Content about Political geography

China as a retail frontier
(The following is a response to an article about Kingfisher’s efforts in China.)

“It took far too long for Kingfisher and HD to recognize that [China] is different and requires core rethinking. While the goal of improving living conditions is similar to western economies, the fact is that China jumped over many of the steps that led to big-box DIY in the West.

Building permits in Canada decreased 4.9% in September 2011 compared with August, marking the third consecutive monthly decline, according to Statistics Canada, the government’s national database. Permit activity fell in six provinces, led by British Columbia and Alberta.

The decline nationally was mainly attributable to both the residential and non-residential sectors in British Columbia and the non-residential sector in Alberta. Building permits increased in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.

Atlanta-based Home Depot opened its first store on the Caribbean island of St. Croix.

With a population of more than 50,000, St. Croix is one of the islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where a Home Depot has been open for several years on the island of St. Thomas. The company operates six stores on nearby Puerto Rico. 

The store has been described as the only new Home Depot store to open anywhere in the United States or its territories during the past 12 months.

Home Depot operates a total of 2,246 stores. 

Do it Best Corp. announced the soft opening of the first four Pongs Do it Best Home Centers in Jakarta, Indonesia, earlier this month.

With the openings in Indonesia, the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based co-op expanded its customer base to 50 countries.

The first-of-its-kind Home Channel News list of 50 hardware store all-stars appeared in the May issue of Home Channel News and recognized a diverse group of high-performance retailers -- large, small, urban and rural. Below, the state-by-state guide winds through Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Beijing New Building Material (Group) Co. (BNBM), China's largest new home and building materials manufacturer, is planning to open 10 new production facilities overseas by the year 2015, according to an article in China Daily. 

Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Do it Best Corp. signed a deal that will bring the Do it Best brand to Indonesia for the first time. The deal also landed Do it Best a partnership with Paulus Ong, who helped grow Ace Indonesia from three stores in 1999 to 45 stores in 2011.

Grand openings are planned for Aug. 3 for the first four Pongs Do it Best Hardware stores in Jakarta.

From New York's Island to the Redwood Forests, the great American hardware store maintains a revered place in commercial history of these United States. 

The May issue of Home Channel News compiled the first-ever Hardware Store All Star list. Here are three of the 50: standout stores from Alabama, Alaska and Arizona. 

• Alabama

Lowe’s is offering to ship products to residents of Guam -- a U.S. territory where it doesn’t have a store -- through its international service, according to an article in the Pacific Daily News. 

Customers in Guam can e-mail the company for products they would like to purchase, and Lowe's will have that item shipped to them, Mike Hsieh, Lowe's International sales specialist, told the newspaper. 

Home Depot has opened two new stores in Puebla, Mexico, at the combined cost of $14.5 million, according to a report in El Diario de Monterrey. 

Puebla, located 80 miles southeast of Mexico City, is the fourth largest city in Mexico. It has a population of 1.1 million. 

The latest opening brings Home Depot’s store count in Mexico to 85. Six of these units were opened in 2010, according to the newspaper.