Gary Register and Joy Smith (click to enlarge)		PRO GROUP EMPLOYEES CELEBRATE TEN YEARS OF SERVICE Gary Register has been with PRO Group Distribution Services Inc., a PRO Group affiliate, since 1995 as director of special markets and currently as general manager. Prior to PRO Group, Gary was a senior buyer for Super Value and Buyers Club; merchandise manager/buyer for Fleming GMD and Associated Grocers of Colorado; grocery store assistant manager; auditor and
group store supervisor. Gary has also been a member of the General Merchandise Distributors Council. Joy Smith has been with PRO Group, Inc. since 1995 as merchandise manager over house- wares, lawn & garden, and farm & agricultural supply. Prior to PRO Group, Joy first became interested in a merchandising career while working during college for Whites Auto in her hometown, Wichita Falls, Texas as senior buyer. In addition, Joy was a buyer/merchandise manager for Half Price Stores, Fred's Dollar Stores, Pace Membership Warehouse, Coast to Coast, and ServiStar.

HOME CHANNEL COMPANIES RANK HIGH AMONG EMPLOYEES
More than half a dozen companies in the home channel are among the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" for 2006, as ranked by Fortune magazine. The Container Store, the storage and organization product retailer, ranked sixth on the list; followed by manufacturer SC Johnson, ranked 10th; David Weekley Homes, ranked 24th; window and door maker Pella, ranked 44th; paint manufacturer and retailer Sherwin-Williams, ranked 61st; Swedish home furnishings retailer Ikea, ranked 96th; and metal-processing company Worthington Industries, ranked 84th. The companies are selected and ranked based on an evaluation of their policies and culture, and also the opinions of the company's employees. In fact, two-thirds of the total score comes from employee responses to a survey that addresses everything from management, job satisfaction, and camaraderie. The entire list of 100 companies will be published in the January 23 issue of Fortune.

PRO Hardware Merchandise Committee reviews a Vendor’s Target Vendor Program (click to enlarge)		PRO DISTRIBUTORS ATTEND MERCHANDISE COMMITTEE MEETING Distributor Members of PRO Group, Inc. met in Denver for the 2006 PRO Hardware Merchandise Committee Meeting. "Distributors as a group reported good sales and profit performance in 2005," said Dick Frame, senior merchandise manager for PRO Group, Inc. Among the Distributor best practices presentations was an overview from George Hebert of the Providence,
Rhode Island-based Blackstone Supply Company, who shared with the group his company's strategy for promoting merchandise specials and clip strips. Seventeen Manufacturers made presentations. The committee discussed in-store merchandising ideas and selected new target Vendors. Another topic was direct importing commodities. The attendees also heard presentations from new Vendors to the group and current Vendors with enhanced programs. The Merchandise Committee will meet again in June.

POWER TOOL SALES PROJECTED TO MAINTAIN STRENGTH
The power tool market is projected to continue its current growth spurt and surpass sales of $11 billion by 2010, according to a report by Specialists in Business Information (SBI). With sales topping $8.6 billion in 2005, SBI projects the market for saws, sanders, drills, planers, routers, and other power tools will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 5.1 percent over the next five years. Although electric saws and pneumatic hand-nailers have led sales, future growth will depend on the success of the cordless power tools segment, the report states. Market-wide design and power source innovations such as improved dust collection, laser-enabled products, ergonomic enhancements, the inclusion of lithium-ion batteries, and re-designs allowing multiple tools to share the same battery source have been critical to invigorating the market. Specialists in Business Information (SBI), a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes research reports in the industrial, construction, materials, and consumer goods markets.

FARM MART Meeting guest speaker, Carol Ekarius of Hobby Farms magazine, spoke on the hobby farmer. (click to enlarge)		SELLING TO HOBBY FARMERS KEY TOPIC AT FARM?MART VENDOR SHOWCASE MEETING FARM MART Distributors met with key farm and ranch category manufacturers in Denver at the annual FARM MART Vendor Showcase on January 11 and 12. The meeting at the Summerfield Suites Hotel included individual meetings between Distributors and attending Vendors targeting farm and ranch, and garden retailers. Brendan Sullivan, managing director for FARM MART and Joy Smith,
PRO Group merchandise manager, led the Distributors in group discussions about new products and marketing tools, along with the FARM MART advertising program. Key product categories marketed by FARM MART Distributors include animal health, feed & seed, fencing, lawn & garden, pet supplies and farm hardware. "One of the main topics of discussion at the FARM MART meeting was how the growth of hobby farming is impacting the farm and ranch industry," Sullivan said. He added that Carol Ekarius, an author and contributing editor for Hobby Farms magazine, gave a presentation about marketing to hobby farmers. Sullivan mentioned that several of the executives representing FARM MART Distributors at the meeting are hobby farmers themselves. "The face of the farmer continues to change," Sullivan said. "There is a shift toward hobby farms and people with larger amounts of disposable income owning farms. They are very internet savvy and they are starving for knowledge. As Distributors and as Retailers, we need to get ahead of the curve both from a merchandising and advertising standpoint to help meet consumers' needs and help fill that void of knowledge. It's a tremendous opportunity."

AHMA APPOINTS NEW MARKETING EXECUTIVE
Connie Dyer, a marketing executive in the real estate industry, has been hired as vice president-marketing and communications for the American Hardware Manufacturers Association (AHMA). Dyer's responsibilities at the AHMA will include member services marketing, public relations, media relations, events marketing and community relations.

