Content about Merger

Building Material Distributors (BMD), a wholesale distributor of specialty building materials, on Monday announced its acquisition of Master Fasteners International and Fastener Source.

BMD will be merging Fastener Source and Master Fasteners under the single name of Master Fasteners International, and will operate the company as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMD. The acquisition of Master Fasteners, an importer and wholesaler of fine wire and pneumatic fasteners, will allow BMD to expand on their previously established market position within the fastener industry.

Sears quietly added all nine of its Great Indoors stores to the list of store closings on Feb. 23.

Store managers were informed on Thursday, a Sears spokeswoman confirmed, but no exact date has been given for the closings.  

The upscale remodeling and home décor stores began opening in 1998, long before the Sears and Kmart merger. At one point, Sears operated 20 of the units, but they were never a big moneymaker for the company. 

Kevin Peters, a former Home Depot executive, has been named president, North America of Office Depot. This new position combines North American Retail (NAR) and North American Business Solutions (BSD) divisions. He will be responsible for all customer-facing sales channels (retail, contract, direct and e-commerce) and P&L in North America.

New Britain, Conn.-based Stanley Black & Decker posted first quarter sales of $2.381 billion, up 89% from the year ago period -- thanks largely to the incremental sales achieved through Black & Decker.

The company, which marked its one -year anniversary of the Stanley and Black & Decker merger last month -- the companies merged March 12, 2010 -- said 71% of the sales increase was from Black & Decker, other acquisitions made up 9%, unit volume resulted in 7% growth, and currency rates added 2%.