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For Lonnie Kawcak and his family, running MJK Sales and Hardware boils down to one thing — customer service.

“We want to treat people the way that we want to be treated, said Lonnie, 59. “We have about 25 people on staff any given day and they all concentrate on giving great customer service.”

Lonnie, his wife Lorraine and their sons Blake and Blaine own and operate MJK on Ranney Street.

The Kawcak’s focus on customer service earned them best customer service, best hardware store and best paint store in the Craig Daily Press’ 2011 Best of Moffat County contest.

“It is a great honor,” Blake said of winning the awards. “The community thinks highly of us and we strive to do our best every day with hard work and dedication.”

The business has grown since opening in 1976 on School Street.

Lonnie’s father, Mike and Colleen Kawcak, opened the business and sold grain, feed and some farming equipment.

In the early 1980s, the store moved to its current location and started selling hardware. About two years ago, the store recently took on lumber, Lonnie said.

“It is just a wonderful feeling to be voted on by our customers,” he said. “It is a great thing to achieve for our business and it shows we have done things better than anywhere else.”

Lorraine said the awards were won in large part due to the store’s staff.

“We appreciate everything our employees do and we wouldn’t have come this far without them,” she said. “It is pretty wonderful that the community voted on us for these awards.”

As a division of Ace Hardware, Lorraine said all the seminars they have attended focus on customer service.

Still, she said, they do even more training with their employees throughout the year.

“We want our employees to be personal with the customers,” Lorraine said. “We try to mentor everyone each day about how they should approach customers and it is an ongoing thing for our business.”

When it comes to the best hardware and paint store, Blake said it always goes back to customer service.

“We are always looking to bring in new products and we ask our employees to help us,” he said. “So, we have employees who have the knowledge of what we are selling and have helped us have the best stuff in the store.”

In the paint department, Lonnie said MJK continues to try and provide the best options for customers.

“The ability to mix and match paints is always a good thing,” he said. “We have computers that help us in getting the right paint for the right job.”

The Kawcak’s are in the process of building a new, bigger store in Craig, but nonetheless, the service will remain the same.

“We want to help our store succeed and help our customers in any need they have,” Blake said. “Customer service is at the top of our list.”

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