[Brasilton, Kan.] HMS Enterprises, Inc., a family-owned retail business centered on flooring, has found success by always being willing to try new things, growing and evolving to meet the needs of its customers while making the most of opportunities.
Its 15 retail locations — as well as about 75 full-time employees and more than 20 part-time workers — can be found in mostly small towns in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, where HMS focuses on home improvement with flooring, kitchen cabinets and furniture. “
Carpet remains our number one product, but
LVT (luxury vinyl tile), vinyl flooring and
hardwood continually climb in percentage of sales,” said Keith Smith, president and principal of HMS.
HMS is owned by the grown adult children of Lawrence “Larry” Smith and H. “Miles” Smith, who founded the business with their father, Henry M. Smith in the early 1960s. (The company is named for Henry M. Smith.)
Today’s owners are: Larry Smith’s sons, Keith, Mark and Scott Smith; Miles Smith’s son Hank; and, Jim Puckett and Ryan Sevart, who are both married to Miles’ daughters.
Yesterday’s values, today’s tech
HMS developed a philosophy early on, which still guides the company today, according to Keith Smith. “Buy only those goods that can be bought at low prices. Stock large quantities of everything sold. Provide courteous service without pressure sales. Keep costs down so that the customer will find great values!”
But when it comes to advertising and connecting with its consumers, HMS is thoroughly modern. “We do some TV, and still do some print, radio and billboards,” Keith Smith explained. “But we’ve been trying to do more social media. We have a Facebook presence, as well as Google Plus and a Twitter feed. We work with our vendors to use PromoBoxx, which posts new material on our website once a month. And when we have a great installation project, we encourage the stores to take pictures and post them on Facebook. We also have a dedicated person to monitor reviews and respond appropriately.”
Divide and conquer
The business runs smoothly because each of the owners has a clearly defined role, noted Keith Smith. Each, he said, has a base function but is also responsible for certain stores as a first point of contact. This provides someone a little more familiar with each location, yet leaves it open enough that any one of the principles can answer questions from any of the retail locations.
Mark Smith is more involved with operations and in-house freight system. He also is the furniture purchaser. Hank Smith and Ryan Sevart handle flooring and sundry purchases. Along with store managers’ input, they decide what the stores will stock and what displays will be set up at the stores. Ryan Sevart also handles the cabinet line, as well as escorting critical orders through the system. Jim Puckett is also involved with operations and keeps the facilities functioning, finding contractors for store level repairs or remodeling. Scott Smith, CFO, keeps the RFMS software up to date and works with office manager Susan Buckle. Julie Smith, advertising and promotions director, works with store managers on advertising and is also responsible for social media and consumer messaging.
Succession is unresolved
And while current leadership is not even close to retirement, HMS is aware of succession planning. “Actually, that might be our Achilles heel,” Keith Smith acknowledged. “At this time, we have no fourth generation in the process to step up to take over. We have had discussions about this and are looking at our options for succession planning.”
Humble Beginnings
After starting as a business that sold corn and salvaged goods from the local railroad in 1965, the first three Smiths formed Derailed Commodities to market railroad and insurance salvage, close out inventory and unclaimed goods.
In 1967, considered to be the start of today’s company, it began merchandising building materials. In 1970, Derailed Commodity was incorporated as a division of HMS Enterprises.
HMS began adding locations in 1973. By 1988, it changed the name on some stores to Carpet Plus, Warehouse Sales (before CarpetsPlus Colortile existed) to better reflect what it sold and how it sold it.