Duchscherers celebrate 25 years in business

Hardware, auto parts and a whole lot more have made the Duchscherer family and their businesses fixtures of the New Rockford community for a quarter of a century.

Todd and Renae have spent nearly all of their married life in business. The couple celebrated their 26th anniversary last August, and now 2018 marks their 25th year in business in the New Rockford community.

The couple opened Big A Auto Parts on First Avenue North across the street to the west of the Post Office in New Rockford in 1993. Five or six years later they switched suppliers from Big A to NAPA, and it has remained the same since. For a few years he operated the store out of the former Four Seasons clothing store on Central Avenue.

In 2003, the Duchscherers purchased Hardware Hank and Busy Bee, located at 12 & 16 Eighth Street North, from Lan Grindheim. They operated the hardware and auto parts businesses from separate locations for just a year before moving NAPA into the Busy Bee side in 2004 and consolidating Busy Bee's merchandise into the hardware side, keeping some of the better selling lines. 

More changes came shortly thereafter when the Duchscherers sought a new supplier partner for the hardware store. They found Do it Best, the only full-service U.S.-based, member-owned hardware, lumber, and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry. Duchscherer said they joined Do it Best in May 2005 primarily to achieve better buying power. There were drawbacks, as Do it Best offered fewer farm and ag options. However, they gained more on the home improvement side and found other suppliers to fulfill farm customers' needs.

Do it Best Hardware offers a complete line of hardware, plumbing, electrical, housewares, paint, lawn and garden supplies and more for everyone from the do-it-yourself homeowner to the professional.

The Duchscherers have expanded in the lawn and garden area over the past several years, as they are authorized Husqvarna dealers. They carry a full line of mowers, snow blowers, trimmers, leaf blowers and chainsaws. They also have lawn seed, fertilizer, potting soil and mulch from April to November.

In fact, it's the lawn and garden side that Duchscherer plans to expand further when NAPA moves to its new home on U.S. Hwy. 281 this year. Last fall the former Dakota Roadhouse building on the south end of town moved a few blocks north to an empty lot across the street from Bird Dawg Café. The move made room for a new Dollar General store, which is currently under construction. It also opened up an opportunity for Todd to move his NAPA Auto Parts store, a vision he's had since he purchased the Dakota Roadhouse property in 2011.

Duchscherer plans to renovate the interior of the building to turn it into NAPA Auto Parts. He said details are still in process, but he plans to have some of the more common items such as bulk bolts and pipe fittings at both the highway and downtown locations. He also plans to invest in more inventory for the auto parts store. Customers can look forward to a fresh, new store with more to offer this spring or summer. Duchscherer said he needs the highway traffic to ensure that the auto parts store will continue to be successful.

Interestingly enough, Duchscherers reached a milestone in their bi-annual shopping giveaway this past fall also. On November 27, 2017, Bernie Meehan and Jordan Dauenhauer were chosen as the 25th and 26th winners of the local Do it Best Hardware Shopping Giveaway.

Meehan and Dauenhauer were selected at random from more than 200 entries submitted at the store from August 28 to November 13, 2017. Each received $500 to spend on products at the store. Both winners were surprised and excited to pick out their free merchandise.

These two men have joined the long list of local winners from Do it Best Hardware. The store has held two shopping giveaways each year since 2006 and has given away $23,000 in merchandise. Here is a list of all the winners to date:

 2006-Helen Duda and Bill Collier

 2007-Todd Koepplin and Michael Nicolai

 2008-Nicole Jacob and Gayle Dodds

 2009-Nathan Presnell and Traci Roscoe

 2010-Kathy Jenrich and Caryn Woodstead

 2011-Sheryl Carlson and Daniel Shroyer

 2012-Glenda Myhre and Lynn Rekkedal

 2013-Amy Steele and Barbara Munson

 2014-Jeanne Allmaras and Gene Kaul

 2015-Denise Labrensz and Richard Anderson

 2016-Helen Duda and Gerard Schuchard

 2017-Natasha Kolles, Allen Roscoe, Jordan Dauenhauer, and Bernie Meehan

"We want to thank all those who entered the giveaways for their participation and continued support of New Rockford's local hardware store. The store offers these shopping giveaways to encourage local shopping and loyalty," said Duchscherer.

Todd has 30 years of experience in the auto parts industry. He was a manager at NAPA Auto Parts in Carrington before becoming his own boss here in New Rockford. Renae is active on the accounting side of the business, and she also works at Garrison Diversion Conservancy District. The couple have four children.