Content about Company Founded

June 19, 2013
At Golden Hammer event: 'Retail is Detail'

Las Vegas — Ray Griffith kicked off the Golden Hammer retail awards presentation with a joke: "Does everyone have an hour? I have a long speech." He got an even bigger laugh when he called out a moderator for his use of the word "entertainment" to describe the panel discussion.

But the concepts that Griffith and the other retail honorees shared during the 29th Golden Hammer Awards ceremony held here during the National Hardware Show contained a serious tone as hardware stores appear to be poised to pounce on a swelling industry recovery.

June 7, 2013
Sears Hometown and Outlet slips in Q1

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, the former division of Sears Holdings that spun off in October, posted first quarter sales of $601.1 million, down 3.2% from the first quarter last year.

Net income for the quarter ended May 4 was $15.0 million, down from $20.6 million in last year's first quarter.

Same-store sales of lawn and garden, the retail company's second-largest category, dropped 45% in the first two months, the company said, as cool weather took its toll. The category improved significantly in April, when it showed comp-store sales gains of 4.2%

May 8, 2013
Reed Exhibitions expands business in Mexico

The organizers of the National Hardware Show acquired the Expo Nacional Ferretera, an annual hardware event in Guadalajara.

May 2, 2013
TOTO, Crossville partner for new porcelain tile

Beginning in June 2013, Crossville will offer Hydrotect as an optional finish on a majority of its porcelain tile collections.

March 20, 2013
Marvin’s plans store No. 28

Leeds, Ala.-based Marvin's Building Materials and Home Centers announced plans to open its 28th store, and its second in Tennessee.

March 15, 2013
Oatey joins Home Improvement Research Institute

The Home Improvement Research Institute added a new member: Cleveland-based plumbing products leader Oatey Co.

March 8, 2013
Westlake unveils a new store design in Missouri

The 86-store Midwest hardware store chain, recently purchased by Ace Hardware, spent the past year planning the new layout.

March 1, 2013
Roofing manufacturer GAF joins NLBMDA

GAF is the newest member of the NLBMDA's Manufacturers and Services Council (MSC).

February 22, 2013
Epicor brings cloud hosting to CNRG retailers

Dublin, Calif.-based Epicor Software Corp. announced the company’s first major implementation of Epicor Eagle delivered in a software as a service (SaaS) hosted environment.

February 21, 2013
World demand for lighting to surpass $78 billion in 2016

Sales will be driven by an increase in economic activity, personal income, global motor vehicle output and construction spending.

February 19, 2013
W.T. Harvey acquired by CNRG

Natchez, Miss.-based Central Network Retail Group (CNRG) has acquired W.T. Harvey Lumber of Columbus, Ga.

February 11, 2013
Market Recap: RISI Crow's Construction Materials Cost Index

SPF prices increased early and continued to rise throughout the week. Distributors replenished inventories and wholesalers purchased significant speculative volumes.

January 22, 2013
Plum Creek invests in natural resource assets

Plum Creek Timber Co. has acquired an interest in about 144 million tons of production at four quarries from Vulcan Materials Co. for $75 million.

January 15, 2013
Wood Resources promotes former WY exec

Wood Resources, a company that makes wood panels for residential and commercial construction, has appointed Kurt Liebich as president and CEO, as well as group executive for wood products for parent company Atlas Holdings. Liebich will also continue in his current role as president and CEO of RedBuilt, Atlas’ wood-based structural solutions company.

January 4, 2013
M-D Building Products makes acquisition

Oklahoma City-based M-D Building Products acquired Loxcreen Co., a privately held precision manufacturing company founded in 1946 on patents for fabricating window screens. 

The acquisition includes Loxcreen’s Canadian flooring group operated under the Bengard Manufacturing name in Mississauga, Ontario. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The combined sales of both companies will exceed $200 million annually. 

December 27, 2012
Electrical wholesaler purchased by private investors

Richmond Electric Supply Company, Inc. has been sold to RESCO Acquisition, an investment group comprised of RESCO’s recently appointed CEO, Mike Bourn, and other private investors for an undisclosed sum.

Darryl Harman, who founded the company in 1983, was the seller. Matrix Capital Markets Group served as the financial adviser to RESCO Acquisitions.

December 18, 2012
Co-op buys Westlake Ace Hardware

Ace Hardware Corp. acquired Lenexa, Kan.-based Westlake Ace Hardware for $88 million.

Westlake was named the HCN 2011 Retailer of the Year, and was featured in the May 2011 issue of Home Channel News. Since 2006, the company was owned by a private equity firm -- Goldner Hawn Johnson and Morrison. 

December 6, 2012
LF names editor for Residential Building Products and Technology

Veteran building industry journalist Nigel F. Maynard has been tapped to take charge of Residential Building Products and Technology, a new digital magazine of New York City-based Lebhar-Friedman's Residential Products Group.

The digital magazine will launch in mid-January.

December 3, 2012
‘Hire a Veteran’ campaign debunks misperceptions

The U.S. Army kicked off its “Hire a Veteran” campaign Nov. 19, 2012, during a press conference with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The campaign is aimed at debunking employer misperceptions about the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) on veterans’ job performance, and at educating employers on what reasonable accommodations involve.

November 29, 2012
USG wins OSHA recognition

USG Corp. has achieved the prestigious Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star designation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at its Galena Park, Texas, manufacturing plant. Officials from OSHA presented the award on Nov. 29 to USG Galena Park’s 150 employees during a ceremony at the plant.

October 9, 2012
Ply Gem Windows to add 200 jobs

Ply Gem Windows will expand its facility in Rocky Mount, Va., adding 200 jobs and upgrading new extrusion tooling, equipment, products and information technology. The Cary, N.C.-based manufacturer of residential and light commercial window and patio doors expects to complete these capital investments at its Rocky Mount plant by the end of 2014.

New hires will include such jobs as unit assemblers, coordinators, value stream leaders, process owners, process engineers, technicians and IT support.

August 29, 2012
Following up: Fenton Hord takes stock of LBM industry

Fenton Hord had a huge run at the helm of Stock Building Supply. 

In 1987 he oversaw a seven-unit, $98 million pro dealer. When Hord retired in 2007, Stock was a 350-location, $5 billion “North American Super Power.”

Of course, when the housing starts dried up, Stock remained in the headlines with a well-documented run of bankruptcy and reorganization.

August 23, 2012
Senco makes European acquisition

Cincinnati-based Senco Brands announced the purchase of Expandet A/S, Graested, a Denmark manufacturer of premium-quality fasteners for professional and do-it-yourself building applications throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Established in 1955 by the Mortensen family, Expandet has been operated by Laus and Lene Mortensen, who took over the business from their father in 1983. The Expandet business will report directly to Peter van der Wel, president of Senco Brands International.

August 1, 2012
Distribution Nation

The nation’s leading wholesale distributors of home improvement products and building materials saw an increase of 2.23% in 2011 sales, according to the research that produced the 2012 Home Channel News Top 100 Distributor Scoreboard.

It wasn’t easy.

According to the data culled from surveys, financial reports and estimates, the nation’s top 100 distributors produced a total of $40.263 billion in sales, compared with $39.385 billion in 2010.

August 1, 2012
Walking the aisles at Bankston Lumber

Chuck Bankston, the fourth-generation owner of Bankston Lumber and the incoming chairman of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) stands beneath a sign in the yard’s main warehouse in Barnesville, Ga.

The sign reads: “If you’re not having fun, you’re fired.”

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