360 VIEW

enards is a big-box enigma in the U.S. What We’ll Cover home improvement industry. Older than Home Depot and smaller M than both Home Depot and Lowe’s, 154 The History of Menards the company has stayed quietly regional and privately owned for more than 50 years and counting. At the same time, the bold lettering on 156 Who Is John Menard? Menards-sponsored race cars, the iconic “Save Big Money” jingle, and the founder’s reputation are not quiet. Founder John Menard cannot avoid public 158 A Snapshot of Menards scrutiny, as he lands on Forbes’ annual list of American billionaires year after year and appears at NASCAR races to watch his race car driver son, Paul. But, as a private company, the third-largest home 160 Menards in Recent Years improvement retailer in the U.S. does not release financial information, unlike its publicly traded competitors and independent cooperatives such as 164 SWOT Analysis and True Value. In addition, Menards’ leadership has mostly avoided requests for media interviews and closely controls 166 The Financials information the company releases. Hardware Retailing has been among the media outlets that have contacted the company for more information without receiving a response. 168 Menards on Its Home Turf A comprehensive look at how Menards operates is difficult to get, and people who haven’t worked in executive roles within the company know little about it. 169 Menards’ Market Because few public documents are available and and Opportunities Menards did not provide interviews, Hardware Retailing writers compiled information from existing research and approached industry observers for added insight. The information in this 360-degree overview was gathered On the following pages, you will find the results of by Hardware Retailing staff from a variety of resources that their work in a 360-degree look at the company. are attributed throughout.

152 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 20120188 May 2018 | HARDWARE RETAILING 153 360 The History of Menards

The year 1962 was a busy one in American products worldwide. Target became a national industry in 1958.7 As more machinery was An early experimentation for the retailer was retail. That year, entrepreneur Sam Walton opened company known for its trendy products and introduced into dairy farming, he recognized using an efficient delivery system to supply the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas;1 in strategic business partnerships with fashion a need for low-cost agricultural buildings to its stores. Menards was the first DIY home Minneapolis, the first Target retail store opened;2 designers and companies such as Starbucks. house livestock and equipment.7 Within a improvement company to use the “hub-and-spoke” and John Menard incorporated Menards as a Both general merchandise retailers went on to year, Menard’s pole building construction system, with all deliveries originating from the Wisconsin company.3 become public companies with stockholders business was already gaining a reputation in company’s distribution facility in Eau Claire.4 Walmart would grow its discount model around the world. Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where Menards’ corporate Home Depot and Lowe’s would later adopt astronomically and permanently transform Throughout the nearly 50-year boom of discount headquarters is now located.7 similar distribution strategies, and a Forbes the way businesses buy, sell and transport retailers and home improvement competitors, As consumers started requesting lumber and analyst speculates that the companies were Menard kept his business closer to the vest. He building materials, Menard entered into the inspired by Menards to implement similar maintained controlling ownership, and as a result, building materials business, calling his retail outlet methods in their businesses. kept the independence of growing and experimenting Menard Cashway Lumber and opening the first Menards supplied all of its stores from its with retail concepts in relative privacy.4 retail location in 1964.4 distribution center in Eau Claire until 1998, when a In the home improvement sector, Lowe’s Cos. The company expanded into manufacturing more second center opened in Plano, , according to had been steadily growing in the Southeast for substantial building materials on-site, opening a truss the company. Menards now operates 11 distribution nearly two decades when Menards incorporated. plant in the late 1960s.7 The truss plant eventually centers in eight states, including two in Wisconsin Lowe’s opened for business in 1946 and, developed into the Menard Building Division and and three in .7 just one year prior to Menards’ incorporation, manufactured steel siding and roofing, interior and went public in 1961.5 Home Depot entered the exterior doors, decking and treated lumber and 1 corporate.walmart.com 7 home improvement marketplace with two stores other materials. Menards sold the Menard Building 2 corporate.target.com in 1979 and went public in 1981.6 Division in 1994, ending more than 30 years in the 3 Office of the Wisconsin Secretary of State 4 Menards was born out of a growing local pole building business.7 Forbes (multiple articles) 5 Lowes.com demand for pole buildings. Menard began his During that same period, the company operated 6 corporate.homedepot.com business to serve the rapidly changing farm 78 Menards stores.4 7 Menards.com

