Home Hardware has found their new manager.
The largest retail outlet in Golden, carrying a staff of 28 people, has hired Brad Tataryn to help lead their team.
“It seemed to be a great opportunity, a little more in line with what I was doing before I moved to Golden,” said Tataryn, who has been in the new position for two weeks now.
“This opportunity just kind of jumped out at me, and it was not only a chance to get back in home improvement, but back into something I was more accustomed to and something that has a great future in it.”
Tataryn and his family moved to Golden just over a year ago from Saskatoon, seeking a different lifestyle.
“We basically took a look at our lives and what we were doing, constantly trying to get out of town on the weekends and it never happening because of my workload. We decided we wanted a better lifestyle, instead of trying to escape every weekend and failing. So we opened up Google Maps, and decided where we wanted to go. We started touring around, and we chose Golden. We’re very happy with that decision, wouldn’t change a thing,” he said.
Retail has been the focus for most of Tataryn’s career. He has worked with Home Depot, Loblaw, and most recently Sobey’s in Golden.
“I like the fast pace of retail in general. I like being able to take a customer’s project or problem and see it from beginning to end and work with them through that,” said Tataryn.
Home Hardware, owned by Doug and Susan Birnie, has been in Golden since 1959 when Doug’s parents opened it. Although part of a network of stores, Home Hardware does not belong to a typical franchise.
“It’s not a franchise, it’s a buying group. Most stores are individually owned by locals. There are some parameters that Home Hardware requires we follow, but the rest is up to the individual owners,” said Susan.
This allows owners to tailor their stores to the individual community’s needs.
“Doug and I are both very excited to have Brad on board. Speaking with most of the staff, they are very excited that he’s here as well. It’s always nice to have fresh eyes and fresh ideas, and we’re hoping that in the economy that Golden is facing right now we are still able to overcome our challenges and put some of his ideas to work and make some changes for the better,” said Susan.
Customer service and community involvement have always been priorities for the Birnies, and Tataryn hopes to continue and grow that tradition.
“I want to work with the Birnies and their vision, and work with the community to see what we can improve on,” he said. “Every customer is important, and by offering the best customer service possible and showing the customers that we do care, hopefully everyone will walk out of the store with a positive experience.”
“Getting customer feedback is very important to us. If we don’t know what the customer is missing out on, or if there is something we’re not providing then we can’t rectify the situation,” said Susan.
The transition to Home Hardware has been a very smooth one for Tataryn, and he is very grateful to the Birnies and the entire Home Hardware family for making him feel welcome.
“It’s not often, in the companies that I’ve worked for, that I can get feeling so comfortable and situated this quickly. Everybody has been very welcoming.”
