Northern Tool + Equipment opened a new retail location at the intersection of County Road 101 and Highway 7 in Minnetonka on Friday, March 5.
The new location, which is next door to K-Mart, provides better visibility and access than the previous store front, which was across the street in a strip mall. It is also larger, although not by much.
The key reason for the move, however, was a redesigned floor plan that provides for a more streamlined and pleasant shopping experience.
"You can see 80 percent of the store from the front door," said Dave Ross, director of retail merchandising for Northern Tool + Equipment. "We've reorganized the store and compartmentalized everything."
"We'd been wanting to do this for a long time," Ross said. "We worked with a new software program to create the floor plan. Every inch of this store was designed by a computer. We spent over six months on it."
Several features set the new store apart. Redesigned shelving and display panels mean that items previously relegated to a box are now visible to customers.
For example, in one aisle, a row of small engines are out in the open, each sitting on top of a Lazy Susan. Anyone can come along, spin the Lazy-Susan base and see every inch of an engine before making a purchase.
In another aisle, customers can turn on an automatic car jack to see how it works before deciding to buy.
Strong-armed, steel racks were invented to display tires in a new manner. A light panel demonstrates the reaction time and brightness of every trailer light in stock. Remote controls placed at eye level allow customers to turn on fans displayed overhead.
Shoppers can get their hands on a cordless drill and try out each model with the loose screws and two-by-fours provided nearby.
"Tools are active. You should be able to see a tool and try it before you buy," said Ross. "We want people to come in here and get their hands on things, to get excited."
The company built its reputation, Ross pointed out, by supplying professional grade log splitters, pressure washers, generators, welding equipment and auto repair tools.
Even so, step foot in the new Northern Tool + Equipment store and it's immediately obvious that the store is smaller than its big box competitors.
The smaller floor plan, argued Ross, works to the store's advantage. "We've got about 16,000 square feet of retail space, but it feels bigger because of the layout."
Plus, he said, it's hard for a customer to get lost in the aisles of the new Northern Tool store. Every aisle is clearly labeled with boldly-lettered signs. Besides, another key feature of the new floor plan is that items with a common purpose are housed together.
This hands-on, user-friendly floor plan is a concept Northern Tool + Equipment is hoping to expand and implement in other stores and states; the Minnetonka location is the prototype.
While several big name retail outlets have gone out of business in recent months, Northern Tool + Equipment isn't backing off.
"I think the bad economy is the epicenter for why this store is newsworthy and exciting," said Ross.
"Northern Tool has remained viable, even in this construction downturn, because we have the stuff our [customers] need," said Ross.
"People may not be buying new cars, but they do have to fix their old cars. We sell the tools they need to get that done," he said.
Northern Tool + Equipment is a Minnesota-based company that has been in operation for nearly 28 years. It runs 70 stores in 11 states from its Burnsville headquarters. Its private label line of tools, NorthStar, is manufactured in Faribault.
"We carry almost 3,000 hand tools," said Ross, stopping before a display of at least 30 different ratchets. He grabbed one, gave it a crank and let a series of clicks ring out. "Some people say that's insane, but we love tools."
