Page 28 - HW October 2020 NEW

FINALISTS
This award recognises a truly outstanding, established retailer or builders’ merchant. Entrants will be owners, managers or JV partners of a hardware store or builders’ supply merchant.
RETAILER
OF THE YEAR
Clifford Buchler
MITRE 10 MEGAS TE RAPA & RUAKURA
Clifford has 30 years’ retail expertise across varied business models. Another whose growing bottom line belies the recent
difficult times, his leadership style is all about involvement and communication. Owner Terry Wilson says of his CEO: “From day one Clifford focused on the human element” and ensuring the operation had “the right people in the right positions” and this ultimately set the Hamilton operation in good stead as Clifford took time out last year for major surgery, the Te Rapa store having just finished a major relay... Thanks to his “remarkable” team, both stores performed in the co-op’s top 10 through lockdown.
Neil Finn-House
MITRE 10 MEGA DUNEDIN & MITRE 10 MOSGIEL
Neil is Group CEO of Jack’s Hardware & Timber and a previous Finalist. Jack’s owner Martin Dippie says Neil has taken the business to a “significantly higher level” over the last almost 7 years. Indeed, the high achieving Dunedin MEGA is Mitre 10’s national #2 for trade, not
to mention one of the co-op’s largest retail offerings, which is no mean feat among these proverbial high achievers. Neil says the stores emerged better than intact from the “brutal” lockdown, thanks to his “tenacious and relentless” and “deep and talented” teams, care for whose wellbeing was rewarded as they “punched through the crisis”.
Joe Reece
PLACEMAKERS WHITIANGA
Having started out in PlaceMakers’ Invercargill timber yard back in 1987, previous Finalist Joe has been Branch Operator at Whitianga since 2012. Joe is big on personal development, allowing his team enough freedom to innovate as well as encouraging personal growth and development (as shown by our 2018 Young Retailer of the Year Olivia Kathan). Joe also has a track record of exploring non-traditional lines and ways of operating. Last year’s sales may have been difficult, but his bottom line grew, thanks to a policy of pre-qualifying projects and competitive, but not cheapest, pricing which has led to margin gains.
viii