Buchheit hopes Hunter will help with home center's branding

Joyce Hunter corrected me almost immediately. She wasn't leaving the mall.

"I'm leaving the Shoppingtown," she said, with a laugh.

That's Joyce, always marketing.

For the past 6 1/2 years, Hunter has been senior marketing director at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park. Most of us call it the mall, but not Joyce. In fact, if you've ever called it the mall around her, she's no doubt corrected you.

It can get pretty maddening during an interview, but she sees it as part of her job -- to help give Westfield an identity greater than that of just a mall.

Now, she's taking that mission to Buchheit, the home center with Missouri stores in Jackson, Perryville and Herculaneum and Illinois stores in Sparta and Jacksonville.

Hunter has taken a job as co-director of marketing for the store chain that sells home and farm products. Hunter said her job will be to help Buchheit better establish its brand in an increasingly competitive market.

"With big-box competition moving in, they need to tell their story," she said. "When you establish a brand, it drives business, in enables you to grow to help with the strong growth pattern they've already established."

Doug Buchheit is the general merchandise manager for Buchheit.

"We do some marketing through circulars and radio and TV," Buchheit said. "We kind of want to take it to the next level and tell more of the story about Buchheit's. ... It's more a positioning strategy. How to position ourselves, not only to better compete with the big-box stores, but our other competition, too."

Buchheit admitted that, in the past, the store hasn't always done the best job of getting the message out.

"There's a lot of room for improvement," he said. "We don't do as good a job of telling our own story. That's what we want to bring Joyce on board to do."

For example, just recently, Buchheit gave $11,000 to the local elementary schools in each of their markets, money to be used to buy computer equipment.

"Not that we want to toot our own horn," he said. "But it's something we're proud of."

Buchheit said they were impressed by Hunter's enthusiasm.

"She's the type of person who doesn't let obstacles get in her way," he said. "One lady said she could get you $150 worth of advertising for $5. She's a real go-getter."

She is. Just don't tell her you're going to the mall.

Scott Moyers is business editor of the Southeast Missourian and a regular contributor to Business Today.