Content about True Value

From Ace's John Venhuizen

Chicago-based True Value Co. recognized 13 True Value hardware stores, selected from each of the co-op’s retail regions, as winners of its sixth annual “Best Hardware Store in Town” program. 

The 13 winning stores for 2012 are:

Among the top 10 companies on the 2012 Home Channel News Industry Scoreboard, none grew faster than Brentwood, Tenn.-based Tractor Supply. The farm-and-ranch lifestyle provider showed a 16.3% sales increase and an overall ranking of seventh on the Top 300 retailer list.

Rural King Supply of Mattoon, Ill., moved up the list from 25th to 22nd. Also moving up the rankings were Atwood Ranch & Home of Enid, Okla., and Bomgaars Supply of Sioux City, Iowa.

Salt Lake City – The good news about True Value’s Top 10 list of things retailers have to do to win in today’s world is that many retailers are already doing them.

The bad news is that the list might change.

When Mike Clark, True Value’s senior VP and chief merchandising officer, talks about growth areas, he points to canning, he points to pet food. He points to strength in these warm times, of anything that moves cool air through a ouse, or moves water around the yard.

But Clark seems most excited about initiatives in farm and ranch. 

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.

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.

True Value has appointed Kathleen Guion to its board of directors as an outside member effective August 2012. With more than 13 years of C-level experience, Guion has played pivotal roles in corporate turnarounds, leveraged buyouts and an initial public offering. Her experience takes in the implementation of new technologies in retail real estate development and operations.

Northwest True Value Hardware, a Roanoke-based chain of six retail outlets, will open a new store near Ridgeway in early 2013, according to an article in the Martinsville Bulletin.

The 20,000-sq.-ft. structure will carry traditional hardware categories, lawn and garden, Benjamin Moore Paint, and niche items such as the Lodge Cast Iron brand of cookware, an American-made product.

Beyond Hardware True Value will officially and formally open its second upstate New York store during a two-day event slated to begin June 8.

The store is the second Beyond Hardware True Value. Owners Matt Shapiro and Jim Marsh opened the first in 2009 in Penfield, N.Y.

The new store follows the Destination True Value design and merchandising format. The owners also cultivated a female-friendly environment, including a “Demos for Divas” consumer education program.

True Value Co.’s rental team brought together more than 100 supplier representatives, rental operators and store associates to take part in its second regional Rental Demo Day event in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

Chicago-based True Value has posted first-quarter revenue of $448.2 million, up 0.1% from $447.8 million in the same period a year ago. The cooperative posted a net margin of $8.1 million in the quarter ended March 31, the same as the year-ago period.