I have been working in the paint industry all my life. In high school, I began painting through a friend whose father owned a union painting shop. Later, I worked in retail at both Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore stores while also taking on occasional painting jobs. Afterward, I became a union estimator and project manager. During my time as an estimator, I realized I missed working in retail. I enjoyed the fact that, in retail, my goal was always aligned with the customer's: to provide them with the best paint for their project.
I started reaching out to my old contacts, and Steve Hochwert, the owner of Skokie Paint, was one of them. Skokie Paint, named after the town of Skokie in Illinois, had been a well-established business for many years, but Steve was ready to retire. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to return to retail. We met for breakfast, and I made my interest in acquiring his store clear.
The arrangement we came to was ideal: I would work at Skokie Paint, with my pay going toward the purchase of the business. This was a great setup because I was able to learn the ins and outs of the business while also building the financial foundation necessary for the acquisition. On January 1, 2022, we completed the transaction, and I officially became the owner of Skokie Paint.
One of the first changes I knew I wanted to make was upgrading our point-of-sale system. We were operating on a 13-year-old system with very poor search functionality. Finding previous transactions was so difficult that we had to rely on a manual system. We kept folders for many of our customers in a filing cabinet, in addition to the point-of-sale system. Then, when customers returned, we would find their folder and search through papers for several minutes to locate their information. It was stressful to have a line of customers waiting while I searched for their details like it was decades ago. I knew this was costing us business.
When the fall season approached, I decided to make the full switch to a new system, and it has been fantastic. First of all, the search engine is incredible. More and more, the paint store is taking on the responsibility of keeping records for its customers, and offering excellent record-keeping has helped build customer loyalty. When working with a customer, I can instantly find their sales history. As I type, the system filters their transactions in real-time, which makes my lines move faster and boosts customers' confidence in my service. It’s clear that this new system is far superior to the old one. The automatic emailing of receipts and statements has also made many of our commercial accounts much happier, and it has saved us a great deal of time.
With my technology in place, I’m now focused on finding more ways to grow my business. I’m still early in my career, and my goal is to expand the business further. Recently, I hired an incredible employee who has taken a significant portion of the daily operations off my plate, freeing me up to focus on growing the business rather than just managing it.
I’m excited about all the possibilities for the future growth of Skokie Paint.
