@ Horizons

It's always nice to see our friends and clients getting some positive press

2011-10-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

Nutter Hardware in Upper Arlington promises a throwback experience — down to the potbelly stove
By Lin Rice
ThisWeek Community Newspapers Thursday October 13, 2011

When Chuck Nutter held the grand opening for his new hardware store in Upper Arlington a few weeks ago, he avoided the customary ribbon-and-scissors routine.

He opted instead to rip through a wooden beam with a chain saw.

It was, Nutter admits, an unusual approach — but, then again, Nutter Hardware is a bit unusual, too.

“I want to send a loud signal that property owners and contractors can quit the trip to the big home centers,” Nutter said in a Facebook post touting the ceremony. “We will offer a different experience. Period.”

In this era of big-box retailing, Nutter Hardware is — by design — something of a throwback.

The 8,500-square-foot store, located in Kingsdale Shopping Center, just off Tremont Road, features a wood-burning potbelly stove, a popcorn machine and plenty of hands-on assistance.

Nutter said he’d like to see Nutter Hardware become a “gathering place” for Upper Arlington residents.

To foster the store’s folksy ambience — and grab the attention of potential customers — he even keeps a 1948 pickup truck parked inside.

“What we’re doing with the hardware store is, trying to do our absolute best to re-create the classic hardware store — a place that’s stocked with all the right things and the right people needed to maintain and improve your home, all at a convenient location,” he said.

Trying to stand out from competitors makes sense in almost any retailing category, but in the nation’s $150-billion-a-year retail-hardware industry, distinctiveness has become a near necessity, experts say.

“There are many differences in the size and variety of hardware retailers,” says an industry analysis compiled by the Small Business Advancement National Center at the University of Central Arkansas.

“Many of these differences are due to the highly competitive intensity of the market, compelling the hardware retailers to use these differences to create a niche from which they can compete most successfully.”

In recent decades, the report says, the industry has evolved into at least two distinct subcategories: hardware stores and home centers, which tend to offer more appliances and building materials than traditional hardware stores.

The home-center segment (think Home Depot, Lowe’s and Menards) is highly concentrated: The top four companies account for more than 90 percent of the segment’s revenue. The hardware-store segment is much more fragmented: Its top 50 companies account for just 30 percent of the segment’s revenue.

Despite their differences, the brick-and-mortar stores in both segments — about 23,000 outlets in all — face growing competition from the low-overhead world of Internet retailing.

Online home-improvement sales jumped 16 percent from September 2010 to August 2011, the North American Retail Hardware Association, an Indianapolis-based trade group, reported last week.

Some product lines, for whatever reason, seem to do particularly well on the Internet: Online sales, for example, now make up about 10 percent of all U.S. consumer spending on air-powered tools, garage-door-opener accessories and snow blowers.

“It’s clear the Internet is playing an increasingly important role in the home-improvement market,” said Kevin Gilbert, director of the NPD Group, a market-research firm.

“Although consumer reviews rank low among top reasons for purchasing home-improvement-related categories, today’s consumer is still looking toward the Web for information to help them decide which product to purchase, and possibly find the best deal.”

Nutter Hardware, a member of the Ace Hardware buying cooperative, carries household maintenance items, paint, plumbing and electrical materials, lawn and garden supplies, outdoor power equipment and a full line of Craftsman tools.

The store’s owner, however, recognizes that the main thing he’s selling is expertise, familiarity and service.

“We’ll offer service to anybody who needs (help) from our store, and we’ll make it available 24/7,” said Nutter, who, before opening the store, ran a local handyman service for about six years.

“For example, if someone has a plumbing emergency — or if the fire department has to make a run to your house in the middle of the night and take your door off to get inside — we have a number to call, and we’ll come out and help.

“It’s for a fee, but, in an emergency situation, we offer that service.”

Nutter said opening his own hardware store is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream and the product of three years of intensive planning.

“What we’re really trying to re-create is that when people come in, it’s taking them back to a simpler time, when you knew all the workers and they knew you — knowledgeable folks who can give good advice to help you out with what you need.”

lrice@thisweeknews.com
Photo Credit: Eric George | ThisWeek Newspapers

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

2011-10-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

So how, you may be wondering, do Horizonsites (yes, Virginia, that is a word - like meteorites, or Israelites) - how do they spend their time away from work? What kinds of pursuits do they pursue when they're not making beautiful pictures, or sounds, or animations for their clients?

