DATATRAC: Home Center and Hardware Chains – October 2016

DATATRAC

Personnel Updates

• Do it Best Corp. promoted Jean Fahy to Division Manager for Building Materials Supply. In a related move, Joe Corah becomes Division Manager for Building Materials Purchasing. Corah retains ownership of the bulk-commodities vendor relationships.

• Pirch, the luxury kitchen and bath retailer, assigned company President Andrea Dorigo the additional role of CEO.

Industry Insight

• Sears Holdings Corp. has fielded interest from a range of companies, including Stanley Black & Decker Inc. in regard to a sale of its Craftsman brand.

• True Value paint-related announcements on the heels of its 2016 Fall Reunion include an alliance with Benjamin Moore, which will see the Colorado brand hit True Value shelves and a deal with DreamWorks to carry 24 EasyCare colors tied to the new Trolls movie.

• True Value plans to have direct-to-consumer fulfillment capabilities in place by January that will reach 90%+ of the country. To make it happen, the organization will open three new warehouses by the end of January.

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Central True Value in Moncks Corner, SC was acquired by Central Network Retail Group and will be rebranded as a Marvin’s location (the 28^th). 

• Guardian Building Products acquired Hawkeye Building Distributors.

• PRO Group and Reliable Distributors plan to merge.

• Tractor Supply Co. acquired 100% equity in Petsense LLC a specialty pet supply retailer with 136 locations in 25 states.

Real Estate

• Busy Beaver purchased Latrobe (PA) True Value Hardware, its second True Value store. Busy Beaver will remodel four of its 16 stores in 2017 and another 4 in 2018. The company will also open a new home improvement center in Elkins, WV.

• Home Hardware Center opened a new store in Monroe, LA, its 22^nd location.

• Orchard Supply Hardware makes its East Coast debut next week with the opening of a Fort Lauderdale, FL store. That opening will be followed by three more South Florida store openings before year’s end and an unspecified number of additional stores in 2017.

• Westlake Ace opened its 10^th Texas store (Carrollton, TX).