INDIANAPOLIS - Jared Brown, director of business intelligence for the Aubuchon Company, was just named one of the independent home improvement industry’s 2024 Young Retailer of the Year honorees by the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA)!
The Young Retailer of the Year program, now in its 28th year, identifies and promotes the next generation of aspiring independent home improvement, paint and decorating retailers. It recognizes individual achievement by industry retailers age 35 and younger throughout the U.S. and Canada. Honorees are chosen based on a number of criteria, including professional milestones, community engagement, continuing hardware industry
education and extracurricular activities.
Sponsors of the 2024 Young Retailer of the Year program include: American Hardware and Lumber Insurance (AHLI), Arrow Fastener, Intertape Polymer Group (IPG), Midwest Fastener, Pony Jorgensen, PPG and The Wooster Brush Company.
“The Young Retailer of the Year program highlights the bright future of the independent channel,” says Scott Wright, executive director of advanced retail education programs for NHPA. “It is a privilege to recognize these outstanding young retailers who are making positive impacts in their operations and communities.”
In the last decade, Jared has dedicated his career to The Aubuchon Company's growth, which has grown nearly 69% in sales. He’s not only made a major impact on the growth of The Aubuchon Company, his exceptional contributions have set new standards in inventory and replenishment management, retail price optimization and margin management. His commitment to data governance, accuracy and integrity also address critical concerns facing many other organizations today.
During the pandemic, Jared developed a "flip flop" logic algorithm, a groundbreaking solution that offers deeper logic and responsive replenishment. This initiative was pivotal in ensuring that Aubuchon stores continued serving their communities with critically needed products despite global supply chain disruptions.
Now that Aubuchon has partnered with Ace Hardware, Jared’s collaboration on the modeling and his work on inventory and margin forecasting remains crucial. His involvement in visiting new store locations has ensured a smooth integration of best practices and standards. Currently, Jared is pioneering a third version of his algorithm to further optimize purchasing decisions, incorporating factors such as case pack, break pack fees and freight costs. His role in store acquisitions and leading a three-year inventory optimization project further demonstrates his comprehensive approach to retail management.
Even after achieving milestone after milestone, Jared has committed to growth and evolution through professional development. He completed NHPA’s Retail Management Certification Program, where he received the Marcus Moran Jr. Best in Class Award, which is named for a former leader of the Aubuchon Company. He has taken NHPA’s Foundations of Leadership course, and he engages in extensive networking, learning from and collaborating with industry experts to enhance retail operations and promotional ordering, among other areas. Recognizing the value of shared knowledge, Jared has initiated the establishment of an inventory best practices round table, inviting collaboration with other hardware retailers to foster industrywide improvements.
Jared's impact extends into the community and his leadership skills and commitment to community service are seen through his participation in the North Central Mass Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program. Through this program, Jared supported the Montachusett Opportunity Council with window insulation kits, directly benefiting local families and promoting energy efficiency. His efforts to maintain a strong partnership
between the Aubuchon Company and Habitat for Humanity ensure vital resources like code-compliant smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are available for housing projects.
Throughout his career, Jared has forged strategic partnerships and driven innovation within the independent hardware channel. Looking forward, his Retail Management Certificate Program project is set to significantly impact Aubuchon's growth strategy and aims to enhance profitability and operational efficiency as the company expands. Jared's vision for Aubuchon involves internal growth and the cultivation of industry standards and practices that will benefit the broader hardware retail community.
“As for this award, I'm extremely honored. To have peers my age who respect and admire me is extremely rewarding,” Jared says. “To have this peer recognition be echoed and acknowledged by others outside in the industry takes it to a whole new level. Even with eight plus years of experience with Aubuchon, I constantly feel like an outsider and the new guy, and this gives me some formal validation that I didn't know I needed. I feel like
I'm still growing and learning to produce results, and it's humbling to have people recognize my efforts.”
The 2024 Young Retailer of the Year honorees will be recognized in a ceremony at the 2024 Independent Home Improvement Conference in Marco Island, Florida, on Aug. 28. For more information on the Young Retailer of the Year awards program, honorees and more, visit YourNHPA.org/yroty.
About the North American Hardware and Paint Association
Founded in 1900 by a group of retailers, NHPA is a not-for-profit trade association whose mission is to help home improvement, paint and decorating outlets in the U.S. and Canada become better and more profitable retailers. Governed by a board of independent hardware and paint retailers, NHPA fulfills its mission by providing how-to management resources, product discovery, training programs and networking opportunities for the industry it serves. Learn more at YourNHPA.org.
About the Aubuchon Company
Founded by William E. Aubuchon, Sr in 1908, the Aubuchon Company is the oldest and largest family-owned hardware store chain in America. Now in its fourth generation, the purpose of the Aubuchon Company is “to serve those who depend on us and build on our heritage with passion and humility.” The Aubuchon Company operates 119 stores in 9 states, predominantly under the “Aubuchon Hardware” brand, but also including “Lyndonville Hardware & Lumber” in Lyndonville, VT, “Village Hardware” in Alexandria, VA, “True Value” in Bucks & Montgomery Counties, PA, “Cornell’s Hardware” in Eastchester, NY, “Martin’s Hardware & Building Supply” in Bristol, VT, “Campbell’s True Value” in Maine, “Zimmerman’s Hardware” in Burtonsville, MD, “J.B. Hostetter & Sons” in Mount Joy, PA, “Curry Ace Hardware” in Massachusetts, “Aubuchon Ace Hardware,” “Brunswick Ace Hardware” in Brunswick, MD, and more recently “Bibens Ace Hardware,” “Woodstock Home & Hardware,” & “Brown & Roberts” in Vermont. The company’s mission is to build up the strongest group of local hardware stores and brands nationwide. For more information about the Aubuchon Company, visit aubuchon.company. To shop online, visit hardwarestore.com.