Retail Perspective: Four Ways to Turn Your Caulk & Adhesives Category Into a Competitive Advantage
The caulk and adhesives category has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years, evolving from simple, low-cost commodity products to highly specialized solutions requiring expert knowledge to sell effectively.
At one retailer, Woodstock Hardware in Woodstock, New York, for instance, owner Vince Christofora has turned this challenging category into a competitive advantage through strategic product curation and customer education.
“The caulk and adhesives category has completely transformed over the past decade,” Christofora says. “We’ve gone from shelves full of basic tubes to specialized products that require expertise to match with customer applications. It’s become one of our most consultation-heavy categories.”
After 31 years of serving a customer base that’s 70% homeowners and 30% contractors in his 5,000-square-foot store, Christofora has learned that success in this category isn’t just about stocking shelves—it’s about becoming a problem-solving consultant for every customer who walks through the door.
Christofora says his shelves used to be lined with dozens of low-cost options. “There used to be a lot of cheaper caulks,” he says. “That’s completely changed. Now we focus on fewer varieties but higher-end, specialized products.”
This shift wasn’t arbitrary. Christofora discovered customers prefer paying more for products that solve their problems rather than dealing with failures from budget options. Today, Woodstock Hardware dedicates 12 feet of shelf space to caulk and adhesives, plus another 8 feet for specialty caulk and adhesive items.
Woodstock Hardware’s caulk and adhesives department is strategically positioned near the paint section, alongside brushes, rollers and drop cloths. “This strategy creates natural cross-selling opportunities,” Christofora says. “Customers often need multiple related products for the same project.”
What sets this retailer apart is their approach to customer service. Rather than simply pointing customers toward products, his team conducts personalized, one-on-one training sessions right in the aisle or at the sales counter.
“You need to identify not just what the customer wants, but what they need,” Christofora says. “We ask specific questions: Is this a wet application? How big is the gap? Do you need instant grab or can you wait for the cure time?”
Source: Hardware Retailing