Northwest Grocery was an early customer of Houston’s who distributed their product to local grocery stores that belonged to their co-op. They also owned and operated numerous Cash and Carry stores. Northwest Grocery later changed their name to United Grocers.
The Merchandising Division began in 1984 as a direct result of Relationship Selling. Greg Dann, who was the only outside sales person for Houston’s, was visiting a local Cash and Carry and asked both the Manager and Assistant Manager why a pallet of kitchen items had not been put on the shelves. Both said that they did not have the time and labor to get to it very often.
Relationship selling refers to the sales technique that focuses on the interaction between the buyer and the salesperson rather than the price or details of the product.
Greg talked in depth with them about that part of their business since Houston’s was not stocking any kitchen items at that time. A deal was struck that if Houston’s put the product on the shelves on a weekly basis we would gain not only the kitchen items but also add the janitorial, bar supplies, paper napkins and straw business.
Thus was the beginning of the Merchandising program.
Merchandising set at a Cash & Carry store in Springfield, Oregon (Image: Geoff Dann)
The URM Cash & Carry business came along a number of years later. A former Manager of a United Grocers store took the job as the URM Cash and Carry Division Manager. This covered all five stores that existed at that time. His previous relationship with Houston’s in the United Grocer’s Cash and Carry showed him what his stores could look like so he moved all of his business to Houston’s. A few years later they added one more store.
People buy from people they like.
The term Cash and Carry now applies to multiple customer groups. Cash and Carry stores are generally warehouse grocery stores geared toward supplying food service operators like restaurants, schools, and churches. It’s also open to the public and similar to Costco but without membership requirements.
Merchandising Division Manager, Bob Baldwin (Image: Andy Rubio)
Houston’s provides on-site employees to perform services such as store set-ups, place orders, stock product, and schedule returns. Product offerings vary depending on the customer and where they are located.
Bob Baldwin, Division Manager, has been with the Merchandising division since he started in April of 1993. His 24 years of service has seen the division grow from a handful of stores to locations in 11 states.
Bob notes that “As a whole, the merchandisers take pride in what we do. There have been merchandisers around for 10+ years. That says a lot for the program and a lot for the company.”
This last year brought changes to the division’s leadership with Geoff Dann stepping in as Director of Merchandising. Geoff is a 17 year veteran of Houston’s and brings with him the knowledge and experience of being out in the field and established business relationships with many of the customers.
“Everything is open to brand new development. There is always something evolving and when it does, it changes quickly”, per Geoff. In his new role, Geoff’s primary goal is to create a clean line of communication with his staff while setting protocols and developing monthly projects.
The division that initially started with 5 employees has grown to 6 territory managers, 3 leads, and 27 full/part-time merchandisers that cover a variety of Cash & Carry stores across the country.
An End Aisle Display in one of the many Houston’s Merchandising Accounts. (Image: Andy Rubio
Merchandising positions are intermittently available and the management team is always looking for hard-working, reliable staff. Check out Houston’s website to see if there is an open position available near you!
