True value hardware filing bankruptcy

[JOCCO]

Surprised yes, can't believe it has not been brought up on here. Guess they are selling to Do IT Best. We used to have 2-3 hardware stores in various towns now down to one, as a rule. not sure what effects it will have overall. share your thoughts.

 

[shaun wallace]

In my area Ace Hardware has blown in here with stores about as thick as Dollar General.

 

[DoubleO7]

Surprised yes, can't believe it has not been brought up on here. Guess they are selling to Do IT Best. We used to have 2-3 hardware stores in various towns now down to one, as a rule. not sure what effects it will have overall. share your thoughts.

I knew a family that had True Value store(s) since the sixties until about 2000. First in a town of 2500 and then sold it and bought one in a town of 25,000.

At least back then, they were all franchises. Not company stores, I believe Ace and Do it are the same.
Franchisees come and go.

 

[Mule Meat]

Our local Ace Hardware started selling Do It Best products years ago. About a year ago they made another change and got rid of all the hand tools and started selling cheap Century branded garbage. They even got rid of all their DeWalt, Milwaukee, Delta etc tools and started selling crap that looks cheaper than you can find at Harbor Freight.

They have lost so much business I do not see how they are still open.

 

[JOCCO]

In my area Ace Hardware has blown in here with stores about as thick as Dollar General.

We used to have ace, sentry, trustworthy and few others they are no longer in immediate are. Still a few independent stores. But very few.

 

[JOCCO]

I knew a family that had True Value store(s) since the sixties until about 2000. First in a town of 2500 and then sold it and bought one in a town of 25,000.

At least back then, they were all franchises. Not company stores, I believe Ace and Do it are the same.
Franchisees come and go.

Local guy bought a small true value put 1/2 to 1 million in expansion and added a few other businesses too. I would hate to be him right now. I have known him all his life but rarly go in there prices are wild.

 

[JOCCO]

Our local Ace Hardware started selling Do It Best products years ago. About a year ago they made another change and got rid of all the hand tools and started selling cheap Century branded garbage. They even got rid of all their DeWalt, Milwaukee, Delta etc tools and started selling crap that looks cheaper than you can find at Harbor Freight.

They have lost so much business I do not see how they are still open.

I do miss Ace when we had them they were pretty good.

 

[Buckhammer]

We have a Do It Best hardware store in our town. This past summer i needed 8 lag screws for a project. The Do It Best hardware store is half the distance from my home than the TSC store so i bought the screws at the Do It Best. $5 for 8 screws. The next day i needed another 8 screws of the same size but was going by the TSC store so i stopped and bought them there. .94 cents for the same 8 screws at TSC.

 

[chcase]

Surprised yes, can't believe it has not been brought up on here. Guess they are selling to Do IT Best. We used to have 2-3 hardware stores in various towns now down to one, as a rule. not sure what effects it will have overall. share your thoughts.

A whole lot of years ago when zi worked for a true value store I met John Cotter who started the true value stores. Very down to earth person. Hard to imagine what he would think of this??

 

[BobTx]

At one time I worked in an independent owned hardware store that displayed the Ace logo. Ace kept pushing the owner to computerize and sell the full line of Ace pre-packaged items. When the owner refused Ace made him take down all the Ace signs, but we still ordered many lines from the Ace catalog. We also ordered direct from wholesalers and some manufacturers. When the owner finally sold it went to the name of Westlake Hardware and carried the full Ace lines of pre-packaged to hang on peg hooks. Really hurt the business because we carried the individual items that Ace did not have in their warehouse. BobTx

 

[Mcrafty1]

Brick and mortar stores have been on the way out for a while now, the election infection finished many off. When they forced everyone to stay home the internet sales delivered to our door was the only way to get through that nightmare. Sad to see it go that way but I don't see it getting any better. Why make the trip to the local brick and mortar when you can get the same chineesium junk (which most local stores have now) delivered to your door. I miss the America I grew up in.

 

[M-MAN]

Hate hearing that. Western Auto used to sell True Value stuff as well as Sears. All our hardware stores have been gone. I have to drive 40 minutes to get to one now. Two of our neighboring counties have well stocked Ace stores but the oddball stuff is no more.

 

[Vito]

Didn't Do It Best inject money or buy them ?

