By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Forty-five years ago the Ben Franklin’s store opened its doors in the former Woolworth’s on South Main Street. Now city residents are on first name basis with what’s now simply Ben’s.
A year ago, the shop as shuttered as the pandemic and uncertainty set in.
A year after that time, owner Floyd Craft recalled the closing was actually due to a notice from UPS going to an outdated email address. As a UPS shipping outlet, the store was allowed to stay open.
Not that Craft was sitting on his hands during those four weeks. Ace Hardware, which he also owns, was open. And as demand for fabric for masks exploded, he was filling orders from the Busy Thimble, another Craft-owned business, through the hardware store. Because of his connections with distributors, he was able to get a supply of elastic, which was in very short supply.
The store drew business from as far away as Cincinnati
He also moved in-demand puzzles to the hardware store as well as Easter candy, sold at half price, and some toys.
He answered the numbers for all the stores on his phone, and it was ringing constantly. Craft admits that was a little stressful.
Once Craft realized the mistake, the doors of Ben’s were opened again, but only during the day, and customers returned.
Looking back over the year, he finds “business has been about normal.”
The reduction in hours meant a reduction in the cost of doing business.
“We’re profitable,” Craft said. “Not a big amount, but under the circumstances we’re tickled pink.”
This wasn’t close to being the most stressful time. The early years of were the most stressful, he said.
Craft had worked for W.T. Grant for 20 years, becoming a district manager. Covering large territories, he spent a lot of time on the road and flying. That grew tiresome as his family grew.
In 1976, Grant declared bankruptcy. Craft, then 39, remembers leaving the meeting in Chicago and telling his fellow district managers that he was gone. He called Ben Franklin the next day.
A new franchise in Bowling Green was open. Craft knew the town from his days on the road, including helping to open a store in Fremont. He was attracted to BG because it was a university town. Bowling Green State University would provide a stability that the automotive industry didn’t in many of the other towns he’d worked in. And he was right about that. All three of his daughters ended up graduating from BGSU.
He was confident he could run the store and envisioned opening others. The last time he’d managed a store, it was a much larger store, about the size of the first Wal-Mart that would come to Bowling Green, he recalled.
What he didn’t figured on was then he had an operations manager and a merchandise manager and 10 assistants. In Bowling Green, he had his wife, Charlotte, and three daughters, Leisa, Kathy, and Amy. The oldest, Leisa, was in seventh grade. They all worked to help set up shop. As an assistant Craft hired a woman he knew from Grant.
The family’s income was reduced by 75 percent. They lived frugally. No new cars for them.
“We literally put everything into the business,” he said, “so all our finances were tied up in the business.”
The store was considered a five-and-dime store that sold clothing, jewelry, housewares and every day sundries. After six months, they’d made their budget for expenses and revenue, and “we were losing money like crazy.”
Craft went and spoke to the regional manager. His suggestion was Craft had to buy more of his merchandise from Ben Franklin. Craft, though, knew that was the problem.
In the 1970s, many Ben Franklin stores had a lock on their small town markets. But major players were now moving into smaller markets. A Kmart opened in Bowling Green six months after Craft opened Ben’s.
Rink’s Bargain was selling merchandise to customers for the price Craft was paying the parent company.
Using his knowledge from his years with Grant, Craft sought out other wholesalers.
He turned the business around. In a decade, he’d paid off the loans used to open the store. “We paid it off, and never reborrowed,” he said.
Instead of opening other Ben Franklin stores, he opted to expand in town with a hardware store, now Ace, the Busy Thimble extension of Ben’s, and For Keeps, a gift shop owned by his youngest daughter, Amy Craft Ahrens.
Over the years, product lines have shifted with customer demand. Now Ben’s features a candy shop, custom framing, a large toy department, crafts, party supplies, and a large card selection.
Big box stores came and sometimes went. The Kmart and Rink’s are gone; Ben’s is at 154 S. Main St. The Franklin name was erased three years ago when Craft decided the name, which was his only tie to the company, wasn’t worth paying for anymore. Most people already referred to the store as Ben’s.
Life for a small retailer is a challenge. The wholesalers he relied on have dwindled to two as the large-scale companies buy directly from manufacturers. But a store like Ben’s with its variety of product lines from candy to toiletries to office supplies, toys and more, usually doesn’t need such large volume.
The cost of shipping can add as much as 30 percent to the cost of merchandise.
Inflation is Craft’s number one concern right now.
Craft expects Ben’s will open in the evening soon. “We’re waiting to see when all the restaurants get open to see if business picks up.”
Still for the all uncertainty, Craft said he remains confident. “I never felt like I’d never be successful and I never really thought about it until fairly recently,” he said. “There was no choice. You were either successful or you were in the poor house. I think that’s true of so many independent business people. … Once you make that commitment, you’ve just got to do it. That’s all.”
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Ben’s celebrates
Ben’s, in downtown Bowling Green, will be celebrating 45 years in business from April 17 to April 24. Each day Ben’s will be offering 45 percent off on a different category of products. Details for each day’s special offers can be found on Ben’s website at www.bensbg.com the evening before. Every purchasing customer can also enter to win a gift card valued at $45 each day of the celebration and all entries will then be entered to win $150 in Downtown Dollars to be drawn on the Monday after the event ends. (Downtown Dollars can be redeemed at most businesses in downtown Bowling Green.) Ben’s will be giving away free balloons to children, as well.