Timeline: From 1958 to the Present 1958 1962 1963 1964 1969 1990s 2000s 2016

In the Beginning Big-Box Boom Business Acumen Retail Outlet New Ventures Growth and Change The Big Time Labor Trouble John Menard starts Menard incorporates3 the Menard graduates The first Menards Menards launches its Menards doubles Menards opens several The National Labor a business constructing company in Eau Claire the from the University of retail location, called truss plant, which became its store count throughout large-format stores, each Review Board rules pole buildings in same year Walmart1 and Wisconsin-Eau Claire Menard Cashway Lumber Menards Building Division this period. The company at more than 200,000 Menards violated federal his hometown of Target2 open their first with a degree in at the time, and manufactured building sells Menards Building square feet, throughout law, its second violation Eau Claire, Wisconsin. retail stores. business administration.8 opens in Eau Claire. materials, such as siding. Division in 1994. the Midwest.10 in as many years.9

The source for the timeline entries is Menards.com, unless noted otherwise. 8 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Alumni Association 9 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 10 Time magazine, March 19, 2013

154 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 2018 May 2018 | HARDWARE RETAILING 155 360 Who Is John Menard?

The story of Menards is incomplete without a short including groceries, diapers and toys, alongside biography of founder John Menard, who not only traditional home improvement departments such as built the company, but has also directed its course electrical supplies and lumber and building materials. for decades. Menard stands out as eclectic, with a Born in 1940, Menard was the oldest of eight penny-pinching approach to business but a famous, children and “learned the value of hard work and expensive interest in car racing.11 In addition, frugality” while doing chores on his parents’ dairy he has provided material for tabloid-style writing farm in Wisconsin, Mary Van de Kamp Nohl writes due to friendships and fallings out with other in Milwaukee Magazine. billionaires, including President Donald Trump.12 In the 1950s, Menard was a young man working to In a 2013 article, Forbes reports that Menard told pay for college in Eau Claire who saw an opportunity the magazine he no longer runs his retail chain. for entrepreneurship.7 However, “insiders say he still oversees the smallest Menard set out to start his own business when he details, from the material for store parking lots to left his high school job to construct pole buildings. His answering company mail,” Forbes says. customers asked to buy building materials,so he went Perhaps confirming active involvement in the into retail, opening the precursor to today’s Menards company, Menard made a public appearance with stores, Menard Cashway Lumber.11 car dealer Tom Kelley in March to announce a In business, Menard is detail-oriented, thrifty business partnership that would include expanding and an opportunist, similar to many retail two Menards stores in .13 entrepreneurs who built large companies in the Regardless of how active he is in the company 20th century.11 Like Sam Walton, who founded currently, Menard, at nearly 80 years old, is the Walmart, Menard has been carefully frugal, wealthiest Wisconsin resident and one of the richest opting for a lowest-price-possible retail model people in the U.S.4 and negotiating heavily with vendors to slash product costs.11 11 Milwaukee Magazine, April 30, 2007 Also like Walton, he is willing to try 12 Monthly, Indianapolis Business Journal selling a broad array of products in his stores, 13 The Journal Gazette, March 7, 2018, Fort Wayne, Indiana

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

156 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 2018 360 A Snapshot of Menards

At the end of 2017, Menards operated Menards’ first major 306 stores in 14 states. Iowa radio station piece of equipment was owner Bob Holtan a 1946 Chevy truck. wrote the lyrics to Menards’ “ Save Big Money” 45,000+ Store Employees in the U.S. John Menard’s son, Paul, earned $3.25 per hour at about age 10 stapling papers in jingle in the 1970s. Menards’ accounts receivable department. Sources: Menards and Menards.com Source: Menards.com Source: USA Today, Sept. 14, 2015 Source: City Pages, Jan. 13, 2015, Minneapolis

Menards has sponsored NASCAR Unlike primary competitors Home Depot teams and drivers, including and Lowe’s, Menards has been a private John Menard’s son Paul, since company since its inception. 2001. Menard’s involvement in the IndyCar series dates back to 1979, when he bought a car to race in the Indy 500. incorporated the same Sources: NBC Sports and Milwaukee Magazine year that Walmart and Target started, 1962.

