While some things have changed for Hemly Hardware, Hemly Tool and Hemly Trucking since owner Chris Hyatt moved the operation from Montville Township to Thompson Township — others have stayed the same.
While some things have changed for Hemly Hardware, Hemly Tool and Hemly Trucking since owner Chris Hyatt moved the operation from Montville Township to Thompson Township — others have stayed the same.
Now, Hyatt has 30 employees with three or four more positions becoming available soon, as opposed to the 20 employees he had two years ago, he said during a tour of the new site Jan. 13.
The hardware and tool divisions occupy roughly the same square footage as the leased buildings in Montville, but the renovated areas are light and bright with open floor space and larger inventory that welcome customers.
Located at 16600 Thompson Road, Hemly’s business is six miles north of its previous location, straight up state Route 528 at the end of Thompson Square.
“A lot of customers complained, but they came,” Hyatt said, adding when they first walked in the door, their reactions were all along the lines of “Oh, wow!”
Hyatt went all out, remodeling the former car dealership/feed store into the tool supply store and adding a huge, modern kitchen in the back where all 30 employees can gather around a long, custom-made wooden table.
Sales offices occupy the southwest corner with the huge windows looking out on Thompson Square and an employee workout room is under construction.
“The footprint’s the same — we’re using the space differently,” Hyatt said.
Geographically, the move made sense when first considered several years ago.
“The location is better,” Hyatt said.
The facility, open seven days per week, now pulls customers from all along Interstate 90 and from parts of central and southern Geauga County, he said.
Both Hyatt and the hardware division manager, Robyn Gillett, graduated from Ledgemont High School and still live in the area, so their roots are in the community.
While many of the residents and businesses in “downtown Thompson” groaned when the state insisted on building a wastewater treatment plant and installing sewer lines all around the square a few years ago, Hyatt saw it as an opportunity to develop the 23 acres attached to the buildings he has gutted and reinvented.
“We made the decision,” he said, adding they bought the property at auction in February 2018. Other reasons to make the move were the availability of natural gas lines and a fiber optic internet infrastructure at the new location.
Hyatt said he and his crew put in some really long weeks, keeping the Montville store open while renovating the new buildings.
When COVID-19 hit, they started opening the store an hour earlier so older customers and those with pre-existing conditions could visit safely, he said.
The Montville store was so busy, Hyatt had to keep ordering inventory while stocking the Thompson store with additional tools and materials, he said, adding he and the staff were putting in 18- and 20-hour days as the moving date came closer.
“We closed the Montville store June 14 and opened here June 15,” Hyatt recalled. “It was a unique year.”
As with most opening days, the staff didn’t know if everything was going to operate smoothly.
“Our first sale was a bag of bird feed,” Hyatt said, admitting he wondered if the computer system would let the customer check out, but his fears were groundless.
“It actually scanned,” he said.
The advantage to owning versus leasing is the company is free to expand as the market demands more of it, he said.
For example, Hemly Trucking now has room for supplies such as garden topsoil, mushroom compost and mulch, so they can serve customers fully. Hyatt said they also haul gravel, but are in no way competition for R.W. Sidley Inc., the sand and gravel giant with a mine south of Thompson’s downtown.
The service is a convenience for Hemly’s customers, he said.
The landscaping material component is just a lead-in to plans for next summer.
Now her shelves are well-stocked, Gillett said she wants to expand the outdoor garden center to include flower baskets and more fruit trees, which sold well last year.
Because Thompson is in the middle of farm country, Hemly’s may begin to carry feed, gates and fencing, depending on demand, Hyatt said.
Baby chicks will be the next additions, along with seed packets, flower bulbs, potato and onion sets and asparagus roots, Gillett said.
Bringing a large destination commercial enterprise to a small town has benefitted other businesses, Hyatt said.
They refer customers looking for chain saws, tractors and farm implements to Paul Robison and Company on the other end of the square, he said.
“Us coming to town has helped their business immensely,” Hyatt said. “We refer back and forth.”
Hemly’s has customized some of its goods and services to other operations in the area. For instance, there is a KOA campground down the road, so it seemed natural to set up a propane-filling station and carry camping and RV supplies, Hyatt said, adding the automotive department has grown to serve the area’s backyard mechanics, as well.
The cooler in the hardware store carries serving-sized bottles of Rowdy Cow milk from Hastings Dairy in Burton Township and an extensive snack selection for hungry shoppers.
Plus, everybody at Hemly’s visits neighboring Stocker’s Restaurant for meals or takeout on a daily basis, Hyatt said.
However, with all the change at play, one item in Hyatt’s office remains the same as the day it was installed in the Montville store — a huge multi-drawer safe that has its own alcove.
“We’re hoping to fill it with money, someday,” he said.
