Helpful Hardware Heroes: Eric Rantala

The Northern Lakes True Value would like you to meet, Eric Rantala.  Eric is a life-long resident of Hayward Wisconsin, and 2001 graduate of the Hayward High School.  

Eric is a friendly-face you'll see around the Northern Lakes True Value on any given day.  Eric takes care of a lot of the daily operations, and mostly addressing customer questions as it relates to a particular DIY project or specific product information.  Eric is a real product knowledge expert and prides himself on having the ability to answer questions and help customers get the answers they need quickly and efficiently.  

Despite having Cerebral Palsy, Eric doesn't let that slow him down or take any steps back, he gives everything he has to his community and the Northern Lakes True Value.  

Eric has been with the Northern Lakes co-op for 24 years. All 24 years have been with the hardware store.  Eric sites, "The store is growing every day, we're bringing in new products almost weekly, and we're adding on to the store."  Eric mentions the store is expanding the infrastructure and footprint of the building to bring in more products  The hardware store has transformed a total of three times. Hardware Hank, Do-It-Best and now True Value.  

The Northern Lakes True Value has approximately 20 employees and duties range from floor clerks, cashier's, product experts, stocking and inventory, to customer satisfaction and sales.  

Eric's Typical Work Day

Eric likes to arrive early for his work day and see if there are any notes from the night before, so he can deal with customer questions immediately.  Immediately after, Eric likes to walk the floor and make sure everyone is okay and if they need help, he'll help is team members. 

Then, Eric likes to check with Management to see about the daily plan. Once the daily planning session is complete, Erics loves helping customers the rest of the day, where he sees anywhere between 50-60 customers on the floor.  Eric has customers walking in to look for him specifically and his expertise, not to mention Eric also gets phone calls as well asking for advice or pointers.   Any given day, he interacts with nearly 100 customers.  

What Sets True Value Apart

Eric states, "What sets us apart from our competitors, if that you can walk in, find anyone on the floor and they can answer any questions, and solve any issues."  This embodies the true meaning of a hometown hardware store.  Eric states, "It isn't common you can walk into a big box store and talk to a manager.  We know most of our customers by name, know their family and they're our neighbors."  

About Eric

Eric graduated from the Hayward High School in 2001, which is also the same year he started working with the hardware store when it was Hardware Hank.  In 2008, Eric graduated from WITC with an Associate's Degree in Supervisory Management.  

Eric, having started working for Hardware Hank and is now Team Leader for Northern Lakes True Value. Eric's family has been shopping with the Northern Lakes Coop since he was a kid, as he grew up he fell into the opportunity to be an employee, and hasn't looked back. Eric plans on staying with Northern Lakes True Value until he retires.