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model so HWI members could get better volume pricing from vendors by buying together rather than on their own. Independent hardware stores became members of the cooperative and its sole shareholders as well. The first warehouse facility opened in 1948, and HWI added a private truck delivery system in
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Mike McClelland succeeded Don Wolf as president in 1992. During his tenure, the co-op expanded internationally, primarily in
Central and South America and the Caribbean. In 1998, HWI combined with Our Own Hardware, a Minnesota-based regional co-op. As a result of the merger, HWI changed its name to
384:, took over as president and CEO and has led the company into new markets supporting commercial/industrial and web-only businesses until his retirement in January 2016. Following Taylor's retirement in early 2016, Dan Starr became the company's fifth president and CEO.
356:. Do it Best Corp. is the second-largest co-op in the industry with over $ 5 billion in annual sales. Do it Best Corp. does not mandate store identities, so member-owners may or may not display the Do it Best brand name in their businesses.
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HWI was founded by Arnold
Gerberding in 1945 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the investments of 100 independent business owners in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Gerberding used the
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1955. When
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Don Wolf succeeded
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Thousands of member-owned locations throughout the United States and more than 50 other countries
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Do it Best Corp. In 2002, Bob Taylor, a former member-owner with stores in
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A major contributor to this article appears to have a
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522:Retailers' cooperatives in the United States
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53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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16:American hardware retailers' cooperative
542:Companies based in Fort Wayne, Indiana
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532:Retail companies established in 1945
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325:$ 5 billion
197:August 2014
511:Categories
479:2022-12-30
421:2014-06-14
396:References
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95:March 2023
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