Vito

 

[ss55]

Surprised yes, can't believe it has not been brought up on here. Guess they are selling to Do IT Best. We used to have 2-3 hardware stores in various towns now down to one, as a rule. not sure what effects it will have overall. share your thoughts.

Most former Coast to Coast stores in the upper Midwest switched to True Value when Coast to Coast shut down about fifteen years ago. This is not a new trend, it started in the 1990's when the internet became popular. Small towns under five thousand people will likely be affected the most, although there are still plenty of other stores selling the most common household hardware items. Many farms are now big enough to have accounts with industrial suppliers like Motion Industries, Fastenal, and McMaster-Carr. Ag dealers and auto parts stores will ship or deliver to their steady customers for far less cost than driving to their store.

Between big box lumber stores, big retailers like Fleet Farm, Walmart and Runnings, and also Amazon and the rest of the internet it has been well over ten years since I have been inside a conventional hardware store. Small hardware stores time was before shopping on the internet became convenient.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Didn't Do It Best inject money or buy them ?

Vito

Do It Best is in the process of acquiring True Value. These things don't happen instantly like buying a broom at True Value for example.

 

[UncleTom]

Ace has it, but i cant afford to shop there.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Most former Coast to Coast stores in the upper Midwest switched to True Value when Coast to Coast shut down about fifteen years ago. This is not a new trend, it started in the 1990's when the internet became popular. Small towns under five thousand people will likely be affected the most, although there are still plenty of other stores selling the most common household hardware items. Many farms are now big enough to have accounts with industrial suppliers like Motion Industries, Fastenal, and McMaster-Carr. Ag dealers and auto parts stores will ship or deliver to their steady customers for far less cost than driving to their store.

Between big box lumber stores, big retailers like Fleet Farm, Walmart and Runnings, and also Amazon and the rest of the internet it has been well over ten years since I have been inside a conventional hardware store. Small hardware stores time was before shopping on the internet became convenient.

Unfortunately you can't make people shop at a certain place because "it's for their own good" or any other reason. These local places just can't be competitive on price, with rents and taxes and insurance, and people generally won't pay more for "convenience."

The big corporations can just throw their weight around and play games with their money, though that doesn't always work... Even the big box stores can fail. There was a Lowes right across from a Home Depot in Batavia NY. They had to close the Lowes.

 

[JD Dave]

We lost our local independent hardware store which was True Value almost two years ago. He had Stihl and some high quality lawn and garden makes of equipment. He said he just couldn't compete with the big box stores around which are mostly Lowes and Home Depot. Sad, as we've lost the convenience and home-town touch.

 

[Steven Allen]

The town to the west of us lost their best independent to Lowes when it came in. Lowes now faces Menards; a feller needs to go to both because what one doesn't have, the other does. There is still a Meeks, but they cater to contractors. A little guy can still shop there, but the costs are higher and the stock less extensive.

The town also enjoys two farm stores: a Dickeybub, which is a largish, regional chain, and a Family Center, which is part of a small, regional chain. Family center caters to the horsey set but has a great selection of hardware and some tractor supplies and a good selection of fencing, etc. Their plumbing section is small, but I bought my last water heater there because it had what I wanted and at a good price, too. Dickeybub is more upscale and has more traditional plumbing and electrical as well as a good selection of firearms and household/small homestead animal feed and gear. Both sell Stihl; Family Center sells Cub Cadet, DeWalt, and Milwaukee.

There are two or three (I think another just went in) contractor supply electrical and plumbing outfits, too. There is also a Fastenal.

All in all, that town has a pretty good mix, but I do miss the independent that died when Lowes came in.

To the east of me, a much smaller town has an independent--well, one store in a small, local chain--but it stocks sorta like Meeks. It is closer, so we shop there when we head in that direction.

Prices are all over the place. It pays--but not too much!--to shop around. I don't buy much hardware over the 'net. I did have to buy one fitting for a gas line when I put in our fireplace last year. Everyone had a bin for that size, but no one had one in stock or knew when one might come in. I actually got it off eBay. Kinda hard to buy lumber online ;-).

 

[Mark-Ia]

Menards, Lowes, Home Depot have pretty much killed the smaller hardware stores