Sources: Office of the Wisconsin Secretary of State, company filings In 1958, John Menard started the company that became Menards to pay for his college education at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He graduated in 1963. drove to victory in the in the NASCAR Cup Series. His win came despite this comment about him from racing champ : “You can have your father buy a ride In 2017, Forbes magazine and write a big check, but you can’t ranked John Menard the 45th buy talent.” Source: ESPN, Aug. 1, 2011 Sources: Menards.com and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Alumni Association wealthiest person in the U.S.

158 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 2018 May 2018 | HARDWARE RETAILING 159 360 Menards in Recent Years

Menards currently has more than 300 stores its reputation as a salt-of-the-earth, family-owned in 14 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, , business,” the Star Tribune reports. “The retailer has , , , , somehow merged intimacy and big box into the same , , , , sentence, retail observers say.” Wisconsin and .7 While some companies wouldn’t want to The company employs an estimated close up shop to remodel a massive building, 45,000 workers,7 and the National Retail Federation Menards has done that in many situations. estimates the company pulled in $10.7 billion The company can likely do so because of its in sales during fiscal year 2016. That estimate private ownership.14 Menards has the flexibility is about $84 billion less in 2016 sales than to make changes without reporting to a massive Home Depot reported and about $54 billion number of stockholders. less than Lowe’s. In addition to expanding salesfloors in many However, according to Hardware Retailing of its existing stores and new locations, Menards estimates, Menards’ sales ring up at about has also made a name for itself with its eclectic $6.4 million less per store than Home Depot, mix of merchandise. Customers can expect to and $4.6 million more per store than Lowe’s. find everything from standard hardware tools and Big-box retailers like Target, Walmart and gardening equipment to groceries and furniture. Lowe’s have been rolling out small-format versions The company has gained a reputation similar to of their stores. However, Menards has expanded Walmart, reassuring its customers they can “Save big into more locations throughout the Midwest money at Menards,” as their iconic jingle says. with buildings that are larger in size than their The company reports that its stores offer predecessors and retail competitors, too. the lowest prices in town and a wide range of In 2011, Menards debuted its remodeled categories housed under one roof, creating a Eden Prairie, Minnesota, store, which was one-stop shop for customers.7 a 235,000-square-foot, two-story operation, according to a 2012 article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. 14 Star Tribune, Jan. 29, 2012, Minneapolis 15 “Menards has accomplished contradictory feats: The Blade, July 12, 2017, Toledo, Ohio 16 Leader-Telegram, Dec. 1, 2017, Eau Claire, Wisconsin It builds stores of enormous size at a time when 17 The Progressive, Dec. 15, 2015 retailers are downsizing, while also maintaining 18 The Capital Times, April 1, 2016, Madison, Wisconsin

160 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 2018 360 Menards in Recent Years

In December, the Leader-Telegram in Eau Claire reported on the company’s plans for a new warehouse run by machines. Menards “plans to build a 121,700-square-foot warehouse with a 60-foot-tall automated system that will organize merchandise and process orders,” the Leader-Telegram reports. The goal for this addition is to get products to customers faster, Jeff Abbott, spokesman for Menards, says in a statement.16 “The robotic warehouse allows the company not only to delivery time but also cut costs and keep prices low,” Abbott says in the newspaper article. In addition to manufacturing projects and distribution enhancements, Menards continues to open stores throughout its current service area. In March, John Menard joined Tom Kelley, president of Kelley Automotive Group, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to announce expansion plans for Kelley’s business and Menards. The company plans to invest up to $6 million to expand its stores to upgrade the size, product line and service in two Fort Wayne Menards locations. Kelley plans to invest 13 One method Menards has for bringing in repeat customers is its strong millions in updates to nearby land. rebate program, which offers store credit instead of cash. Fines, Lawsuits and Disgruntled Employees While founder John Menard has created a Dropping Prices and Internal Manufacturing company from the ground up, and in turn has Menards has built a reputation as the become the wealthiest person in the state of destination for low-priced home improvement Wisconsin, his rise to success has come with goods. The company’s rebate program draws scrutiny for him and his business. customers back to stores, as its policy of The company has faced different legal giving in-store credit instead of cash pays off.14 challenges over the years, and currently is This approach inspires customer loyalty, as they dealing with lawsuits from former employees. return to use their credit in the store and spend For example, in 2015, managers at the company more money in the process. shared that in their employment agreement, Menards demands low prices from its suppliers they had to agree to a substantial cut in pay to keep its low-price promise to its customers. should the workers under their supervision form On top of working with brands to get deals on a union.17 merchandise, the company also keeps prices low Lawsuits followed, and by April 2016, the by manufacturing many of its building materials, National Labor Relations Board found Menards which include doors, roofing and siding. guilty of violating multiple federal labor laws.18 In July, the company was finalizing plans The violations could impact the company’s to open a new manufacturing operation in relationship with all of its employees, Holiday City, Ohio. Menards will be the article says. manufacturing a variety of materials, such as In February, an Ohio law firm sued Menards steel roofing and siding, and concrete blocks. “on behalf of workers who say they weren’t Plus, the facility will act as another distribution properly paid wages and overtime,” the center for Menards.15 Dayton Daily News reports.

