Franklin’s Hardware has been a Woodland Hills institution since 1952. Chip Kurzeka has been part of that tradition since 1982 when he bought the business from his father. With new Home Depot and Orchard Supply stores moving into his territory over the last couple of years, competition has been fierce for the Ventura Boulevard store. But Kurzeka survives by paying close attention to his affluent customers and catering to their demand for specialty products and services. Contributing reporter Christopher Woodard talked to Kurzeka about the challenges of running a mom-and-pop operation in a highly competitive market. “My dad bought the store in 1969. It was pretty much a general store in a sense. There were greeting cards and sporting goods and about half the store was housewares. As a kid growing up, I’d help my dad run his store, and going into the family business just seemed like a natural after I finished college. “My biggest challenge starting out was learning how to buy and how to price merchandise. One of the most important things I learned was where to find merchandise to take care of customers. “My biggest challenge today is making a profit. Rents are expensive, workman’s comp has gone through the roof and we pay a lot of business taxes. It’s real difficult. We lost a portion of our business (when Home Depot and Orchard Supply moved into the area a couple of years ago). I had to cut back my staff by a couple of people, but now we’re starting to grow again. “We’re able to compete because we have a very high service level. When a customer comes in, they get someone to greet them and say hello. Customers get someone to show them where merchandise is and, if we don’t have something, they don’t get a flat, ‘No, we don’t have it.’ We’ll see if we can find it for them. “We serve an affluent community. Our customer demands can be great, but we try to live up to that. We sell specialty fixtures. We do a lot of service work: screens, re-key locks, cut window glass. We do a lot of those types of things that people are willing to pay for. We try to carry quality, higher-end merchandise, not a lot of imported stuff. It allows you to get the price up and also the margins. “We try to do what we do the best that we can, and we’re always looking for new niches. We’re looking at putting in a UPS shipping station to attract more customers. Our biggest advantage is that we can adapt and change quickly. Our hands are not tied by a corporate structure.”