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News
NEWS FOR WINTER 2009
VAL-TEST NEWS
The 2010 VAL-TEST SHOW invites went out and in spite of the economy, we are getting a good response.
We are expecting about 110 suppliers and 55 members to be in attendance. The VAL-TEST SHOW is the best
opportunity for our members and suppliers to make that point of contact with each other. Plus, the Show Specials
help to get everybody ready for the upcoming season.
During the Show, VAL-TEST members meet to discuss the Group's Marketing and Merchandising Plans and review new programs. The 2010 VAL-TEST SHOW will be January 24
thru the 27th at the NAPLES BEACH HOTEL in NAPLES, Florida. VAL-TEST Suppliers and members can register for the
Show on this web site. Otherwise, contact Joanne Luce at 847-285-6020 ext 109 for more information.
The VAL-TEST Economic Stimulus Program II has been a hit. We rolled it out in August and finished it in November.
There were 22 member participants, making it one of our larger promotions. The 2010 Economic Stimulus II Promotion
Participants were: Fargo Paint, Ginn Wilson, Leight Sales, Rafferty, Colladay Hardware, Cincinnati Color,
HIS Paint, Johnson Wholesale, RA Graham, See Bee Brush, L & D Distributing, Aubuchon Hdwe., HDI, Pacoa,
Paintland, ACO Hardware, Hamilton, Standard Hdwe, Kirk Kredell Co., Herzog Supply, Mike Cummimgs Co., and
Blackwood Supply.
So far this year, we have over 50 new suppliers and 3 new members.
INDUSTRY NEWS
The American Hardware Manufacturers Association announced that Stanley Works and Black and Decker merged;
with Stanley owning 50.5% of the new company, to be named "Stanley, Black, and Decker".
The Knoxville News Sentinel announced that House Hasson, in Partnership with Blish Mize, now owns
Moore Handley and the "Hardware House" brand of products.
Also, this Summer, Robert Bosch Tool Company announced their acquisition of LR Nelson.
It appears that Nelson and Gilmour will both have a larger presence in the manufacturing community of China.
This has not affected SPRAY DOC SPRAYERS or GILMOUR HOSE products.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Business is still Bad
Fall business has been up by about 4% over last year; however, this just may because home buyers rushed to get
their houses bought before the "First Time Buyers Credit" expired.
However, it should improve
An AHMA 10/06/09 article reported that The "Future Expectations" Index for home improvement projects rose dramatically.
A recent News Fax Article says that this optimism is because of "Favorable financing costs".
But only Modestly
Both the AHMA and the NEWS FAX articles predict only a mild turnaround in the spring of 2010.
Since we moved a great deal of our production to China, an increase in global demand will not improve our
employment as it has in the past.
Ed-Op
Manufacturers have had mixed emotions about the OLYMPICS going to Rio instead of Chicago. On the one hand,
all of that construction would be nice. But the non-construction suppliers breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Do you remember the 1996 Atlanta Olympics? Home Depot was the only one hitting up the manufacturers for
sponsorship money. Imagine what it would be like with ACE, True Value, Sears, and Menards all headquartered
near Chicago.
NEWS FOR LATE SUMMER OF 2009
Losing a fair amount of the Spring to bad weather doesn't help L&G and Paint, but,
Maintenance and Repair is at least steady. Let’s hope that Mother Nature
cooperates for the remainder of the year. Energy Savers, Green Products,
and Stay-cations will continue to be the hottest categories.
Since our Show in Naples, we exhibited and attended the WORLD OF CONCRETE, and The NATIONAL
HARDWARE SHOW. We also co-hosted the GROUP MERCHANDISING CONFERENCE with THE
PRO GROUP in ATLANTA GA. and attended the MAATS Show in Orlando.
While the WORLD OF CONCRETE was smaller than usual, it was still very large and well
attended. We met with new members and were able to secure programs with four
new vendors.
The NATIONAL HARDWARE SHOW was also smaller than before, but in this case we had no
competition for supplier attention. Several attending VAL-TEST members helped
us get new programs with six new suppliers.