162 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 2018 360 SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

• Broad Inventory. From plumbing and electrical • Mobile App Adoption. Menards, as a regional • Repurposing Vacant Stores. In January, • Distant Third. In 2017, supplies to sports drinks and plush dinosaur toys, company, is a distant No. 3 behind national U-Haul acquired a vacant Menards store scored $100 billion in fiscal year sales and Menards is known for its wide selection. In 2017, companies Home Depot and Lowe’s in many in Indianapolis. U-Haul plans to renovate Lowe’s earned $67 billion. The National Retail customer experience analysis firm Market Force areas. For example, Market Force surveyed the building and use it as a self-storage Federation estimated Menards saw $10.7 billion Information surveyed 7,800 U.S. consumers more than 7,800 Americans and learned facility, according to uhaul.com. Menards in sales in 2016. Menards is in a distant third to learn about shoppers’ opinions of home that their usage of Menards’ mobile app could continue to sell vacant stores to place among the nation’s top three big-box home improvement stores. Menards scored highest lags behind use of apps from Lowe’s and noncompetitors to earn money if stores close. improvement centers, though it is 16 years older in the merchandise variety and value category, Home Depot. The Menards app offers bar than Home Depot. topping Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Lowe’s. code scanning to learn more about products, • Capitalizing on E-Commerce. Menards has the in-store department maps and augmented financial means to bolster its e-commerce offering • Legal Entanglements. Both Menards • Memorable Marketing. Menards’ signature reality to help customers visualize home in a way smaller retailers cannot. By investing the company and its president and CEO “Save Big Money” song is memorable and has renovation projects. more in e-commerce, the retailer could increasingly John Menard have faced several lawsuits over run on TV and radio for decades. The retailer’s reach customers in locations where it does not the years covering a wide range of issues, billboard and print circular advertising often looks • Store-Branded Credit Card Use. Menards physically operate brick-and-mortar locations. including environmental violations, wage theft like it could have come from a local business, also trails its main competitors, Home Depot and sexual harassment. These legal issues and some of the language sounds similar to and Lowe’s, in the number of consumers using • Investing in Technology. In 2017, Menards could potentially be costly both financially and small business marketing material, such as, its store-branded credit card, the Market Force announced plans to build a new distribution center in terms of the retailer’s public image among “Put your money where your house is.” survey reveals. Among respondents, 25 percent featuring a robotic system to speed up delivery employees and customers. Menards has also advertised on race cars, used Lowe’s credit card, 21 percent used times and cut operating costs. If effective, Menards emblazoning its logo on Menards-sponsored Home Depot’s and 7 percent use Menards’ could replicate its success by renovating existing • Closing Loopholes. Menards has been able vehicles and race team uniforms. store-branded credit card. distribution centers or building new facilities. to reduce its taxes by arguing that its stores should be taxed as if they are empty, not • An Affordable Reputation. Menards’ • Being Regional. Brouwer calls Menards • Increasing Productivity per Store. Brouwer as operational businesses with full, diverse “Save Big Money” mantra and regularly “a regional player.” Because the retailer operates reports that while all Home Depot, Lowe’s and inventories. Tax loopholes in several states advertised 11 percent discounts on products stores in only 14 U.S. states, many Americans do Menards locations are roughly the same size, have allowed Menards and other retailers have helped the company establish itself as an not have local access to Menards locations but Menards’ stores often earn less per store. to diminish their tax burdens, but as states affordable option against competitors, according can shop at the brick-and-mortar locations of the By increasing productivity and sales at existing tighten regulations, Menards’ costs will to Anne Brouwer, retail consultant from the firm company’s largest big-box competitors all across locations, Menards could close the gap. also increase. McMillan Doolittle. the country. • Adding Distribution Centers. Menards currently • The Independent Sector. Independent • Business Diversity. In addition to its • Unclear Trajectory. If founder John Menard has at least 11 distribution centers. The retailer operators, including businesses with Ace Hardware, retail outlets, Menards operates subsidiary is still the business’ majority shareholder could add facilities where it does not currently Do it Best and True Value branding, run successful businesses, including Midwest Manufacturing, and continues to provide close operational have a brick-and-mortar presence to facilitate stores near many Menards locations, and often Menards Self Storage, Menards Transportation oversight, then the company’s future is highly deliveries and better serve markets outside the have reputations for better service and higher and Menards Real Estate. dependent on an untested succession plan. company’s Midwest base. quality products.

