Adaptability = Profitability: Muller True Value celebrates 45 years

In 1972, one simply did not walk into a feed mill wearing a business suit.

“Dad saw an ad in a magazine for True Value locations,” tells Keith Muller of his father, Gervase “Bub” Muller, “So, he filled it out and sent it in…About 8 weeks later, this guy comes in with a suit on. And Dad thought, “Who the hell is that guy?” Because nobody came into the feed mill in a suit!”

The “guy” was a representative from True Value, the fast-growing hardware chain to which Bub had inquired. After introductions, Bub placed a phone call to his wife, Clara.

“Mom had to fix some kind of a meal, and they talked,” continues Keith, “And they joined [True Value] that day. They signed the papers.”

“This is 45 years that we’ve been in business with the co-op,” adds Keith’s grandson, Cody Goeppner.

Current family members are seated in the round in the back of their store, Muller True Value Hardware, 1855 Main Street. Keith sits beside his wife, Patty, who is relaxed and leaning back, listening intently — smiling, correcting, at times nodding in agreement; across from them sits their daughter, Deanna, the polished, well-spoken owner of Muller True Value Hardware; Deanna’s son, Cody (tall, friendly and forthright) comes and goes during the conversation, unable to keep himself from assisting customers who wander by.

The Muller family has been in business in Ferdinand since 1842, when Peter Mueller, Sr. (the extra ‘e’ would later be dropped) purchased a horse-powered mill. Eventually, the Muller Milling Company would be located on 5th Street, next to Vaal’s Furniture and Appliance. (The building would be lost to fire in the late 70s.)

In 1973, Keith began helping his mother, Clara, with the store on 5th Street. What had once been a flour mill had transitioned into feed. Bub had already begun to offer farm supplies, animal health products and lawn and garden materials before signing with True Value.

Keith and his brother Jerry remodeled the mill. “There was an overhang out in front,” tells Keith, “We tore that off. Painted it up. We did what we could do to make it look a little more like a hardware store.”

In 1977, the family moved their storefront to the north end of Ferdinand. Muller True Value Hardware has operated there ever since.

“It was hard,” remarks Keith on the first few years working with his parents. “When you got a difference in generation, you got different thinking.”

“I honestly don’t think that will ever change,” nods Deanna, “That generational difference — I think that just makes it more challenging to do business and to stay in business…I even have some of the old-timers come in and tell me some of the things that grandpa did. Like if a man needed to have a pig — he wanted to start a farm. Grandpa would say, ‘I can help you get a pig, but what are you going to do for me?’ And this guy would go down to the mill every Saturday and help grandpa clean up and take stuff off the truck for him. That was a kind of payment back and forth…A way of bartering.”

“When it came to the hardware store, that had to stop,” remembers Keith, “You couldn’t afford to do that. We were trying to get started. That was very hard for mom to tell people…But, I just insisted. It was very hard for people in town to accept…But then, as credit cards started catching on — that took care of that. It was just automatic then — check, cash, or credit card.”

The Mullers, like the generations before them, remained adaptable in business, as the late 20th century presented its own set of challenges. Almost half of the Muller’s store was housewares and accessories. When large conglomerates (Walmart, etc.) began to emerge, the business suffered by hundreds of thousands of dollars

“When they first opened, it was True Value Hardware, but it was kind of in line with a convenience store,” explains Goeppner, “They had housewares; they had toys for kids.”

“We really had to change our attitude and our focus in the marketplace in how we did business,” tells Deanna, “And it was scary…I had to get smarter on how I hired. I had to come up with another strategy on how we were actually going to run this thing! I found out that I was going to need to hire a manager really quickly to help me with the employees, and we were going to have to train them better than we had in the past.”

As the 21st century advanced, the Mullers modified business accordingly, keeping their focus on local needs and interests. Recently, Goeppner added a new niche element to the business, Designs by Muller True Value.

“Amazon is the [big conglomerate] of my generation,” tells Goeppner, “So if we’re not making smart and strategic business decisions — like we ventured out into designs and personable customer service. We’re taking those things that Amazon can’t do — like relate to their customers — and we’re emphasizing that…We will go into our customer’s home. We are taking it that extra step.”

“With Cody coming on board — he also manages the employees, he trains the employees and he’s doing a fantastic job,” says Deanna. “These people are our family — these sales reps — and we’re training them just like True Value trained us. I mean it took me seventeen years to learn some of that stuff! We can teach that now in a lot less time.”

“We took the last year to say that our team members are an extension of our family,” nods Goeppner, “We have invited them here; we’re happy to have them here, so when you’re talking to Cindy, you’re talking to one of Cody’s best friends.”

“We’ve become highly active on social media within the last year,” Goeppner continues, “I went through training to figure out how we make it more relevant, how we do it for our business…To know that True Value fully supports us and really wants to propel us into that next generation of social media is really exciting.”

Besides open-mindedness and acceptance of change, what’s the biggest business-related take-away for this family after 175 years of serving Ferdinand?

“If we don’t support our local businesses, they die. And our towns and our communities go with that,” Deanna expresses. “Dubois County is so good at supporting their local people! It’s when you go outside of our county, and you drive through these other towns and you see the downtowns boarded up and shut down and it’s heart-wrenching. I think a lot of communities are trying to get back to that.”

“We see these efforts from our community leaders,” Goeppner agrees. “I see so many of them pouring their time and energy into our community to make sure that our historical element isn’t lost. That drives what we’re doing with Designs! We are saying, let’s take that to the individual houses. Because we have these pockets of beauty. Let’s build them up and make them blossom so that these people, as they’re driving through our town are going, “Why is this little town in Southern Indiana just so strong and striking?” We want to see every home be attractive…That’s their biggest asset for most families. It’s a way that we can give back to the community through our store and still be a part of beautifying the whole area.”

For questions and advice related to your home improvement project or for more information on Designs by Muller True Value, contact Goeppner at 812.639.8263 or email cody.goeppner@gmail.com.

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Store hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Customers may contact Muller True Value Hardware at 812-367-1850.

“The Mullers have been here for 175 years, but so has our town,” Goeppner avows, “And we couldn’t have done this without Ferdinand! We’re here serving the community, but they’ve really served our family in the way that seven generations later, we still have a company where we’re able to serve them.”