Content about Social Issues

U.S. employers increasingly rely on incentives to drive participation in health programs and to encourage employees and their families to take better care of themselves, according to survey findings from Aon Hewitt.

A small-town Virginia hardware store that is involved in a lawsuit with its co-op will close Friday, according to a report in the Washington Post.

Even though he’s appearing on a prime time, national television commercial, Beyond Hardware True Value owner Matt Shapiro hasn’t gone Hollywood.

“I have to admit, I did very little besides show up and read my lines,” he said.

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.

Rallying the troops during the Ace Fall Convention and Exhibits, chairman Dave Ziegler showed the early morning general session audience a video clip of Ace COO John Venhuizen wielding a Home Channel News magazine.

In the magazine was a quote from a Home Depot executive about leading the industry in convenience and service. Venhuizen responded by channeling defiant former NRA spokesman Charlton Heston: Ace will relinquish the title of most convenient “when they can peel it out of our cold dead hands.”

The mixing of paint and primer together, in the same can, has swept through the coatings industry like no other innovation. Almost every manufacturer and retailer has added a version of this product to its assortment, although some have done so reluctantly. Within the paint industry, many dismiss paint-and-primer combos as a marketing ploy that raises the price of a gallon of paint. Others say it can save time and money and has a rightful place as a consumer option.

From the outside, the Mount Prospect, Ill., True Value hardware store looks a lot like any other True Value store. It’s only 2 years old, so the sign above the door appears extra bright red and white.

When you walk through the entrance, it still looks a lot like most of the Chicago-based co-op’s fashion-forward Destination True Value format stores. At 12,600 sq. ft., it’s a little bigger than most. The registers are ringing up front, and a racetrack is punctuated by 38 endcaps promoting product, as well as ideas for the home.

Sales of existing single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops rose 2.3% in July to an adjusted annual rate of 4.47 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Chicago -- Ace Hardware supplied several growth-minded statistics to members during the co-op’s Fall Market general session, which was heavy on strategy initiatives and inspirational messages for store owners.

The paint department figured heavily in the Thursday morning presentation. So did payment systems, logistics and -- as one would expect -- the concept of customer service as delivered by a friendly store. 

Of all the statistics Ace Hardware CEO Ray Griffith presented during the co-op’s Fall Market general session, the one he seemed to be most enthusiastic about focused on simple geography.

He said about 50% of the United States population lives within three miles of an Ace store. “That means there’s plenty of room for growth,” he said.

Handy Hardware Wholesales San Antonio market, Aug. 10 to 12, saw an attendance increase of 11.2% over 2011, the Houston-based hardware co-op reported. 

Handy gave away six Toyota Tundra trucks during the market weekend, and it expects warehouse sales from the event will be at an all-time high, said Mickey Schulte, VP marketing and purchasing.

A new report shows a 21% annual increase in cash balance "hybrid" retirement plans in the United States between 2009 and 2010 (the most recent year for which IRS reporting data is available), almost double the previous year’s 11 percent growth rate. Cash balance plans continued to outpace all other sectors of the retirement plan market, according to the 2012 Cash Balance Research Report from Kravitz, a provider of retirement plan management services.