Most recently, we formed a HARDWARE MERCHANDISING COMMITTEE at the GMC in Atlanta. The committee was made up of LEIGHT SALES, AUBUCHON HARDWARE, HARTLINE HARDWARE, COLLADAY HARDWARE,
RA GRAHAM, KIRK KREDELL COMPANY, AND HARDWARE DISTRIBUTORS INC. After meeting with 50
suppliers, we reviewed 30, and are securing programs with ten of them.
Since the VAL-TEST ECONOMIC STIMULUS PROMOTION went so well, we are sponsoring "VAL-TEST
ECONOMIC STIMULUS II". This large Promotion is being run in a similar
fashion to the first one, with participation from 75 suppliers, 20 members, and
about 170 dealers.
We are also putting the 2010 VAL-TEST SHOW together. In spite of the Economy, we
already have a large number of members and suppliers who plan to attend, many
of them will be new. In particular we are expecting 3 new Hardware and
Sundries members, and 8 new Décor Members.
Hang in there, and keep promoting ... Russell Meeks
News For the First Half of 2009
As 2009 gets underway, we want to first acknowledge our friends and co-workers who
have been consolidated out of their jobs by this economy. We wish them well,
and pray to see them back in the industry.
The VAL-TEST Show is an annual Positive Start to each year.
This year's Show featured 115 VAL-TEST suppliers, 50 VAL-TEST members and 8 PRO
Group members. While we were down 5 suppliers and 5 members, the show orders
were almost even with last year. Pent-up demand caused by slim inventories and
bad weather helped to prop things up.
The Booth sessions are the best opportunity that our Members and Suppliers have to
make plans for the year. The discussions were cautiously positive, and
the most common theme that we heard was that business was slow but steady.
At the Member meeting, we reviewed 2008. We announced 4 new members, 31 new
suppliers, and 14 accrued volume rebates. We also discussed current program
issues. The suppliers who had the best growth in 2008 were, The Plastics
Group, Stanley National, Reaves, and Dynamic Products. Also, during the
member meeting, we previewed our marketing plans for 2009
Normally, our members use the Show Specials to load up for the intrinsic demand of the
Spring Season. Unfortunately, this year's spring demand may not be so
intrinsic. And, while we have faith in our new President's Economic Stimulus
Plan, we know that it will take time to work. If our members are going to sell
the products that they bought on Show Special, they will need to create some
new demand. So we decided to introduce a Stimulus Program of our own.
We are running Economic Stimulus Circulars for 30 members who attended the Show.
This is a March and April promotion that features the products that were put on
Show Special. This is the largest number of circulars that we have run at one
time. Between the Show, and our Economic Stimulus Promotion, we are providing
our Members and Suppliers a real one-two punch to our 2009 first half sales.
During the Annual Group Net Working Reception, three outstanding people were
acknowledged for their contributing efforts. Annual Supplier Appreciation
Awards went to: Mike Martin of Midwest Fastener, and John Avgoustis of DQB.
The Annual Member Appreciation Award went to Ed Glowark of Blackwood Supply.
Thank You, and Congratulations to these award winners, they join a 'who's who'
of Industry Icons who have taken home these awards.
50 Suppliers participated in our Annual New Products Show Case. Attending Members
voted for their favorites. The race was tight, and the winners were: Tray
Products, for their TrayStation adjustable leg, Tool and Paint Tray, and Stringliner
Company for their Cord Wiz Pro, power cord winders.
The Weather was great, (75 degrees and partly cloudy), The sunsets were
spectacular---The Shrimp was plump, the Tenderloin was tender. ----The Meetings
were informative, the Show Specials were sharp, Orders were timely, and the
Plans were positive.
Thank you again to those who participated. With the economy being what it is we are especially
grateful for attendance.
The 2010 VAL-TEST Show and Member Meeting will also be held at the Naples Beach
Resort. It is our intensions to make this upcoming event the BEST ever.
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