As HomCo Lumber & Hardware enters its 41st year in business, as the store owner, I am excited to tell the company’s story. My father started the company in 1975 on a little dirt lot in Phoenix. He named it ODDS-N-ENDS LUMBER. We opened the Flagstaff store in 1979 on four acres with a 2,000-square-foot Quonset Hut. Now, we occupy a 50,000-square-foot store with five acres of lumberyard. We changed our name to HomCo Lumber & Hardware in 2013, but still have the corporate name of ODDS-N-ENDS Incorporated.
Having been in Flagstaff for 37 years, the biggest difference today compared to the early years is our commitment to customer service. We have worked hard for 12 years to improve our company culture, and it shows. We have gone from not paying attention to service yesterday, to treating customers, suppliers and store associates the same way I want to be treated today. For tomorrow, all I can say is that it will be better than today. Service is what sets HomCo apart from all other competition.
You can’t have a good company giving the finest customer service if you don’t have good people. We are fortunate at HomCo to have a combination of good people with experience. Our management staff, combined with our commercial sales division, has over 400 years of experience in the business. Match that experience with a $75,000 per year budget to train our new people the HomCo way, and that creates our recipe for success. Along the way, problems will occur and it is how we handle the solution that is key. HomCo has a 37 year reputation of working hard to find solutions and fix problems to satisfy our customers.
The “Best of Flagstaff” is an honor that HomCo has won the past several years for home improvement and hardware. The most important word in that honor is Flagstaff. HomCo is Flagstaff. We are a fixture in this community. Shopping at HomCo creates many benefits for Flagstaff and Northern Arizona. We donate hundreds of dollars a year to the schools, little league, Boy Scouts and many charitable functions. In addition, we raise thousands of dollars every year from our horseshoe tournament, community home show and the famous Ladies Night Out. Recent benefactors include Hope Cottage, Sharon Manor, The Dawson Merrick Children’s Foundation and this year; The Boys and Girls Club of Flagstaff. We also started a new community outreach program where HomCo personnel will volunteer 20-25 hours a week at the Flagstaff Family Food Center.
Another benefit of shopping local at HomCo is the economic impact on Northern Arizona. We currently employ 90 people from the area and they aren’t just jobs. Approximately 75 percent of these positions are careers. Last year, we pumped over $3 million into the Flagstaff economy through salaries and benefits. Also, our profits stay in Flagstaff, unlike our out-of-state competitors.
If you haven’t been to HomCo in the last year, come on in. You will experience the largest, most diverse lumber and hardware store in Arizona. It makes no difference if you are a homeowner needing a plumbing part or a contractor needing a complete home package. We are set up to service all shoppers, big and small. I guarantee that you will receive the best advice on any project, especially if you lack knowledge. You will find that we will earn your business. HomCo will continue to improve for the next 37 years! FBN
By Mike Brackin
{HomCo Lumber & Hardware has been in business for 40 years and in Flagstaff for 37 years. HomCo is locally owned by Mike & Penne Brackin.}
