Ideal Computer Systems announces the latest success of one of its customers – Rylee’s Ace Hardware store chain.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 5, 2018 – Ideal Computer Systems, a leading North American dealership software vendor, is happy to announce the success of yet another prolific customer – Rylee’s Ace Hardware.
Using the Ideal software, the store chain was able to increase the annual revenue of its small outdoor power equipment “fix-it” shop by 40% in just one year.
Rylee’s Ace Hardware started out in 1946, when John Rysdyk Sr. and Ed Leedy purchased a small hardware store called Firliks in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The “Rylee’s” part of the name is a combination of Rysdyk Sr. and Leedy’s names, while the “Ace Hardware” part comes from the Ace Hardware Corporation, a buying group started in 1924 by four independent Chicago Area retailers.
Todd and Lori Terpstra, the current owners, got involved with Rylee’s Ace in 2000, when they purchased the store in Michigan from their parents, John and Grace Rysdyk – in addition to the store they already owned. They’ve since expanded across three locations – plus the aforementioned power equipment shop.
Due to the focus on hardware sales, the equipment shop was never a huge part of the business. However, once more and more of the power equipment sold in the stores began to come back to the shop in the form of repairs, maintenance and tune-ups, she quickly realized that the shop had to become more effective at everything it does.
“We learned that there were a lot of areas we weren’t tracking or updating regularly, such as margins on parts, price lists, mechanics’ output and so on,” said Terpstra. “So, with Ideal, I was able to see where exactly we were losing money and fix the problem.”
To learn more about how Lori Terpstra used Ideal to drive change at her equipment shop, check out Ideal’s in-depth interview with her here.
About Ideal Computer Systems
Many dealers struggle to manage their dealership having to use multiple systems and often duplicating the data. Ideal gives dealers all the tools they need to manage each aspect of their business in one, easy-to-use software – backed up by 30+ years of industry experience.
With an all-in-one software, dealers are able to automate processes, gain control of their dealership and have peace of mind.