Master Class Get Involved

Community activities can help retailers recruit new customers

By Diana Sir Louis

Director of Fort Wayne Operations

Stucky Brothers, Great Buys Plus, Inc.

As the screen rolls down and the lights start to dim, the customers rush to get to their seats. Class is now in session. No, we didn't take our customers back to college; we brought the college to Stucky Brothers (Stucky's).

Gone are the days of the traditional route of advertising your products in the media and knowing customers would come. It is imperative to go out and recruit customers in much the same way universities recruit athletes. Stucky's, the Fort Wayne, Ind., member of Great Buys Plus, an association of independent retailers, has deep roots in their local community dating back 88 years. Once inside our 18,000 sq. ft. showroom, you find beautifully crafted custom kitchens accented with high-end specialty appliances, four state-of-the-art custom home theatre rooms with interactive controls, a separate and extensive HDTV area and a new full-fledged Kitchen Café gourmet coffee house. Nestled in the middle of all this is a 1,000 sq. ft. 35-seat "Community Theatre" with full multimedia capability. One might think, "Why a theatre in the middle of the store?" We at Stucky's ask, "Why not?"