Defense Gutter

• Digital Scales
• Baby Scales
• Bathroom Scales
• Counting Scales
• Floor Scales
• Food Scales
• Hanging Scales
• Kitchen cales
• Medical Scales
• Postal scales

We have become used to the notion that large corporate conglomerates are driving traditional mom and pop stores out of business. We hear stories about Walmart coming to town and driving out other local retailers, and turning half the town into minimum wage earners. Indeed, it can be quite daunting for a small family run business to face competition from such highly competitive and well financed corporations, but many small businesses are finding ways to survive and even thrive by expanding their customer base beyond their local area.

In 2006, Daniel Renkel was working as a general contractor and quickly became frustrated with what he says were “dead-end jobs that did not pay what I was worth.” Like many entrepreneurs, he had a strong desire to reap the full rewards of his own work, rather than continuing to work for someone else’s benefit. As he looked for a way to provide long-term job security for himself and his family, Renkel came to the conclusion that running his own business was the surest way to accomplish that goal.

Renkel started a company called Quick Supply, a specialty retail concern, in partnership with his wife and his parents. He started with 5000 square feet of warehouse space with a showroom for local customers, and a website, quicksupply.net. Unlike many of its competitors, Quick Supply actually stocks all the products that it sells instead of relying on third party drop-shippers like many other websites. Although this can be more capital intensive than a drop-shipping operation, it allows Quick Supply to provide superior customer service and faster shipping on customer orders. The entire order is handled, prepared and shipped by one of the Quick Supply employees who pride themselves on taking responsibility for each customer’s complete satisfaction. Although there are only six employees at Quick Supply, the website features a live chat option so that customers can discuss their needs in real-time with a qualified Quick Supply customer service representative.

This is just one of the reasons that Renkel’s Quick Supply is actually expanding even as many retailers are seeing sales fall due to the troubled nature of the nation’s economy. He also cites the superior quality of his web store as a reason for the company’s success. Quick Supply also chooses its product lines with care. Renkel says the company looks for products that can’t be found in most local stores, but which have a relatively high demand on the national level, or as he puts it “If Walmart has it, we have no interest in selling it.” Currently, Quick Supply carries a broad selection of environmentally friendly electric fireplaces and grills, along with commercial scales, POS equipment and medical equipment such as blood pressure monitors. Renkel sees the company completing its line of medical equipment before branching out into billiard tables and supplies.

Quick Supply’s success shows that a well-run small family business can survive and even thrive against the giant corporations, even when economic conditions make it difficult for any retailer to grow. Although the specialization that the broad reach of the internet allows has certainly helped, much of the Renkel family’s success with Quick Supply can be attributed to the one thing that family businesses have traditionally done better than the big stores – providing superior customer service with a personal touch.