Happy Holidays from Austin Hardware!
Wow, 2023 was quite a year. Thankfully, our employee teams rallied yet again and delivered for our customers and supply partners when it mattered most. We are well over a year past the worst of the pandemic, but it hasn’t gotten any easier to operate or perform. Our employees feel pressure from all sides, our vendors still have isolated challenges to work through, and our customers are trying to catch up with demand.
Austin Hardware is in the middle of most of these scenarios, and we are striving to support, meet, and, where possible, exceed expectations. Thankfully, despite the challenges, we are executing well. We have more inventory now than ever in our history, our fill rates improve annually, we have exceeded our sales plan, and we have worked with our supply partners to stabilize costs for our customers.
For 2024, it looks like more of the same. We are forecasting growth driven by demand for new products and increasing build rates that will undoubtedly bring challenges to be solved. We are confident that our employees and supply partners will work proactively to supply our products on time. When challenges present themselves, our tenured, knowledgeable employee teams will find a way to deliver an acceptable solution.
We understand and value the importance of our employees, our customers, and our supply partners. As we wrap up 2023 and look forward to 2024, we are very thankful for the opportunity to support our employees, serve our customers, and promote our supply partners.
Best wishes to all. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Bill Stambaugh
President of Austin Hardware®