Industry News

Vendor2Member, the hardware industry’s largest directory of co-op specific dropship products, announced its dropship directory will be made available to Ace Hardware and Do It Best Corp. retailers on Feb. 17, 2014. Co-founder Alex Smith, a former Ace Hardware general …

Home Depot plans to end medical coverage for about 20,000 part-time employees and direct them to government-sponsored exchanges scheduled to open next month, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Employees with fewer than 30 hours a week will no longer be offered limited …

Existing-home sales increased in August and reached the highest level in more than six years, while the median price shows nine consecutive months of double-digit year-over-year increases, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Total existing-home sales rose 1.7 percent to a seasonally …

After four consecutive months of increasing confidence, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes held unchanged in September with a reading of 58 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). “While builder …

Last week at its biannual buying market, Atchison-Kan.-based distributor Blish-Mize rolled out enhancements to its advertising program and communicated the importance of maintaining visibility with consumers across media platforms. The distributor’s new program allows retailers to publish their circulars on …

Retail sales increased in the month of August but came in at a much slower pace than anticipated. August retail sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.1 percent seasonally adjusted from last month, according to the National Retail …

Retailers and vendors gathered Tuesday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando for Ace’s Fall Convention and Exhibits. From the co-op’s executives at the general session on Tuesday morning to the retailers shopping the show floor, the message was …

Hardware Distribution Warehouses, Inc. CEO and President Kenneth R. Beauvais reports record sales increases during the recent Fall Market held Sept. 6-8 at the Shreveport Convention Complex in Shreveport, La. This year’s market theme was “Bonanza of Savings.”  HDW dealers, …