Hardware business runs in Jarms family

Between offering pointers on inventory and billing to his new bookkeeper, Cheney hardware store owner Tom Jarms marveled that it's hard to believe his Ace store has been in its new location for nearly two years.

"We started moving on Dec.15, 2013," Jarms said of his current store, the third location at which he has worked in the family business started by his father, Ron, in 1972.

The new space, formerly the Ben Franklin store, gives off the illusion of being much larger, but that's due to the ceiling being higher and the layout. "We went up about 20 percent in sales floor," Jarms said.

Jarms guessed that the original store location, owned by the Edgett Brothers, was maybe 6,000 square feet. His previous space, now occupied by a CHAS clinic, was 14,500 with the current store at 18,500 square feet.

The old location was wider and this one deeper, Jarms explained. The other building was nearly 200 feet wide, this is only 150, but the spacious feel comes from a couple of factors.

The more square shape of the building allowed Jarms to offer longer aisles. "There's a lot of effort put into how to get layouts to work for you," he added.

There's an illusion the new building has created. "We get people in all the time, 'Well you've doubled your space,'" Jarms said. "I'd love to think so, we've got 20-foot ceilings instead of 12."

The new location allowed Jarms to increase inventory, but the key is it "Lays out better," he said. It's easier to shop, he's been told, and the additional parking has been a notable factor, too.

"We didn't have the sales yard, the fenced area before," Jarms said. "We had no place to keep anything overnight, we had to keep it out on the lot, or wheel it in."

Sales are up significantly. "We needed to have about a 50-percent growth from where we were over the course of the first five years because the full mortgage kicks in at the end of the first five years. That's looking pretty good," Jarms said.

The additional outside area, plus the parking lot made it possible for Jarms to become a U-Haul dealer, and his lumber selection - the only one in miles - has expanded a little, he said.

There's a big jump, Jarms said, from being where he is at, providing what he called "convenience lumber," - the guy who needs a few 2 X 4s or a few sheets of plywood to contractors who are buying truckloads. "There's a big jump there."

Jarms said he had to be careful in deciding where and what to make larger. "Every category got a little bit," he said. "So it was not like there was a lot more room for lumber."

Another notable addition was the Sears Craftsman line of tools they began carrying when they became an Ace store in 2013.

Jarms has been in Cheney since 1972 when his father moved the family and purchased Edgett Hardware when he was 10-years-old. He worked in the store as a kid and up through college. His brother, Bill, owns a pump business that was once housed at the original store.

He left college, entered the Army for a four-year hitch, was discharged and went to work at the Ernst chain for a couple of years. Jarms then went to work for an Ace store in Lakewood, Wash. near Tacoma where he met his wife, Charlene, in 1989. The two were married a year later.

"When I told my folks we were getting married, Dad offered me a job so home we came," Jarms said.

Hardware stores seem to have a soft spot for some customers because of the generally knowledgeable staff. Jarms said when he looks for employees, "You can teach them skills but you can't teach them attitude."

He looks for employees who have a positive attitude and are bright and cheerful. "If you get someone who is down in the mouth or glum they are not going to connect well with customers," Jarms said.

As for the hardware business-side, he does not require a lot of knowledge. "The more the better," he said. "And obviously if you get somebody that's a little more mature your odds of getting somebody (with knowledge) goes up."

Since the day Jarms arrived back to Cheney in 1990, he was employee No. 6. "Dad felt like he was overstaffed at that point," Jarms said. "Now we're at 21."

Jarms Ace Hardware is located at 6 Cheney-Spokane Road. Business hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 7 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. To contact Jarms Ace Hardware, call (509) 235-4410.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].