Sell What You Know, and Know What You Sell

August 22, 2010

By Susan Derby

Its fairly rare that new stores grace the pages of the Made to Measure Dealer Profile section. Most of the profiles focus on dealers with a full generation of history or at least a decade in the business. Guardian Uniform and Supply, however, is an exception to that rule with just six months since its grand opening. But this store is unique in many other ways as well, and its differences are worth highlighting as it starts taking its toddler steps into the industry.

The primary difference between Guardian Uniform and Supply and other public safety uniform stores is the background of its owners. While many public safety uniform retailers have a background in the apparel industry, owners Scott Richard and Dave Goodrich have a history serving on the police force. With an excess 25 years of combined service, these guys have served with police departments, K-9 units, Military Police, EMT squads and even the Boy Scouts Police Explorer program.

We feel that our backgrounds in public safety give us a greater understanding of the uniforms and apparel that we represent, Richard says. We know what its like to stand in a rainstorm for eight hours while wearing a cheap raincoat or how much more likely you will be to wear your body armor if it is light and flexible. We are the only uniform store around that we know of where the owners and employees put the inventory to test on a regular basis.

Richard and Goodrich met first in high school. Goodrich, now 35 years old, became involved in the Police Explorer program in 1983 and went on to become an EMT and work for local police departments after college. He worked his way up to become the director of a regional ambulance service and has been recognized as EMT of the Year for his part in restoring a failing regional EMT system.

Richard, now 36 years old, served in the military in both the Airborne Infantry and the Military Police, and he and Goodrich met up again in an EMT class in 1991. Richard was hired on to the Springfield Police Department in 1996 as a patrol officer, moved to community policing and finally a K-9 unit. He has been recognized with a departmental commendation for bravery.

The need for a change of employment came after Richard was attacked during an arrest, injuring his knee. Once he realized the injury would end his career as an active officer, he and Goodrich started seriously discussing turning their casual conversations about the future into reality.

Richard says, Dave had wanted to open a uniform and supply business for years due to the lack of any other local competition. Most people involved in public safety had been asking for it for a while. We were looking at options of forming a small business, and the uniform store just seemed to be very apparent.

While the need for the store was very strong, it wasnt easy finding the right location in Massachusetts and getting the inventory. Finally an opportunity arose to move into a retail strip mall just a few miles from two major highways close to many police, fire and EMT departments and easy for those further away to find. The plaza only allowed one sign above the store, but with such a targeted customer base of police, fire, EMS and K-9 personnel, attracting foot traffic wasnt a major concern.

That helped clear the first hurdle, but an established local competitor had territorial rights to some of the major brands that Guardian Uniform and Supply wanted to carry. While Guardian Uniform is still working for the right to sell some brand names, others like Blauer, 5.11, Danner and SureFire have become top sellers.

A few months before the doors opened on Aug. 1, 2005, a website was in place (www.guardianuniform.com) to attract customers to the grand opening. Richard and Goodrich e-mailed friends and coworkers to introduce the site and invite them to the stores opening. They also met with department chiefs and officers to introduce themselves and leave business cards and flyers.

When people started hearing of our intentions to open a store, the interest was extraordinary. We started sending the links to friends and family who forwarded the site to hundreds more. Dave developed the site and has maintained it to date, says Richard. The site made the opening a little softer for us, as we already had a customer base waiting for us to open. The response was overwhelming. There were a lot of very positive comments that encouraged us.

Comments left on the site guest book date back to May 9, with people saying how they eagerly anticipated the stores opening and awaited great service from a store run by friendlies who know about the items they are selling. Since the stores opening, other comments emphasize how the Guardian Uniform philosophy is a breath of fresh air for many officers.

Once entry reads, Thank goodness for you. I no longer have to go to that other place and be treated [poorly], and your better prices are the frosting on the cake. You should have opened years ago, I could have saved a lot of money. Others mention how the service, knowledge and prices beat other stores and online sites every time. That again demonstrates how the distinct owners backgrounds are making a difference in the business.

The site has been a major way Guardian Uniform and Supply has spread the word of its existence. Goodrich and Richard still send out flyers and visit departments, but word of mouth has really taken over as the way to gain new customers. Richard says getting the word out has been one of the easier tasks involved with the stores opening.

In addition to owners Goodrich and Richard, who handle the daily management of the store, Guardian Uniform and Supply employs four other people. The computer support specialist is developing an online store that Richard expects will be available very soon. Since there are no plans to include catalog orders via Guardian, the e-commerce capability will be key for expanding sales. An inventory assistant helps the owners manage stock and shipments. One employee handles in-house custom tailoring, alterations and embroidery. Screen printing is also available. The last employee is a tactical gear specialist an armorer and instructor who helps in fitting new sights and grips, testing new products on the market, and offering training and advice.

The tactical specialist is a local police officer, Goodrich still works part-time for the sheriffs department and per diem as an EMT, and Richards paperwork to officially retire from the police department is in motion but not finalized. So half of the employees at Guardian are actually current emergency services personnel.

In addition to uniforms, gear, in-house alterations and custom orders, Guardian Uniform and Supply offers monthly specials and new product demonstrations, and its planning to run or sponsor K-9 classes, EMS continuing education classes, firearms training and other similar events. K-9 equipment is also a specialty of Guardian that other stores in the area dont carry, and products are available for handling before purchase, unlike online buying.

There are other stores in the area that carry the same or similar products, but we offer great prices and we bring with us a first-hand knowledge of most of the products. We can actually tell the customers which products work better and hold up better in actual situations, not just read the specifications off of the box, says Richard.

Opening Guardian hasnt been all easy though. Richard describes record-keeping as a learning experience for him and says he didnt anticipate the business growing so large so quickly. It has taken more time than either owner expected just to keep the day-to-day operations running smoothly, and the support of family was crucial in meeting the grand opening date.

Another challenge has been keeping enough stock on hand to outfit entire departments. While most sales are to individuals, departmental agreements are starting to materialize. Richard notes an ambulance service that requested Guardian to supply all uniform needs to its entire staff. Guardian agreed but struggled to outfit the 30-plus employees in the week it was given. Now stock has been adjusted in those items to have enough on hand for the still-growing ambulance service.

Richard and Goodrich have enjoyed the stores successes starting with the first sale a SureFire flashlight. Because of their long-term backgrounds in public safety, they have a unique approach to operating a uniform store. Whether customers seek police, fire, EMS or K-9 uniforms or supplies, Guardian Uniform and Supply can match the needs to the products best suited for actual use in the field.

The Guardian philosophy is that emergency services is as much a passion as it is a business, and that the respect for and safety of its customers trumps profits. Its a viewpoint that must be working well because sales are growing steadily, and happy customers are sending entire departments Guardians way. The growth already has them considering expanding or moving to a larger location.

Guardian Uniform and Supply
36 Robbins Rd.
Springfield, MA 01104
413-858-8880
fax: 413-858-8882
www.guardianuniform.com