By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
For half a century, Floyd Craft has been catering to the eclectic needs of Bowling Green area customers.
Where else can shoppers find shoe polish, tiddlywinks, office supplies and small American flags all in one old-school variety store?
The downtown Ben’s store has defied the odds and survived 11 big box stores that have come and gone, outliving stores like Kmart, Hobby Lobby, Rinks, Bargain City and Ames.
This week marks 50 years of Ben’s in Bowling Green, with celebrations planned: https://bgindependentmedia.org/bens-to-mark-50-years-in-business-with-week-long-celebration/
In the family
After 70 years in retail, Craft knows how to read customers’ needs, and ride the waves of consumer trends. His daughter, Amy Craft Ahrens, grew up working at Ben’s, and now divides her time between her store – For Keeps – and Ben’s. She has taken over many of the roles previously held by her dad, and those tasks once assigned to her mom, Charlotte, who passed away in 2023.
The father-daughter team sees eye-to-eye on business. Both are willing to take a chance on a new trend – like the current demand for Squishies for kids, and the previous fad of fidget spinners. And they both are committed to providing the staples that customers have relied on for decades – like shampoo, aspirin, greeting cards and candy.
While they share a business philosophy, the duo diverges in a couple areas. Craft Ahrens is not quite as frugal as her father, and they are miles apart politically.
“We try not to talk about it in the office,” she said with a smile.
Ben’s – which began as Ben Franklin’s – has always been a family business in the true sense of the term. Craft came to Bowling Green in 1976 when the W.T. Grant chain he worked for went bankrupt. Floyd and Charlotte brought their three young daughters to Bowling Green to check out a business prospect – and fell in love with the community.
All the girls worked at the store, with Amy handling checkouts at age 12. “I could barely see the cash register,” she said.
Later she advanced to the candy counter. “I gained 15 pounds that year,” Craft Ahrens said.
“I never thought in a million years that I would be in retail,” she said.
Now, from the elevated office at the back of Ben’s, the father-daughter have a bird’s-eye view of the store floor, as they contemplate how to meet the ongoing and changing needs of their customers.
“It’s a day-to-day discussion on everything,” Craft said.
“We want to have what customers need,” Craft Ahrens said, even if it means stocking up on items like shaving cream that shoppers have come to count on, even though Ben’s can’t sell it at a profit. “You have to listen to your customers.”
Riding retail trends
When Craft first opened Ben Franklin’s, the store catered to the crafting desires of Bowling Green area customers. That merchandise brought in a healthy middle-aged customer base. To broaden that base, Craft expanded the toy selections – which attracted young people and their grandparents.
Craft recalled some of the early big sellers, including Daniel Boone “coonskin” caps and hula hoops. The popular hula hoops were hard to come by from suppliers, so Craft worked with a plastic hose company and using dow rods made his own hoops to sell.
“You do what you have to do,” he said.
The biggest toy trend came later, with the Beanie Baby craze. Each shipment of the stuffed beanies would result in sales of $20,000 to $25,000 in a day. Nothing has compared to that feeding frenzy, Craft said.
Ben’s has benefited from its nimbleness, Craft said. Unlike big box stores, which must make major investments to stock trends which may or may not catch on, Craft can test the waters with new trends with a small investment.
“We could always be ahead of the big boxes,” taking chances on new items, he said.
Craft, who used to travel to a dozen or so markets a year to check out products, said he still enjoys the thrill of buying merchandise.
“I love to find vendors and watch to see if stuff sells,” he said. “You have to work at the buying part as much as the selling.”
And when new “weird trends” come along, “you ride them as long as you can,” Craft Ahrens said. Like her dad, “I’ll take the chance on new stuff.”
Unlike big box competitors, Ben’s can also offer greater variety of some merchandise. For example, while Walmart may sell 10 colors of yarn, Ben’s stocks 30 colors in its Busy Thimble annex.
Ben’s bounces back
When the giant craft store Hobby Lobby came to town, Ben’s cut back on craft merchandise and put more emphasis on toys.
After Hobby Lobby’s closure, Ben’s didn’t fully rebound on craft sales, but still continues to carry several items to serve customers, Craft said.
“When a new store opens, we get a little downturn,” he said. But with savvy merchandise choices, Ben’s manages to bounce back.
Ben’s continues to cater to curious and creative children with a wide variety of toys, many of them old school like kites, farm tractors, magic tricks, yoyos, etch-a-sketch, barrels of monkeys, rubbery snakes and plastic farm animals.
Many of the toys encourage exploration – like the Bill Nye science kits, slime, models, dinosaurs and white lab coats. For the musical and theatrical kids, there are maracas, slide whistles, kazoos and puppets.
Other shoppers come to Ben’s for other “staples,” such as custom-framed art, classic candies, and helium balloons – which the store was able to continue selling during the helium shortage – and other party supplies like streamers and pinatas.
For cooks and bakers, there’s still a section with canning supplies, spices, potholders and cookie cutters. For searchers of seasonal decor, there are leftovers from Easter and preparations for Memorial Day with floral grave arrangements, patriotic fingernails and small American flags.
Tough times in retail
Over the last 50 years, the Crafts have survived other tough times brought about by economic downturns and the pandemic. Craft’s frugal nature no doubt aided in the store’s recovery.
“Once we got through the first 10 years,” the family had no debt on the store, he said.
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Craft Ahrens signed the loan papers for For Keeps in 2008 – the same week the market tanked. She figured out how to get through that period, and is stronger because of it, she said.
Then in 2020, Covid hit and shoppers stayed home. Craft saved wherever possible, and wouldn’t even turn the lights on in Ben’s to save on the electric bill.
The Ace Hardware store, also owned by the Crafts at that time, remained open since customers still needed that type of merchandise. And Craft recalled taking cloth from Ben’s down to Ace, so people could make their own masks.
Now, social media has added help and headaches for retailers, as they meet the challenges of online marketing and anonymous complaints.
Craft has no interest in engaging in social media with customers, and leaves this in his daughter’s hands.
“She does a good job marketing,” he said. “You have to keep reminding people so they keep coming back.”
Through it all, Ben’s has benefited from the long-time employees that have stayed with the store. Among the 15 employees, Tamy Ramey has worked there 43 years, Brenda Bechstein for 32 years, Tim Bean for 28 years, and Suzanne Whittaker for 16 years.
Steady flow of customers
Kids come in after school. College students bring in their parents. And townies drop by regularly to stock up on items they know Ben’s will have on the shelves.
“We see the same people two or three times a week,” Craft said.
During a recent afternoon at Ben’s, a variety of shoppers were strolling in the aisles. As 13-year-old Solana Hernandez found a graphite blender for her artwork, she also checked out the new “squishies.” After collecting fidget spinners from Ben’s in the past, she has now moved on to the squishy trend.
Her mom, Lisa Hernandez, of Bowling Green, spent some time looking in the baking aisle.
“They have a lot here,” she said of the variety of merchandise.
Elsewhere in the store were BGSU graduates John Spanjers and Olivia Thornton, checking out the shelves.
“It’s pretty cool,” Spanjers said. “You can find a little bit of everything here.”
In the toy section, A.J. Wilde, of Bowling Green, was keeping track of his inquisitive children.
“Ben’s toys are so interactive,” he said, noting the quality of the merchandise. “They last – better than the big box toys.”
Wilde’s 7-year-old daughter was checking out music and craft items, while his 4-year-old son was searching in the magic section. “He’s all about making potions,” his dad said.
And as a little treat for himself, Wilde said he might stop by the candy counter to get himself some Boston Baked Beans.
“Without Ben’s, downtown would be boring,” he said.