Well, here's what one of them does. Meet Amy Masheter, up-and-coming artist, shoot crew member, and social media rockstar. This summer (just as in each of the four previous summers), Amy took her paid vacation leave...and took her talents to Ouanaminthe. As in Ouanaminthe, Haiti - an economically-challenged town in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Amy is making, and has made, big difference in Haiti - at least to the children of the Institution Univers, the school at which she's helped run the summer camp since 2007. As she ventures across the Tropic of Cancer each summer, into the stifling heat and across the rutted roads to Ouanaminthe, she sees the progress, built year upon year, of her efforts and of those around her. The students at Institution Univers are getting better grades, they're enrolling in colleges both at home and abroad (even in the United States), and the physical and commercial health of Ouanaminthe is slowly, but noticeably, improving.

Amy isn't the only Horizonsite (there's that word again) who's taken a week or two of precious vacation time and shared it with the people of Ouanaminthe. Nor are they the only folks at Horizons who consider charitable activity to be an important priority. But at this time, we'd simply like to salute Amy...and wish her godspeed as she continues her mission to Haiti in the years ahead.

For more information about Amy's home-away-from-home mission, click here.

Where's Waldo(n)?

2011-10-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

Visitors to Horizons may notice something that's a little peculiar...considerably clever...and downright ingenious -- but only if they are either acutely observant or they happen to cast their gaze in a particular, out-of-the-way direction.

At any given time, there's a scale model action figure of our fearless leader (aka Horizons' founder and president Don Lee) inevitably perched in some daring, dangerous or heroic position. For example, the figure may be scaling one of the beams in the loft...hanging by its fingertips on the blade of a twirling ceiling fan...dangling from one of the steel girders of the studio lighting grid...or perhaps straddling the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex while brandishing a medieval flail and mace.

Like the character itself, the details surrounding it are the stuff of legend -- where did it come from? how does it transport from one predicament to the next? Who fashioned the guerrilla-style outfit, complete with Horizons' "Dolf" logo insignia emblazoned on its shirt? No one seems to know the answers to any of these mysteries. Or at least, no one's admitting to any knowledge.

But the next time you visit us at Horizons, take a look around. Someone - or something - may be watching you.

2011-10-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you've got some dynamite footage, which you're sure will portray your company, your product or your message in the best possible light. You've crafted the narrative copy to nail just the right notes. It's all working, it's coming together, it's pointing in the right direction, but...something seems to be missing. It doesn't have the right mood, it's lacking punch, it doesn't have enough emotion --- it needs music.

We know how valuable, how vital the right music track can have on the effectiveness of a spot, a video or a presentation. And if you'd like, we can write, arrange and produce an original score to accompany your project. But chances are, you haven't set aside that kind of scratch for the track (heh heh, inside humor - forgive me). So what do you do?

We are delighted to offer a cost-conscious solution to your quest for the perfect piece of music that will just....kill. It's one of the 20,000 or so compositions created by Killer Tracks - the country's leading provider of licensable music developed exclusively for the production industry.

Horizons is now entering its second decade of contracting with Killer Tracks as the primary supplier for its production music. The KT library includes, among other things:

"...a new Hip-Hop library from Chuck D, R&B Pop from GRAMMY® winning producers RedZone Entertainment, Reflections of Motown from legendary songwriter Lamont Dozier, a new reality library from the composer for 'Big Brother' and 'The Amazing Race', Crime Drama cues from the composer for 'CSI: Miami', Pop Rock from Miley Cyrus' writers, Dramedy from the composer of the 'Sex and the City' theme, scores from today's leading film, television and AAA video game composers..."

and of course, a whole lot more. In essence, you get the power, the feeling, the mojo (and dare we say it, the vibe) that you're looking for...at a fraction of the cost of what you'd shell out for a custom track.

So, what do you say? Together, we can make - or at least license - some beautiful music together!

Looking for Affordable 35mm Production? We've Got It!

2011-09-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Some people are turned on by cars. For others, it might be sports. Now, we're not suggesting we don't appreciate those things as well...but we happen to be especially geeked by advancements in communications technology. New computer programs. New internet protocols. New editing software. But nothing makes our pulses pound faster than getting a new camera. Sleek, sophisticated, breakthrough innovation that expands our creative capacity for visual expression. (That lets us make even prettier pictures.)

