The National Retail Federation (NRF) held its annual Retail’s Big Show event last week in-person at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. In 2021, the conference took place virtually. This yearly conference and expo bring together the …
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Annual Existing-Home Sales Break 2006 Record
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that despite a decline in existing-home sales in December, the annual sales numbers hit the highest point since 2006. Year-over-year sales for 2021 were up 8.5 percent and existing-home sales topped 6.12 million, …
Read More »Independent Retailer Attends White House Meeting on Antitrust Issues
Independent hardware store owner Gina Schaefer attended a meeting on antitrust issues at the White House this week as a representative for brick-and-mortar businesses. The meetings addressed the challenges entrepreneurs, brick-and-mortar retailers and other businesses face competing against tech giants. …
Read More »R.P. Lumber Celebrates 45 Years
R.P. Lumber Co., Inc. is celebrating 45 years since Robert and Donna Plummer–school teachers at the time–took a big risk and put everything they had into a rough, vacant property in the small Illinois community of Staunton. Today the company operates …
Read More »Blish-Mize Co. Distribution Center Workers Vote to Leave Teamsters
Distribution center workers at Blish-Mize Co. voted on Jan. 12 to leave the Teamsters Local 696 union. With assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a Blish-Mize employee filed a decertification petition with the National Labor Relations …
Read More »Holiday Spending Experiences Huge Growth in 2021
The National Retail Federation (NRF) released the holiday spending numbers for 2021, which grew 14.1 percent over 2020. Holiday spending topped $886.7 billion, blowing NRF’s forecast, which was a growth of 11.5 percent, out of the water. The increase comes …
Read More »Ace Hardware Named Top Omnichannel Customer Service Provider
Incisiv, one of the leading insights firms for consumer industry digital transformation leaders, recently released its Omnichannel Customer Service Index and named Ace Hardware as the top omnichannel customer service provider. The index assesses top retailers’ customer service experience and …
Read More »Orgill Announces Realignments Within Purchasing Department
Orgill, the fastest-growing independent hardware distributor in the world, has announced changes to the structure and operations of its purchasing department. These organizational changes reflect the company’s long-term plans for accelerated growth and a continued focus on its mission to …
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