Content about Family Relation

While their two companies are in different fields, John Lundgren and his wife Tamara Lundgren both carry the tile CEO -- John of Stanley Black & Decker, Tamara of Schnitzer Steel.

Both executives appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Valentine’s Day to talk about their businesses.

A Phoenix businessman who sold two stores six years ago has opened Carl’s Ace Hardware Store, according to the Peoria (Ariz.) Times. 

The businessman, Steve Herrgesell, sold Ace Hardware Stores in Tempe and south Phoenix about six years ago. He also co-founded Peter Piper Pizza. He opened the new store, at 75th Ave. and Cactus Road with his son Carl and daughter in law, Faith.

Christian Miller Snavely, Jr., the chairman emeritus of Snavely Forest Products , World War II veteran and past chairman of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association died Oct. 24. He was 88.

Snavely is remembered by friends and colleagues as a generous and well-respected business leader. He was elected chairman of the industry trade association, NAWLA, which honored him with the prestigious Mulrooney Award for outstanding contributions to the forest products industry.

Knotts Hardware, a Tampa, Fla., area hardware store, shut down for good on Oct. 12, according to an article in The Tampa Tribune. Johnny Knotts, whose grandfather Ben founded the store in the 1950s, blamed a poor economy, competition from home improvement chain stores and declining commercial accounts.

Last year, the original 50 Home Channel News Hardware Store All-Star honorees established a high bar and a hard act to follow. But the 2012 crop rises to the challenge. This year’s Hardware Store All-Stars, one from each of the 50 U.S. states, have at least one thing in common: Ask them what makes them special and you can bet they’ll include “excellent customer service” in the answer. From there, every path to stardom is unique.

New Jersey pro dealer Madison Township Lumber & Supply Co. passed the half-century mark this year. 

Serving the entire Garen State, the single-unit location in Matawan, N.J., was founded in 1962 by Anthony J. Martorana Sr., who remains as CEO of the family business. His wife, Louise Ann, is CFO and son Anthony Jr. serves as VP sales and operations.

The dealer distributes BlueLinx I Joist and Billet Beams, hardware, lumber, millwork, Silver Line Windows and Benjamin Moore Paint. 

In March of 1945, Vernon Lester Carr started V.L. Carr & Son Pattern Co. in an old metal shop behind his house in Los Angeles. His son, Wendell Whittaker Carr, joined him later that year at the end of World War II after his return from serving as a patternmaker in the Navy. 

Today, CARR is a third-generation, family owned, American-made manufacturer headquartered in Southern California. 

In Kensington, Md., 90-year-old Mizell Lumber and Hardware, a company that once delivered plywood to the White House in a wagon drawn by horses, closed over the weekend.

One owner, Jeannine Mizell, described the struggles as a "slow death," according to a report at MyFoxdc.com.

San Antonio — The layoffs, bankruptcies, pay cuts and long hours that have cast a pall over the industry for the last several years were pushed aside for three days last month as LBM executives gathered here to greet old friends, catch up on gossip, and maybe learn a thing or two about how to run a better business. The 2011 ProDealer Industry Summit, co-sponsored by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) and Home Channel News, hosted 100-plus pro dealers and LBM distributors from more than 65 companies Oct. 26 to 28.

Springfield, Mass.-based Rocky’s Ace Hardware, a 33-store New England chain, is marking its 85th anniversary with a celebration culminating Oct. 19 to 24 with special events, including 85-cent sales and $85 gift-card giveaways.

Rocky’s was founded in 1926, by Rocco (Rocky) Falcone Sr., located at the corner of Main and Union Streets in downtown Springfield, Mass., and tradition of service remains in effect today at all Rocky’s stores from Florida to New Hampshire.

Joining the ranks of new Ace Hardware dealers is Ralph Peperone, a retired police lieutenant from New Orleans who plans to open a 10,322-sq.-ft. store in the town of Oakland, Tenn., according to an article in the Memphis Business Journal.

Corpus Christi, Texas — Most people who look at the rising condominiums along the beach at Port Aransas think “vacation.” But for executives at Zarsky Lumber, the thought is “opportunity.”