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Menards

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This article is about the home improvement retailer. For other uses, see Menard (disambiguation).
Menard Inc.
Company typePrivate company
IndustryRetail (Home Improvement)
Founded1960; 64 years ago (1960)
FounderJohn Menard Jr.
HeadquartersEau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S.
Number of locations
350
Key people
John Menard Jr. (President)
ProductsBuilding materials, tools, hardware, garden supplies, electrical supplies, ceiling fans, light fixtures, cabinets, home appliances, doors, windows, paint, wood stain, wallpaper, plumbing supplies, carpet, vinyl, linoleum, groceries, automotive
RevenueIncrease US$ 10 billion (2017)[1]
Number of employees
45,000 (2017)
WebsiteMenards.com

Menard Inc. is a chain of home improvement stores, located in the Midwestern United States.

The privately held company, headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has 350 stores in 14 states: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Kentucky. It is the third-largest home improvement chain in the United States, behind The Home Depot and Lowe's.[1]

Company history

In 1959, John Menard, Jr. began building post-frame buildings to finance his college education. By the end of 1959, he found it necessary to hire extra crews, and to purchase more equipment to keep up with demand.[2] After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 1962, Menard purchased land in Eau Claire and built an office and shop. The company was founded in 1960 [3] and incorporated in 1962.[4]

In 2007, Menards opened their third and fourth distribution centers in Holiday City, Ohio, and Shelby, Iowa, which are 669,000 square feet (62,200 m2) and 735,000 square feet (68,300 m2), respectively.[5]

Grocery section of Menard's store in Traverse City, Michigan

Store structure

File:Menards.jpg
Exterior of the Menards store in Ankeny, Iowa. An example of the older exterior.

In 2007, the 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2) and larger Menards stores began selling groceries.[6] Shoppers are able to get items such as frozen pizza, milk, eggs, common snacks, and a variety of canned items. In addition, they carry items such as office supplies, pet supplies, and even mattresses.[7] This new offer has allowed customers to have a more rounded "stop-and-shop" experience while diverting some of the market share from major grocers around the country. This also helps the Menards employees use their Menards employment cards to get groceries before payday. The charges are then deducted from the employees upcoming paycheck.

Advertising

Menards store in West Lafayette, Indiana

Menards publishes weekly print ads and broadcasts TV and radio ads.[8] Radio and TV ads are usually accompanied by banjo music (resembling that of bluegrass music) played by Gary Shaw of Wisconsin.[9] Ray Szmanda was the "Menards Guy" who used the slogan "Save big money at Menards" regularly on television advertisements from 1976 to 1998, and occasionally from 1999 until his death in 2018.[10] Before his return in 1999, a girl took over his position in his absence. During the Christmas and holiday season, radio and television ads typically feature an alternate jingle "Warm season's greetings to you all from Menards!" sung by a female chorus beginning in 1986. The same year, the “Helping You Build America’s Heartland” jingle was made.[11]

The alternative long version of the jingle (played in stores only) is as follows:

You save big money, you save big money
When you shop Menards
Plumbing, electrical, appliances, too
The savings will always come right back to you
You'll save big money, you'll save big money
When you shop Menards!

Auto racing

Menards NASCAR display
Lighting department of a Menards in Gillette, Wyoming

Menards has supported several racing drivers, including Paul Menard, John Menard's son;[12] Robby Gordon; P. J. Jones;[13] Brandon Jones;[14] Matt Crafton;[15] Simon Pagenaud, and Ryan Blaney.[16] Menards has begun sponsoring Team Penske as of 2016.[17] Menards has also become the title sponsor of races in the Xfinity Series [18] and as the entitlement sponsor for the[19] ARCA Racing Series.[20]

Industry ranking

In 2016, Menard, Inc., was ranked 37th on Forbes’ list of "America's Largest Private Companies", with an estimated revenue of USD$8.7 billion.[1] In that same year, Menard was ranked 45th on the National Retail Federation's list of "100 Top Retailers".[21]

In 2018, Menards was ranked by J.D. Power as "highest in customer satisfaction among home improvement retail stores".[22]

Controversies

Menards has had more run-ins with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources than any other Wisconsin company. Since 1976 DNR officials have cited Menards at least 13 times for ignoring or violating state regulations related to air and water pollution and hazardous waste. In 1997 the company was fined $1.7 million after John Menard was caught using his own pickup truck to haul plastic bags filled with chromium and arsenic-laden wood ash to his own home for disposal along with his household trash. In 2003 the company labeled arsenic tainted mulch as "ideal for playgrounds and animal bedding". In 2005, Menards paid $2 million fine after Wisconsin DNR officials found a floor drain in a company shop that was used to dump paint, solvents, oil and other waste into a lagoon that fed into the Chippewa River.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Menard on the Forbes America's Largest Private Companies List". Forbes. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index - John Menard Jr". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  3. ^ "About Us at Menards". Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  4. ^ Carlyle, Erin (Dec 16, 2013). "Meet The Best Hardware Store In the Nation, And The Midwestern Billionaire Who Built It: John Menard Jr". Forbes. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  5. ^ "Menards is building centers in Iowa, Ohio instead of Eau Claire". La Crosse Tribune.
  6. ^ Doris Hajewski (April 13, 2007). "Got milk at Menards?". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  7. ^ "Menards for nails, tools, groceries?". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  8. ^ "THE MARKETING 100: MENARDS: JOHN MENARD". Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  9. ^ "Ditties for the decades". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  10. ^ "Seasoned Menards guy is hard to wear out". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 7, 2002. Archived from the original on September 4, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  11. ^ Kangas, Chaz (December 17, 2014). "The "Save Big Money at Menards" Jingle: A History". City Pages. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  12. ^ "Paul Menard - Richard Childress Racing". Richard Childress Racing. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  13. ^ "Sponsor Search Page". Racing Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Menards to Continue Partnership with RCR XFINITY Programs - Richard Childress Racing". Richard Childress Racing. January 22, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  15. ^ "Crafton, Menards extend ThorSport partnership". Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  16. ^ "Menards doubles sponsorship deal with Penske, Pagenaud for 2017". IndyCar.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  17. ^ DiZinno, Tony. "Menards to continue IndyCar sponsorship with Team Penske". NBC Sports. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  18. ^ "XFINITY Series race results for Menards 250 at Michigan". FOX Sports. June 11, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  19. ^ "ARCA and Menards Announce Partenership Expansion". ARCA Racing. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  20. ^ "NASCAR's Matt Crafton Enters May 15 Menards 200". ARCA Racing. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  21. ^ schickg@nrf.com (2016-06-30). "STORES Top Retailers 2016". National Retail Federation. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  22. ^ "2018 Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Survey". J.D. Power. 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  23. ^ Van de Kamp Nohl, Mary (October 27, 2016). "Big Money". milwaukeemag. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
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