{"id":2834,"date":"2013-04-18T14:11:50","date_gmt":"2013-04-18T14:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom.chainstoreguide.com\/?p=2834"},"modified":"2013-04-18T14:11:50","modified_gmt":"2013-04-18T14:11:50","slug":"industry-news-home-center-and-hardware-chains-april-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/2013\/04\/industry-news-home-center-and-hardware-chains-april-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry News: Home Center and Hardware Chains \u2013 April 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Personnel Update<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ace Hardware Corp<\/strong>. announced that John Venhuizen has been named President and CEO of the hardware cooperative. The appointment is part of a strategic leadership transition that was announced last fall. \u00a0\u00a0In September, Venhuizen was named President and COO of Ace Hardware, while Ace\u2019s outgoing leader Ray Griffith maintained the title of CEO.<\/p>\n

Beacon Roofing Supply<\/strong> has appointed Joseph Nowicki as Exec VP, CFO and Treasurer.<\/p>\n

Handy Hardware Wholesale<\/strong> Senior Director of Retail Development, Lynn Bradley, is out at Handy Hardware<\/strong>, due to a cost-cutting move according to the Houston-based co-op.<\/p>\n

Home Depot<\/strong> announced that now former JC Penney<\/strong> VP Strategic Marketing Lisa DeStefano-Orebaugh has accepted the VP Marketing and Brand Management position at Home Depot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Lowe\u2019s<\/strong> has named Sylvain Prud\u2019homme as President of Lowe\u2019s Canada. He replaces Alan Huggins, who is returning to the United States as Lowe\u2019s VP International Operations.<\/p>\n

Rona<\/strong> has named Robert Sawyer President and CEO.<\/p>\n

True Value Co<\/strong>. tapped Brent Burger, owner of hardware stores in Maine, as Chairman of the Board.\u00a0 Burger replaces outgoing Chairman Brian Webb, owner of Krueger\u2019s True Value in Neenah, Wis. and Grand Rental Station in Appleton, Wis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Financial Focus:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ace Hardware Corp<\/strong>. posted fiscal 2012 revenues of $3.8 billion, up 3.6% from the previous year.<\/p>\n

Pier 1 Imports<\/strong>\u00a0reported that for the fiscal year ended March 2, 2013, total sales increased 11.2% to $1.705 billion from $1.534 billion last fiscal year.<\/p>\n

True Value<\/strong> reported gross billings of $1,884.9 million, an increase of 1.1 percent or $20.1 million for the same period a year ago, for the year ending Dec. 29, 2012.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mergers and Acquisitions:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

PPG Industries<\/strong> has finalized the acquisition of the North American architectural coatings business of Akzo Nobel N.V<\/strong>., Amsterdam, in a deal valued at $1.05 billion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sleepy’s<\/strong> was confirmed as the winning bidder for the 80-store<\/strong> Mattress Discounters chain in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Industry Insight:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron’s <\/strong>announced that the company plans to open 125 stores in 2013 and hire 750 new employees.<\/p>\n

Floor and Decor Outlets of America<\/strong> has announced plans to expand its Midwest presence with the openings of two more stores in the Metropolitan Chicago area. The first will be in Arlington Heights, Ill., on April 18. \u00a0The grand opening of the store in Aurora, Ill., will follow this summer.\u00a0 Like the company’s store in Lombard, Ill., the Arlington Heights location will feature a 90,000-sq.-ft. showroom and will employ 50 to 75 people.<\/p>\n

Leslie\u2019s Poolmart<\/strong> opened 15 Leslie\u2019s Swimming Pool Supplies stores across 10 states, as part of the company\u2019s plan to open 48 new stores this spring.<\/p>\n

Marvin’s Building Materials<\/strong> and Home Centers announced plans to open its 28th store, and its second in Tennessee.\u00a0 The store is expected to open in June 2013.<\/p>\n

Menard<\/strong> opened two stores near St. Louis — one in St. Peter’s, Mo., and the other in O’Fallen, Ill.<\/p>\n

Ocean Shore Hardware<\/strong>\u2019s owners have changed the company name to Hassett Ace Hardware feeling that the time is right to honor the family history by using the Hassett name.<\/p>\n

Pier 1 Imports<\/strong>\u00a0expects approximately 30 store openings and 14 closings\/relocations for a net increase of 16 stores as it begins fiscal 2014.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Green Initiatives\/Sustainability<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

IKEA\u00a0<\/strong>has plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its distribution center in Perryville, Md.<\/p>\n

The 768,972-sq.-ft. PV array consists of a 2,674.9-kW system, built with 18,576 panels, and is the state\u2019s largest rooftop array. The IKEA distribution center will produce approximately 3,397,178 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 2,397 tons of carbon dioxide, eliminating the emissions of 499 cars or powering 359 homes yearly.<\/p>\n

This installation represents the furniture retailer\u2019s 36th completed solar project in the United States, with three more locations underway, making the eventual U.S. solar presence of Ikea nearly 90% of its U.S. locations with a total generation of 38 MW. IKEA owns and operates each of its solar PV energy systems atop its buildings — as opposed to a solar lease or power purchase agreement — and globally has allocated $1.8 billion to invest in renewable energy through 2015. This investment reinforces the long-term commitment of Ikea to sustainability and confidence in photovoltaic technology. Consistent with the company\u2019s goal of being energy independent by 2020, Ikea has installed more than 250,000 solar panels on buildings across the world and owns\/operates approximately 110 wind turbines in Europe.<\/p>\n

IKEA, drawing from its Swedish heritage and respect of nature, believes it can be a good business while doing good business and aims to minimize impacts on the environment. Globally, Ikea evaluates locations regularly for conservation opportunities, integrates innovative materials into product design, works to maintain sustainable resources and flat-packs goods for efficient distribution. Specific U.S. sustainable efforts include recycling waste material; incorporating environmental measures into the actual buildings with energy-efficient HVAC and lighting systems, recycled construction materials, skylights in warehouse areas and water-conserving restrooms; and operationally, eliminating plastic bags from the check-out process, phasing-out the sale of incandescent light bulbs and facilitating recycling of customers\u2019 compact fluorescent bulbs. IKEA has installed electric vehicle charging stations at nine stores in the Western U.S., and by 2016 will go L.E.D. by selling and using light bulbs that are only L.E.D.<\/p>\n

Constructed on 278 acres in the community of Perryville, in Northern Md.\u2019s Cecil County, this 1.7 million-sq.-ft. Ikea distribution center began operations in 2002, employs approximately 550 coworkers and currently helps provide inventory to many U.S. Ikea stores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Personnel Update: Ace Hardware Corp. announced that John Venhuizen has been named President and CEO of the hardware cooperative. The appointment is part of a strategic leadership transition that was announced last fall. \u00a0\u00a0In September, Venhuizen was named President and COO of Ace Hardware, while Ace\u2019s outgoing leader Ray Griffith maintained the title of CEO.… Continue reading Industry News: Home Center and Hardware Chains \u2013 April 2013<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"post-template-no-sidebar.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-2834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-hardware","tag-eupdate","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}