Here's our new baby. It was just delivered. (Not by the stork, but by AbelCine, America's premier high-end camera distributor.) We can't wait to start using it. It's a new 35mm HD video camera from Sony, and it's name is f3. Actually, its formal title is PMW-F3 - but we're now on a first name basis. Ain't it cute? Although it's incredibly lightweight and portable, it is ready to play with the big boys. Here's what Sony says about the f3 on its web site:

"The PMW-F3 is equipped with a newly developed Exmor Super 35 CMOS image sensor which offers creative shallow depth of field, similar to that of a film camera. This sensor has an extremely high sensitivity of F11 (ISO800) with a very low noise level (an S/N ratio of 63 dB). This is a significant advantage especially when shooting in low-light conditions or at night using only ambient light."

"The PMW-F3 employs a PL lens mount that is standard for film cameras, allowing use of a virtually unlimited number of prime and zoom lenses for 35-mm film cameras. This greatly broadens the choice of lenses for a wider spectrum of creative expression."

"The PMW-F3 has an HD-SDI Dual-link output connector which offers 4:2:2 1080 50/59.94p uncompressed signal output as standard....When the RGB and S-LOG output option is added, RGB 4:4:4 baseband signal output is available."

And if you've ever thought about producing your video or TV spot in 3D:

"Another new feature of the PMW-F3 is the 3D-LINK option which is especially convenient for 3D stereoscopic shooting. Two PMW-F3 cameras can be controlled by one camera remote controller at the same time. The two cameras are connected with a special 10-pin cable that includes genlock, timecode in/out, and control line. Simultaneous control of the Iris and Focus functions of two cameras is extremely useful."

As mentioned earlier, the f3 is small but mighty. Here's what it looks like when its ready for some serious image acquisition:

While we're happy and proud to show you pictures of our 'little baby', we'd love for you to meet it in person - and to let it make some pictures for you. You just might become as excited about it...as we are.

An Army Isn't the Only Thing That Travels On Its Stomach

2011-09-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

When lunchtime rolls around at many places of business, people head out - to grab a bite to eat, of course, but also to get away from the office - to spend an hour breathing the fresh air of freedom, before girding up for another half day of physical and mental incarceration.

At Horizons, things are a bit different. And our lunch culture reflects that uniqueness. At midday, you'll find the troops patiently taking turns at the oven, the stove, the microwave, the toaster oven - quickly and almost effortlessly conjuring up their culinary coups. Then they gather around the table, sharing a streaming conversation that quickly darts from work project items to the latest sports and entertainment news to leisure time activities - but which always returns to what's actually 'on the table' - the food itself.

Often - on Wednesdays, typically - the epicurean activities take a breather, as the entire company settles in for a catered feast - courtesy of our fearless leaders. And more often than not, the gathering includes a variety of clients who may be on campus that day for production activities, who may have been invited to drop by for the festivities...or, who may have had the good fortune simply to stop by at just the right time. On recent Wednesdays, we've enjoyed the cuisines of Greece (My Big Fat Greek Kuzina), Italy (Bucca de Beppo), Mexico (Chile Verde) and the USA (City Barbecue).

There are those who don't believe in mixing business with pleasure - but at Horizons, it's often difficult to separate the two. To a man (and of course, to a woman), we enjoy what we do - whether it's producing beautiful images, bringing inanimate objects to life, mixing music and sound effects with voice, or bringing all of the production elements together in a finished spot, a video or a web site. Why, we even enjoy meetings - as evidenced by the mirthful noise that emanates from the conference rooms on any given day.

There's no law that says you can't enjoy the time - all of the time - that you spend within the four walls of your place of employment. So when you ask someone from Horizons "How was your day?" don't be too surprised if they respond "It was....delicious!"

Maybe It's Time to Give the Scouts a Helping Hand

2011-09-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Ahh, remember Saturday mornings...layin' back on the floor in our PJs...watching one cartoon show after another? Animated entertainment was fun back then - and we must admit, we still enjoy it today. Horizons lead animator Dan Beech just put the finishing touches on a little cartoon show he created for the local Boy Scouts. (Actually, their full official name is the Simon Kenton Council of the Boy Scouts of America -- and their organization covers 17 Ohio counties and includes more than 25,000 scouts!)

The cartoon isn't strictly for entertainment though - it has a serious purpose. You see, it costs about $150 a year per scout to keep the program running strong. That money pays for things like volunteer training, program and activity fees, and a host of administration and overhead costs. So the scouts will use the animated video to help secure the funding to keep their council afloat.

Check out the cartoon. Heck, maybe you can kick back in your PJs on Saturday morning and watch it...on your laptop. And of course, feel free to support your local scouts. (That's a public service message from our fearless leader, who was an actual Eagle Scout himself!) I know, we couldn't believe it when we heard it either. In fact, he's so fond of scouting he gave the council a whopping 75% discount on the project. Way to go, big guy!

