Hassett's Top 10 Moments From 2015

Hassett Hardware had a great year in 2015. We opened a new store, deepened our commitment to our culture and had a good time together. Here are some of the highlights:

Ribbon Cutting at Our New Redwood City Location with Mayor Jeff Gee

The Willow Glen Team During Spirit Week

ACE Ladies at Our Contractor Breakfast in San Mateo

San Mateo Shows Their Support for Trades People Day

Richard and Eric Hassett at the Grand Opening of Their Fifth Store in Redwood City

The Redwood City Team Gets Dressed Up for Their One Year Anniversary

Team Spirit During Spirit Week in Willow Glen

San Mateo Shows Some Love for Their Store

Our First Class in the Redwood City Garden Center

The Holiday Party 

Mosaic Table, Handmade With Love

One birthday a few years ago, our inventory manager shared this image with me. As part of her birthday celebration, her family decided to make her a mosaic table. The intent and thought and beauty around the making of this gift is so true and beautiful, I wanted to share it with you. Her father and daughter, ex-husband and his family, her boyfriend, and everyone’s significant others came together on her birthday, bringing with them the supplies needed to create her gift.

They brought the necessary broken tiles, mirrors, vases and whatnot, and they also brought something else: A memento that carried meaning for each one of them, to include in the table, to be there forever and remind Maureen of the love that is all around her. Her father included a little plastic toy bike, her daughter included a mug she’d had in her college days. An earring of a beloved and passed brother was added, and for each family member, a coin made during their year of birth was pressed into the design.

Made using recycled materials and love, this gift is kind to both people and the environment. This can be a fun project for any age and a great way to upcycle and preserve things you love - chipped flower pots, old mugs, antique mirrors from a grandmother's vanity or hand mirror, personal tokens and anything else you can think of!

Other ingredients you'll need:
Table
Weldbond or Thin-Set Mortar
Grout (There are lots of choices - you can get pre-colored grout, or add acrylic paint for color)
Rags
Trowel
Grout Sealer 

Adapted from the original article first published on thegreenextract.com and care2.com, 2011.

Five Star Yelp Review

Our Redwood City Store Where Myles Works

I've been inundated lately with kind words about our teams - at all our stores - and I thought it would be fun to post a series of Yelp reviews spotlighting individual employees. 

The owners, the corporate/support team, the managers - we can all do everything within our power to create a great culture that strives to give the best customer service possible, but it's the people on the floor, day in and day out, who do the work of greeting each customer with a smile and helping them as best as they can, who truly create the culture in our stores about which I keep hearing so many good things. So kudos to all of our energetic, dedicated, smart, loyal, thoughtful and helpful team. Here's the first in our series - a shout out to Myles in Redwood City:

Miles helped me out and I really have to say he went above and beyond. I needed to rig a custom stabilizer for my camera and Miles helped me explore several options, eventually settling on an outstanding solution. Miles also helped me cut the pieces necessary in store, on the spot. Very positive experience! Also the store is very clean and there were no lines. Winning!

Our Favorite Things

The store managers and the support team, along with both of the owners, have a weekly conference call where we catch each other up on important news, ideas, products, sales, happenings. Within all of this information sharing is a question that gets posed to each of the managers, every week: "What is your favorite thing that happened in your store this week?" The question may vary to what employee had the greatest impact, or what customer experience was the best, but it all comes down to a particular moment that stands out as exceptional.

One of the things I love about this question is the managers always have something to say, and they often have more than one story they want to share. It's one thing to talk about core values and creating intentional company culture. It's another thing entirely to live and breathe it, day in and day out, and each week have something tangible to share with others that walks the talk of integrity, or great customer awareness or being results driven (just a few of our core values).

We hear from customers very regularly that our stores feel different, that the sales team actually seems to care about customers' projects and about them as people. We hear a lot that we have exceptional customer service and that we feel homey. This kind of feedback is always a morale booster and what I love about our team is that that kind of praise and enthusiasm comes from the inside as well. Which is why customers feel the way they do about us. You can't fake genuine and authentic. It has to come, one favorite thing at a time.

-Jocelyn Lovelle

Bee Friendly

ACE Hardware is moving away from selling pesticides that contain neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids are the most widely-used class of chemicals found in insecticides, and are connected with honey bee decline.

Hassett ACE Hardware strongly supports ACE's move and we carry many alternative organic and non-toxic products for your garden and yard. Come in and ask us about them!

