Dr. Ike’s has put a lot of effort into the company’s brand identity. If there is a community event happening in Laredo or Zapata, it is likely that Dr. Ike’s is there to serve them fresh popcorn. The company operates a concession trailer that is in demand for numerous local festivals and events.
“We’re known for our popcorn,” Clay said. “Our biggest complaint is when we’re out of popcorn. We have fresh popcorn available from 7:30 in the morning to 7:00 at night. We have coffee and popcorn the minute the store is open.” One of the Dr. Ike’s locations is just around the corner from a middle school and “every day around 3:30 we have a swarm of kids passing through to pick up a bag of fresh popcorn,” Clay said. Those kids who have passed through the store over the years for popcorn have grown into faithful customers of Dr. Ike’s Home Centers.
Looking to the Future
Clay does have concerns about the future of the industry, however. A main concern is vendor consolidation.
“Companies may be owned by private equity and they take six or eight nameplates,” he said. “But they’re all the same company, with the same products. They sell to independents, the big boxes and wholesale suppliers. Yet, if some of what they have available to big boxes isn’t available to the independents, that puts independents at a disadvantage to complete the whole sale.”
Another concern is keeping up with the big box e-commerce business. Independents as a whole, Clay said, are behind the curve on selling products electronically. A “sooner rather than later” focus for Dr. Ike’s is boosting the company’s online presence, offering an updated, mobile-friendly website. There’s also what Clay refers to as a “service paradox.”
The resources between what a small independent chain of three stores and a big box store have are quite different. At a big box store, often times customers provide their own service.
“Someone goes to a big box store, once you as a customer find that screwdriver you’re looking for, then you have the best person taking care of you—which is you. For independents, we provide the service,” Clay said. “At the big box there is very little service expectation.”
At an independent store, the service is expected from the top down. For instance, Clay said, a customer with a question or request or something that a customer is not pleased about, they’ll ask to talk to Ike.
“We are a multi-generational community of associates and customers. At Dr. Ike’s we pride ourselves with providing great service, and that service has come to be expected. A regular customer coming in nine out of 10 times, who we greet by name, offer coffee, and ask how they’re doing. But the one time we don’t, people will say ‘you don’t appreciate my business.’ ”