Steal This Idea: Start Selling at the Front Door

The showroom at Speonk (N.Y.) Lumber isn’t big and can’t get any bigger due to zoning restrictions, so Speonk has to make every inch count. It did that last winter by installing a new entrance door that’s meant as much to sell commercial doors for the lumberyard as it is to keep out the weather. “Every customer who visits our store passes through that door and gets a real hands-on look at it,” Speonk marketing director Grant Werner says. “It’s 2-1/4 inches thick and has a nice heft to it. We did a mahogany interior for extra durability.” Because of its double use, Marvin Windows and Doors (through its distributor, Super Enterprises of Melville, N.Y.) priced it as an in-store display, and co-op funds cut the price further. “It’s a nice conversation-starter with customers,” Werner says.