Succulent Wreath Class Huge Success

We had a fantastic time at our succulents class in Redwood City this past weekend! So much so, that we started to set a date for a Pumpkin Etching class - you may have seen an earlier version of this post that said to mark your calendars for October 17 - but we ran into some roadblocks with that plan, so stay tuned and we'll let you know when and what our next class is as soon as we do!




For class information and to sign up, please email info@hassetthardware.com!

I am so grateful to work with owners of a company who truly value their employees and really do walk the talk of trust, respect and offering a path of empowerment and responsibility for each of us.

Hassett Hardware now has approximately 150 employees, all of whom are considered family from the moment they start. There is really only one rule at the company: Follow the Core Values.

Four members of the Hassett team just attended a culture event based around best practices for ACE Hardware store managers. Two of us, myself included, presented to the group on Telling Your Story - The Importance of Meaningful Content and Interviewing, Hiring and Training. Both of these presentations focused on the importance we place at Hassett on basing all of our decisions on culture and our core values.

We got some pushback from the managers in the room, wondering how we give so much freedom and responsibility to our front-line staff (cashiers, sales associates) right from the day they start. We pointed out that that was part of our culture. We need to trust others in order to gain their trust. It's a neat little circle that pays off wonders when entered into with clear intentions and a system to back it up.

We were surprised to learn that most other owners don't offer up that same trust or freedom, much less support of our individuality (some of us have brightly-colored hair, others of us dress a bit like a hippie) and creative ideas.

I had a great conversation with one of the owners last week about the importance of failing. For if we don't fail at all, that means we also haven't tried at all. And at Hassett, we believe in all of it: trying, failing, succeeding, supporting, trusting and working towards a larger goal, a larger purpose of making the world a better place by offering kindness and genuine respect to each other and to those who come into our stores.

Thank you Eric and Richard for your vision and your support!

- Jocelyn Lovelle

JOIN US FOR a SUCCULENT WREATH CLASS at our Redwood City Store!

WHO: YOU!

WHAT: LEARN TO MAKE your own gorgeous succulent wreath. Cost is $85 and includes ALL materials and instruction.

WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPT. 12 from 10am to Noon.

WHERE: THE GARDEN CENTER at Hassett ACE Hardware in Redwood City: 348 Woodside Plaza.

WHY: IT'S FUN, IT'S drought tolerant, and you'll learn from expert instructor, Tiffany Polli, of Succulent Gardens.

HOW: SIGN UP BY Sept 1st. Email Lisa@hassetthardware.com to reserve your space.

EXTRA CREDIT: All students receive 10% OFF* any purchases in the store on class day. *Some exclusion may apply.

Larry Hassett Plays Stump the Hardware Guy

Larry Hassett is a long-time member of the Kiwanis, and agreed to play a round of Stump the Hardware Guy at their weekly lunch meeting in Palo Alto last Thursday. With a good half-century-plus of running a hardware store, the Kiwanis folks figured their chances were slim, but they would try to hand him a tool he couldn't name. They did, but it was a slightly mischievous move on the Kiwani's part - they brought in a tool used only for separating bicycle breaks during a replacement. All the other tools of antiquity and uniqueness were easily identifiable for Larry, and lest we think Hassett Hardware doesn't know it's random bike tools, had his son, Eric, been there, he would have been able to tell you what that tool was in a hot second.

14 Ways to Save Water and Money

INDOOR TIPS

1. Shorten your shower by just 5 min and you'll save 15 gal. - every time. 
2. Install faucet aerators and low-flow shower heads and save 16 gal. a day. 
3. Wait for full loads to wash clothes and dishes and save 20 gal. per load. 
4. Fix leaks and save more than 15 gal. a day, per leak. 
5.  Install high-efficiency toilets and save 25 gal. a day. 
6. Install a high-efficiency washing machine and save 20 gal. per load. 
7. Turn off the faucet while shaving or brushing your teeth and save 2 gal. a min. 
8. Install water-efficient appliances to save water and you might qualify for rebates. 

OUTDOOR TIPS

1. Water your lawn before 5 AM instead of midday and save 20 gal.
2. Water your lawn only when needed, generally once every three days during the summer.
3. Reducing your watering time by just one min and save 20 gal. 
4. Landscape with water-wise plants and save 20 gal. a day. 
5. Clean sidewalks with a broom not a hose and save 15 gal. 
6. Install drip irrigation for trees, shrubs and plants to save 20 gal. a day.

Fire Disc Grill Video - Dirty Swamp Creole Recipe

We now carry these great new grills in our Palo Alto location. They're fabulous for camping, off-roading or a beach bbq!

Redwood City Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting

We had a fantastic turn out for our official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for our new store in Redwood City!
Thank you to all who made the event a success!