Content about Dow Jones Industrial Average

Newell Rubbermaid named to its board of directors Ignacio Perez Lizaur, a former Wal-Mart Stores executive. 

Lizaur led Wal-Mart’s first international venture when he worked as director of Sam’s Club Mexico in 1991.

GE Monogram will open its second design center in the nation at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart in March 2013. It will be located at LuxeHome, on the ground floor, a boutique showcase for home-building products and kitchen and bath renovations. 

GE opened its first Monogram Design Center in New York City's Architects & Designers Building in 2008. The NYC center has increased share of GE Monogram appliances in the northern region by 50% since it opened.

Against the backdrop of a slowly recovering economy, Home Channel News has once again published its Top 300 Industry Scoreboard — the 300 leading home improvement and building material retailers ranked by sales for the most recent fiscal year. For the second consecutive year, the sales of the Top 300 retailers showed a positive increase over the previous year.

Las Vegas -- The networking, the education and the product pitching began in spades at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning with the opening of the 2012 National Hardware Show.

Buyers and retailers come for many reasons, one of which was articulated by Dan Fesler, CEO of St. Paul, Minn.-based Lamperts: "You have to take a look at what's out there every once in a while." 

Orlando, Fla. -- The stage of the 2012 City of Hope “Spirit of Life” event featured one brand new honoree, several more industry icons and 30 years of memories for the hardware/homebuilding group.

Convening for the good of the California-based cancer treatment and research center, executives and supporters filled a banquet room at the Rosen Plaza Hotel here on the eve of the International Builders' Show to honor the man of the hour: Ace Hardware's Ray Griffith. The president and CEO of the Oak Brook, Ill.-based hardware co-op accepted the 2012 Spirit of Life award.

Here’s the compelling math behind The Home Depot’s effort to embrace the pro customer: Pros account for 4% of total Home Depot customers and 30% of total Home Depot sales.

Clearly, these are customers that the world’s largest home improvement retailer wants to impress. The Home Depot has known for years the importance of its pro customer, but something’s different at Home Depot these days, and the difference begins with three little words: “First for Pro.”

Stormy weather around the country had something to do with Home Depot's third-quarter sales gain of 2.9%. So did strength in core categories.

The world's largest home improvement retailer posted a 4.2% comp-store sales gain for the quarter ended Oct. 30. Total sales increased 2.9% to $17.326 billion. And even bigger growth came in the net earnings column, where Home Depot reported a 13.0% increase and net earnings of $934 million.

St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M has reported third-quarter net income of $1.09 billion, down 1.8% from $1.11 billion in the third quarter of 2010. Sales in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 totaled $7.53 billion, up 9.6% from $6.87 billion in the year-ago period. 

Net income for the first nine months totaled $3.33 billion, up 5.4% from $3.16 billion in the prior-year period. Net sales were $22.52 billion, up 12.9% from $19.95 billion in the first nine months of 2010.

Wal-Mart Stores had positive news for analysts and investors gathered for the retailer’s annual meeting on Wednesday in Rogers, Ark. The chain said its same-store sales rose in July, August and September, reversing a two-year slump. It also announced that it plans to cut its capital spending in the United States, even as it increased cap spending abroad, as it continues to shift toward building smaller stores. 

Officials in Maryland's Montgomery County have issued a report blaming Home Depot, Lowe’s and Sears for failing to ensure that gas appliances installed by their subcontractors were inspected as required by law, according to an article in the Washington Post.

As part of its "Celebration of Service" initiative to honor U.S. military veterans, the Home Depot Foundation announced $1.425 million in grants to nonprofits dedicated to addressing the housing needs of veterans.  

The grant recipients are U.S.VETS, Center for Veterans Issues, The Jericho Project, Low Income Housing Institute and Renovating Hope. Across the country, these recipients provide more than 500 homes and apartments for veterans each year.