News

At last week’s True Value Fall Reunion, the message from the co-op’s leadership was clear: Change is here. The company’s new CEO, John Hartmann, and chairman of the board, Brent Burger, were formally introduced during the Reunion’s general session Sept. …

Former American Hardware Manufacturer’s Association (AHMA) chairman Frank Tooke passed away Thursday. Tooke was from Raleigh, N.C., and was born on July 5, 1939 in Windsor, Ontario. He died Sept. 19 at Rex Hospital in Raleigh. Tooke lived in Canada …

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 …