Okay...But Why Do They Call It a "Bob" Sled?

2011-09-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

Summer time means travel time. Sometimes it's purely for fun, sometimes it's strictly for work...and sometimes it's a little of both. Such was the case with a trek to Salt Lake City, Utah for Don, Cherie, Scott and Rob H. Of course, it's a scenic place to go pretty much any time of year. But the occasion for the trip was the annual McGraw-Hill sales conference, where the heavy hitters of the educational publishing giant get together to outline the battle plan and showcase the leading edge products that have been assembled for the coming year.

For two solid months leading up to the conference, we created media that would be integral to the event. Videos, PowerPoint presentations, animations and more. And we provided our on-site expertise to make sure that all of the presentations were seen and heard by the audience, just as they were originally devised. Meanwhile, our fearless crews were also documenting the on-site and off-site hi-jinks of the conference attendees...including a bobsled run at Park City - on the very run that was used in the XIX Olympic Winter Games in 2002.

In order to capture the speed and thrill of hurtling down the track at up to 80 miles per hour (and experiencing 5Gs of force), we picked up a GoPro miniature HD camera and mounted it on the sled. Check out some of the downhill action...(and maybe conjure up some high excitement activities that we can capture on HD for you).

Notes from the Campaign Trail (aka Scott & Tim's Excellent Adventure)

2011-09-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

While Horizons' DPs Tim Courlas and Scott Myers have shot video for scores of candidates in recent years - from people running for local judgeships to candidates for governor, congress and the U.S. Senate - their first experiences dealing with an actual candidate for the U.S. Presidency have come this year...shooting TV spots and videos for Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann. For each of the grizzled, well-traveled video veterans, the ongoing project has been an eye-opening adventure, to say the least.

Scott was the first of the two to put Congresswoman Bachmann in his viewfinder. Traveling to Washington, DC and setting up in a nondescript apartment in the shadow of Capitol Hill, he shot an extended interview with the candidate, in which she covered the highlights and turning points of her childhood, education, and legal and political careers. Having witnessed firsthand the entire spectrum of political behavior over the course of his career, Scott was disarmed by the candidate's sincerity, as well as her approachable, down-to-earth style. He was equally nonplussed by her intelligence - having preconceived notions going in that she might be something of an airhead.

Tim, meanwhile, spent a bit of his summer vacationing - er, shooting - in the heartland, in the state of Iowa which would serve as the backdrop for the first hurdle in the presidential sweeptakes. He spent a few days in and around Waterloo, Iowa - the birthplace of Michele Bachmann, and the site where she would make the official announcement that she was entering the race for the presidency. Amid the stolid, practical, hardworking Iowans, he also found the candidate's ease and approachability much to his liking. Fighting for elbow room with the hordes of media representatives who converged on Waterloo for the announcement, Tim also spent plenty of up-close-and-personal quality time with Bachmann, shooting interviews and TV spots (and observing how she conducted herself within the maelstrom that surrounds a presidential campaign). On a second trip to the Hawkeye state, Tim spent time with Bachmann in Ames - the site of the straw poll that marks the unofficial start of the vote-gathering process. Sadly, he was not in attendance to see Michele Bachmann place first in the straw poll among Republican candidates...but the introductory video that he and Scott shot for played a major role, as it preceded the candidate's entrance to the podium where she announced her win. (And, in the words of an on-site observer, actually caused her to be a little verklempt as she watched it.) Here's the video:

Tim and Scott will continue their excellent adventure with candidate Bachmann for as long as her campaign has legs. After that, they'll be making pretty pictures for candidates across the nation. But neither will soon forget their baptisms into the hurlyburly world of presidential campaign politics.

Welcome Inside!

2011-09-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, this has been a long time coming...but we're glad to officially welcome you inside Horizons Companies. In this blog, you'll have a chance to see things from the inside. What's going on @ Horizons. What's coming up @ Horizons. What we're thinking about, caring about, and doing something about. Who's going where, who's doing what - all the news that's fit to print, and maybe a little that's not.

If you ask anyone at Horizons, they'll tell you the same thing -- we feel like we're a family, and the office is our home. Most of our clients would say they don't feel like 'customers', but rather like guests. Maybe even like members of our extended family.

Despite our laid back style, we've got a lot going on @ Horizons. And we'd like to share it with you. So in the coming days, weeks, months, and years, we're going to make sure that you're in the know about what we're up to. We're looking forward to sharing our stories with you...and to hearing what you have to say about them. So until next time...ciao, baby!