, Terry says. And people are taking notice.

“We’re getting a lot of new customers now because they moved here from out of town,” he says. “They like to shop locally, and they’re used to shopping locally.”

On the other hand, longtime residents are practically trained to leave town to shop, he says. It’s something they’ve always done, because they had to. Many small, locally owned businesses died out in the 1960s and ’70s with the increased number of cars and shopping hubs in bigger cities. As a result, corporate giants were able to thrive.

But those misconceptions about shopping locally seem embedded in the minds of small-town shoppers. “I think people don’t always give small-town hardware stores a chance,” Terry says. “They just assume the prices are too high, which isn’t the case at all.”

Decades of Service

HomePro is a 12,000-square-foot wholesale and retail store selling lumber, plumbing items, hardware, paint, and just about anything else it takes to build a home. The store also offers contracting services for plumbing and roofing, and other home-renovation needs.

“I mean, we can build a house from the ground up,” Terry says.

Employees move lumber from palettes.

He started HomePro in 2002, when he bought out L&B Lumber, a longtime fixture in Westmoreland. Today, Terry employs 15 people–12 of whom work full time. HomePro sponsors local youth baseball teams and high school sports teams.

Maybe the biggest benefit of all is that HomePro has real experts who can help customers find the right tool, part or materials for any project they’re working on.

“I’ve got people who have been with me for 10-plus years,” Terry says. “One, for instance, handled windows and interior trim, and he’s very knowledgeable. Another of the guys used to be a home framer–– several of them, in fact. And I’m a former homebuilder myself. So, we have some very knowledgeable people who are willing to help. If one of us doesn’t know the answer, we’ll find someone who does.”

As a bonus, customers pay at the register operated by an actual human being, not a self-checkout machine with lines of customers winding through the aisles.

Keeping It Real

Front desk workers Kim, from left, Thelma, and Laree offer a human touch at checkout. Glen, the yard manager, looks over blueprints.

Not too long ago, Terry says, someone told him HomePro was the best-kept secret around. “That’s pretty sad,” he says. “It’s sad we haven’t done our job getting the word out, and it’s sad the local community hasn’t given us a chance.”

He’s had some people tell him the rumors about high prices are spread unintentionally by well-meaning, but misinformed, folks.

“I’ve had a couple of people tell me they’ve heard things around town from others,” Terry says. “They’ll be talking about a project at their house, and somebody will ask where they got their lumber. ‘Oh, I got it at Lowe’s,’ they’ll say.”

When they’re asked why they didn’t shop at HomePro, they almost always blame prices. “But they’d never even checked it out,” he says. “They just assumed our prices were higher. It’s the biggest lie about local businesses.”

But as home prices rise in the region and more people build homes, Terry hopes more locals will start seeing the hidden gem right in front of them. “We get daily comments when people finally discover us,” he says. “They almost always say, ‘I had no idea you carried this much stuff.’ Pretty much the only thing we’ve ever asked is for people to give us a chance.”