Unless other sources are cited, the opinions expressed in this SWOT analysis are based on market knowledge and research from the Hardware Retailing editorial team.

164 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 2018 May 2018 | HARDWARE RETAILING 165 360 The Financials

Menards’ Revenue and Retail Sales, Over Time

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Revenue $6.95 $7.17 $7.9 $8.3 $8.7 $8.7 $9.5 (dollars in billions) Retail Sales - $7.2 $7.6 $9.3 $8.7 $8.3 $10.7 (dollars in billions)

Sources: Forbes, Hardware Retailing estimates

6 Years of Growth: Store Counts

325

305 306 297 300 285 285

270 275 Number of Stores

250 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Year Sources: Menards, Hardware Retailing estimates

John Menards’ Increasing Net Worth

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Net Worth $5.2 $4.5 $6.0 $7.5 $7.9 $9.2 $9.4 $9.9 (dollars in billions)

Forbes 400 List Rank 51 69 56 57 59 49 46 47

Source: Forbes

166 HARDWARE RETAILING | May 2018 360 Menards on Its Home Turf Menards’ Market and Opportunities

For example, they generally carry a line of particularly post-purchase. These challenges are not Thomas Kemp foodstuffs and that’s consistent with their broader Anne Brouwer unique to Menards; many retailers need continuous Professor and Chairman, business plan of offering relatively high-quality Senior Partner, McMillan Doolittle improvement in these areas. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Anne Brouwer, Wisconsin-based products at low prices. They’re very creative with Thomas Kemp, Ph.D., is a professor senior partner at retail consulting and chairman of the department of product lines. firm McMillan Doolittle, offers her HR: Can you discuss Menards’ e-commerce economics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. perspective on Menards. Brouwer serves on the presence compared to Amazon and direct He has a doctorate in economics from HR: What are Menards most effective National Retail Federation Associate Member competitors Home Depot and Lowe’s? Colorado State University. growth strategies? Council and belongs to other retail organizations. AB: I think you could argue that they’re lagging TK: It seems to me that Menards is remarkably in behind in that area. This is clearly one area that tune with their particular value prospect. That’s represents an opportunity for them. It’s an area that’s Hardware Retailing (HR): How would you likely the key to their success in terms of growing Hardware Retailing (HR): Can you describe the tough for all retailers, not just Menards, because so describe the economic role Menards plays or maintaining profitability. That value prospect average Menards consumer? much is changing so quickly, and the consumers in Wisconsin? seems ridiculously simple, but it seems to work: Anne Brouwer (AB): In general, I would say their are often far out in front of a retailer’s current Thomas Kemp (TK): Menards is the dominant home Whatever they can provide at a competitive cost, customer is probably not too different from those capabilities. It’s a huge investment of resources. It’s improvement chain, certainly, here in Eau Claire. whatever retail segment that is, they’ll pursue of Home Depot and Lowe’s. Menards’ customers time, money, skills and access to the right solutions. They’re also the single largest employer in the city it. It’s known as a home improvement chain, are often looking for a lot of the same products and employing around 3,000 people, so of course they but my family gets its laundry detergent and services. There are a number of markets where these HR: You’ve called Menards a “regional player.” have a huge economic impact on our local economy other household things from Menards more than stores overlap, and in those markets, a Menards’ What benefits come from sticking to certain because of that. any other store. customer might be slightly more price-sensitive. regions as opposed to expanding? AB: It takes huge investments to open new stores. HR: Menards is one of the largest private HR: What benefits does Menards derive from HR: What is Menards’ position among its Unless you have a model that gives you a break-even companies in the U.S. How does that being headquartered in Wisconsin? major competitors? and return on investment, new stores can sometimes benefit Wisconsin? TK: They’ve been here since the beginning of AB: When you talk about Menards, they’re clearly give you a temporary boost, but not always a TK: I think it benefits the state because the the