How Gus Bock’s Ace Hardware cut labor costs and simplified multi-store staffing

Gus Bock's Hardware opened its doors for the first time in the summer of 1935. Since then, it's remained a locally-owned hardware store offering residential and commercial supplies to northern Indiana and southern Chicago. In the 80s, it became a franchisee of Ace Hardware.

As the Gus Bock name became a symbol of service and quality, its demand increased. Today, owners Keith Grill, Jr. and Rob Grill manage a four-chain store headquartered in Munster, Indiana. One sister location is located in Dyer, IN (1990), and two others — Lansing and Winfield, IL — serve customers across state lines.

With rapid growth comes unique challenges, especially when juggling multiple sites.

"We are always looking to expand and offer all of our services to all our customers," says Adam White, store manager and technology administrator for Gus Bock's Ace Hardware. "That's why I wanted technology to continue the company's 90-year legacy while future-proofing our business."

Running four busy locations with 100+ team members means Adam and his fellow managers were spending hours chasing paper schedules, juggling text messages, and trying to keep everyone on the same page.

"One of the biggest obstacles was trying to keep our staff consistent with their schedules," he explains. "Manual updates, text messages, and paper copies would make people lose track of shift changes."

Things became even more complicated when staff needed to work at other locations. Without a singular shared system, staff could only clock in on-site — which not only slowed things down, but made it hard for Adam and his team to remain flexible.

"If they were at a different location, they wouldn't have their station available," Adam says. "Accommodating time-off requests, shift swaps, and part-time staff availability would add even more layers of complexity."

Even more frustrating, the team had to predict staffing needs without having any solid data. Forecasting demand to reign in labor costs while staying compliant (and making sure each store hit sales and service targets) quickly became an uphill battle. "We didn't have anything in front of us showing our total hours versus payroll, so it was very easy to go outside of budget," Adam explains.

Without the right tools in place, staying ahead of labor costs and schedule changes would soon prove impossible.

By 2020, Gus Bock’s team was ready to find a simpler, more effective way to manage their growing workforce and anticipate staffing needs, without all the manual chaos. They found a new scheduling platform and web app, Deputy, and decided to give it a try. "We started with one store and rolled it out there," Adam says. "There wasn't any learning curve since everyone was familiar with using their phones."

The impact was clear from the start. Hours once spent on juggling manual tasks were reallocated to customer service and store improvements. Not only that, but the team found it easier to manage schedules across all locations and make decisions faster. "Without Deputy, we run the risk of putting too much staff on a day, spending too much, or not equipping a day enough," Adam says. "Now, we can look at projected sales, and Deputy shows us exactly how much we need to staff."

"Without Deputy, we run the risk of putting too much staff on a day, spending too much, or not equipping a day enough," Adam says. "Now, we can look at projected sales, and Deputy shows us exactly how much we need to staff."

Smarter staffing that's aligned with demand

One of the primary objectives of Gus Bock's team was to reduce labor costs — but staying on budget means understanding staffing needs in real time, not guessing. Adam's empowering his store managers to do just that by using Deputy to compare projected sales with labor forecasts, so they can plan accordingly.

"Deputy has given us an insight into our labor impacts that we have never seen before," he says. "Before, we were projecting our own costs to the best of our ability and estimation. Today, Deputy gives us those costs in real time."

Easier scheduling across all stores

According to Adam, planning shifts with Deputy "has become a lot easier." Whenever a staff member puts in a request for leave, it appears on a shared calendar rather than a Post-It note or text message. "Now, if we go to schedule an employee to a certain store on a certain date, Deputy automatically grays out availability so we aren't making mistakes expecting someone to show up."

That visibility has also helped improve staff experience and retention. Team members no longer have to chase down managers, go back and forth via text, or worry about whether managers see their requests. "Before, it might have been a little intimidating to directly speak to your manager about your needs, but now, we have a formal system to approve and deny requests privately, without having to directly contact through text messages or calls," Adam explains.

Flexible time tracking that's reliable and compliant

With compliant clock-in systems and features like remote clock-in, staff can use Deputy to clock-in for work anywhere, whether they’re at their home store or helping out at another location. With this capability, managers know exactly where and when employees start and end their shifts, increasing flexibility and transparency. 

It also gives Adam and his team the peace of mind they need by helping reduce the risk of time fraud. With camera-enabled clock-ins, managers can ensure accuracy and accountability.

And the best part? With Deputy, Adam's team can more easily stay compliant with labor laws. When someone is scheduled outside the boundaries they've set, Adams's team receives an alert. Features like these create a safer, more compliant workforce.

Ready for whatever comes next

With greater visibility into staffing and budget, scheduling is more aligned, operations run smoother, and growth is easier to manage. Using Deputy, Adam and his team at Gus Bock's are more confident heading into the future, wherever it leads. 

"It's given us a confident level of staff throughout our week and helped improve operations by bringing some cohesiveness to the company, especially when visiting other locations."

As the company looks ahead, Deputy remains a core part of its long-term strategy, with Adam focused on leveraging Deputy as the company scales over the next 90 years (and beyond).