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Kate Klein

Kate is profiles editor for Hardware Retailing magazine. She reports on news and industry events and writes about retailers' unique contributions to the independent home improvement sector. She graduated from Cedarville University in her home state of Ohio, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English and minored in creative writing. She loves being an aunt, teaching writing to kids, running, reading, farm living and, as Walt Whitman says, traveling the open road, “healthy, free, the world before me.”

McGuckin Hardware Promotes Spray Paint and Art

McGuckin Hardware tried a unique way to promote product: find a graffiti artist, give him paint and plywood and invite the community to watch what happens. The Boulder, Colorado, store started carrying Ironlak spray paint within the past year. Having an artist demonstrate how to …

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Survey Ranks Ace Hardware Above Big Boxes

Ace Hardware

Ace Hardware came out on top in a survey of customers’ satisfaction with home improvement shopping experiences. Market Force Information, a customer intelligence research company, polled about 2,000 home improvement industry shoppers, who ranked Ace first on merchandise organization, value, cleanliness, availability of eco …

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Building Material Company Grows With Acquisition

Building Material Holding Company is buying the assets and operations of VNS Corporation, one of the largest building material and service providers in the southeast. BMC, which is headquartered in Atlanta, is a leading provider of building materials and construction …

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Sales and Income Up for Tractor Supply Co.

Tractor Supply Co. experienced year-over-year increases in sales and income for its first quarter of 2015. Net sales were $1.33 billion, an increase of nearly 13 percent over first-quarter 2014. The company’s net income grew by approximately 19 percent, reaching …

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Amazon Sells Home Improvement Services

Amazon doesn’t just sell products anymore. The online marketplace has branched out and now sells services, including electrical and plumbing work, home repairs and gutter cleaning. “Amazon Home Services features handpicked pros offering upfront pricing on pre-packaged services with helpful reviews from customers that …

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Lumber Liquidators Hit With Class-Action Lawsuits

Lumber Liquidators is facing a blitz of lawsuits related to accusations that some of the company’s laminated flooring contains unsafe quantities of formaldehyde. CBS reported March 1 that the flooring company sold laminate flooring with higher levels of formaldehyde than permitted by California’s …

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Building Supplies Company Sells in $1.6 Billion Deal

Builders FirstSource Inc., a U.S. building products manufacturer and supplier, is buying ProBuild Holdings in a $1.6 billion deal. The purchase will combine the companies, making a diversified business with a larger geographic footprint and greater ability to use economies of scale, according to …

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Ace To Host Buying Day For Prospective Vendors

Industry vendors will have an opportunity to introduce their products to Ace Hardware at the co-op’s open buying day event May 1. At the event, merchants from Ace Hardware will meet one-on-one with prospective vendors at the Doubletree Hotel in Oak …

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