For 72 years, the Rhode Island retail chain Apex has built a history of staying close to its customer's needs. Today, Apex offers Rhode Islanders its specialties of quality bedding, appliances, clothing, jewelry, tires and auto accessories at discount prices. On top of that, the company also strives to provide the fastest delivery and best maintenance service for everything it sells.
Andrew Gates, grandson of the chain's founder and CEO at Apex since 1992, is using some innovative ways to make sure he stays in touch with his customers. The process begins with knowing your customers and what they want, says Gates. The company has spent $500,000 working with focus groups of customers to find out what that is.
A need for delivery times that were convenient for customer, not the store, came up often in the focus groups. In response, Apex instituted an anytime delivery service that ranges from express one-hour delivery to evening or after work delivery to next day delivery--in other words, times that were best for the customer.
In response to another customer need, Apex initiated in-home or in-store repair service every item it sells. "We stand behind everything we sell. if you have a problem with a VCR at Apex, we service it. If you buy a snow blower at Apex, we service it," says Gates.
Another strategy Gates uses is to continuous tracking of customer purchases. A new computer system fixes the location of every item the company carries and tells what items are selling. "We have an instantaneous understanding of what the customer is buying and what the customer wants ... which allows us to serve the customer at a level we never could before," says Gates. The system also tracks locations of products, in case one store sells out of a product a customer at another store is interested in.
That system came in handy last Christmas when it showed that Apex customers were buying lots of men's heavy sweaters, even though sales of sweaters nationally were flat. Apex was able to load up its racks with seaters. Sales zoomed nearly 40 percent.
Apex has had to face tough competition in the last few years as some of the bigger retail chains moved into the area. But Gates says Apex is doing better than most of the national competitors, several of which declared bankruptcy in 1995. "We're taking market share from almost everyone," he says. "Our goal is to be number one in both Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts in retail."
Gates sees Apex's small size as a real advantage--it is what allows Apex to be nimble on its feet. "Unlike the bigger chains, we don't have to worry about trends nationwide. We can concentrate on our area and what sells here. We don't have to worry about what customers in Texas want," says Gates.
Coming from a management background Gates has built his employees into teams to deliver the most efficient customer service possible. The company has launched several programs for its 750 to 1,000 employees. "Ideashare" rewards employees whose suggestions lead to increased profits or efficiency. "Peak Performance" recognizes those who provide outstanding customer service. "Apex University" is a program where employees help train other employees.
"The core difference [in Apex] is the fact that we strive to be better in serving the customer, putting together the best team," says Gates.
Gates's grandfather, Albert Pilavin, had many of the same ideas about running a business. In 1924, when he was in his early '20s, Pilavin started a tire-retreading company on Westminster Street in the heart of Providence. He named his new company Apex Tire & Rubber Company because he liked the meaning of the word "apex" -- and coincidentally, his initials were A.P.
Business went well and by 1938 Pilavin had added a number of side lines to his tire business as his customers asked for them. In the summer of that year a hurricane struck Rhode Island and damaged his building on Westminster Street so badly that Pilavin decided to move his business to Central Avenue in Pawtucket.
Pilavin saw the advantage of separating his retail business from his retreading business and he used the space in the back of his building for a small store. The new retail business grew quickly and Pilavin added appliances to his inventory. The name changed to Apex Tire & Appliance.
Pilavin continued to add numerous categories of merchandise and built his new 25,000-square-foot department store on Central Avenue. It came to be known as Apex, Inc. The business was soon selling electronics, housewares, domestics, jewelry, sporting goods, and clothing, in addition to its appliances and tire service.
In the mid-1960s, another Apex store was built in Warwick, and, in the early 1980s, a third was built in nearby Swansea, Mass. Apex also has two tire and service centers, one in Pawtucket and one in Warwick, bringing the Apex chain of today to a total of five stores.
The company has been challenged by some national competition in recent years. But so far Gates's strategy has paid off. Apex has shown that, as a local company, it can compete well against national competition by combining a long tradition of quality, value and service with technology and innovative entrepreneurship.