company, so they do have deep roots here. No. 3 after Home Depot and Lowe’s. But they’re sustainable long-term model. In the last few decades, control is local. Because Menards is based here in But generally in Wisconsin, they have access a regional player and often about one-tenth of the lots of retailers expanded too quickly and now have Wisconsin, their interests are—to some extent—in to a well-educated, low-cost workforce to draw overall size of these major competitors in terms too many stores, leaving them needing to shrink their line with the needs of the state, so I think that’s from. Housing is very affordable here compared of earnings. There’s a significant difference in the retail footprint because they need to invest in other helpful locally. Their roots from the very beginning to other locations in the Midwest, which is productivity among these three companies. Most of touch points to match customers’ needs. are closely tied to Wisconsin. likely another benefit. these companies have 200,000-square-foot stores, but The second advantage of staying regional should be Menards brings in $10 to $12 million less per store. to more deeply understand their trade area and tailor HR: In your opinion, what are Menards’ HR: What are some of the biggest challenges their products and services to meet that demand. greatest strengths as a company? Menards has faced in its history? HR: What opportunities can Menards They should, theoretically, be able to outmaneuver TK: I think their greatest strength is being flexible TK: Over the years, their challenges with various capitalize on in the coming years? national chains that might not be able to understand in terms of their business plans. I’ve grown up with regulatory agencies have probably been difficult. AB: One of their biggest opportunities is to look or capitalize on differences between regions. Menards my whole life, and they always seem to Menards is pretty tight-lipped about their internal at how to increase the productivity of each store, If you look at home improvement, we already be in tune with what a community needs. If they practices and lots of other things. As a private rather than building new stores, which is costly. have two very strong national players and strong notice that another retailer is doing something that company, they don’t have to disclose much and by I think Menards’ opportunities fall into independent competitors and local specialists like they think they can do better, they go ahead and and large, they don’t. three main areas. One is improving operational lumberyards and plumbing, kitchen and lighting do that, even if it’s not totally central to their core excellence, which starts with recruiting and product suppliers. You have to ask whether there mission of home improvement. HR: What opportunities and challenges do you training the right kind of people with the right really is room for a third national player in these see for Menards in the future? kind of skills. It includes improving their markets. There may be opportunities in mid-size TK: I think their willingness to offer products that processes, in-store and beyond, and it includes markets for companies like Menards, where “I think their willingness aren’t traditional for a home improvement chain their ability to solve problems and deliver a Home Depot and Lowe’s would never invest. to offer products that will increasingly serve them well over time. satisfactory solution to customers. In terms of challenges, I think their industry is Another area is in information and data HR: What value does Menards derive from aren’t traditional for a likely to continue to be strong. People talk about management. That involves an underlying being a private company? “the end of brick-and-mortar retail,” but I don’t combination of systems and analytics and access AB: Menards has a lot more leeway to run with home improvement chain think that’s super applicable to them. Certainly to accurate, timely information. different kinds of margins, operating profits and net will increasingly serve online competition will pose a challenge to some The third area is culture. Menards has a profits than a public company that’s constantly being degree, but customers just aren’t going to buy reputation for not necessarily always being a happy hammered by the markets and challenged by analysts them well over time.” two-by-fours from Amazon. place to work or a satisfying place for customers, who expect faster growth and higher profits.

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