COOPER APPOINTS NEW TOOLS AND HARDWARE PRESIDENT
Cooper Industries has appointed Gary Masse as group president, Cooper Tools & Hardware. In his new position, Masse will be responsible for the Cooper hand tools business unit headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina and the Cooper power tools organization headquartered in Lexington, South Carolina.

BMHC KEY EXECUTIVE RETIRES
Building Materials Holding Corporation (BMHC) announced on January 3 that Ellis Goebel, senior vice president business development and investor relations, has retired effective December 31, 2005. He will serve as an advisor to the company for one year. Mark Kailer, vice president and treasurer, has assumed responsibility for investor relations. Business development responsibilities will be assumed by BMHC's wholly owned operating subsidiaries BMC West and BMC Construction.

FORMER WAL-MART EXECUTIVE TO PLEAD GUILTY
Wal-Mart vice chairman Tom Coughlin has agreed to plead guilty to federal wire-fraud and tax-evasion charges in January, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Under terms of the deal, Coughlin will plead guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion, the report said. A court hearing on the plea deal is set for later in January. Coughlin left the company in 2005 amid accusations he misappropriated as much as $500,000 from Wal-Mart Stores.

HOME DEPOT BUYS CHEM-DRY AND HUGHES SUPPLY
The Home Depot has started 2006 on a shopping spree. On January 9, the retailer announced it had acquired Chem-Dry and on January 10 announced it will buy Hughes Supply, a distributor of construction, repair and maintenance products. Terms of the Chem-Dry deal were not disclosed. Depot will pay about $3.2 billion for Hughes Supply.

SEARS SAME-STORE SALES OFF 12 PERCENT
Sears Holdings Corp. announced domestic same-store sales for the nine weeks ended December 31, 2005 declined 11.9 percent at its Sears stores and increased 1.0 percent at Kmart stores. In a press release, the company said the Sears results reflected a "reduction in certain promotional events intended to improve gross margin and poor apparel sales due to weaker than anticipated customer response to fashion offerings." The retailer also said that it expects fourth quarter net income for the period ending January 28, 2006 to be between $570 million and $635 million.

MORE HOUSEHOLDS SHOP FOR CARPET, APPLIANCES AND FURNITURE
The number of U.S. households actively shopping for carpeting, furniture and major appliances in December totaled 21 percent. That figure marked a slight increase of one percentage point compared with November, and a six percentage-point jump over the year-ago poll, according to a monthly national survey conducted by Leo J. Shapiro and Associates in Chicago. For more details on the poll data, check out Home Channel News' How the Consumer Feels.

CONSTRUCTION SPENDING UP IN NOVEMBER TO RECORD LEVELS
Construction spending in November rose to a record $1.146 trillion annual rate, according to the latest Commerce Department report released January 3, 2006. Government spending to build schools, highways and sewers offset a slight drop in homebuilding, according to the report. Through the first 11 months of 2005, construction spending was nine percent above 2004 levels.

EXISTING HOME SALES TREND LOWER
Total existing home sales fell 1.7 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.97 million units from 7.09 million in October. Sales were 0.1 percent below the 6.98 million-unit rate of November 2004. Single-family home sales fell 1.9 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.11 million from 6.23 million in October, and were 0.5 percent below a 6.14 million-unit pace in November 2004. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $215,000 in November, up 13.2 percent from November 2004 when the median was $190,000.

UPCOMING DISTRIBUTOR SHOW DATES
 

Bradley Caldwell, Inc.  The Tradition Continues  02/14/2006 - 02/15/2006  The Hershey Lodge & Convention Center  Hershey, PA  dstraka@bradleycaldwell.com   Co-operative Feed Dealers, Inc.  Annual Stockholder's Meeting & Mini Trade Show  02/22/2006  Binghamton Regency  Binghamton, NY  tacrooks@co-opfeed.com   Southern Hardware Company, Inc.  Road Show  03/01/2006 - 03/31/2006  Traveling Show through AR, MS, LA, MO, and TN  mrogers@southernhardware.com   Long-Lewis Hardware Company  The Great Southern Hardware Expo  03/04/2006 - 03/05/2006  Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center  Mobile, AL  dbrown@long-lewis.com

Persinger Supply  Spring Dealer Market  03/04/2006  Charleston Civic Center  Charleston, WV  bsmith@persingersupply.com   Harrington & Company  Spring Show  03/05/2006 - 03/06/2006  Davis Convention Center  Layton, UT  mbooth@iwon.com   McGregor Hardware, Inc.  Dealer Market  03/18/2006 - 03/19/2006  Springfield Fairgrounds E-Plex  Springfield, MO  rgarner_mh@mcgregorhardware.com

 

Beth Wells (click to enlarge)		PROfiles: BETH WELLS Beth brings PGM Integrated, an affiliate of PRO Group, Inc., over ten years of experience in graphic design. As senior graphic designer, Beth is responsible for the design and production of three national programs for PRO Group, Inc. Her creative talent and design work also assists in the production of collateral materials, packaging, print design, and Web design. She has been a key component in the branding of Proven Brands, PRO Hardware, and DBR. Prior to joining PGM in 1998, she worked for a leading corporate communications agency in Chicago. She has performed creative work for Rayovac, Culligan, Dean Foods, O'Neil Industries, Inc., and Marketing News. Beth earned a Bachelor of Science in Art from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

BUILD EXCELLENCE BY MERGING BEST WITH BEST
The best want to work with the best. In fact, just one weak link can dramatically influence an otherwise strong team, ultimately leading to underperformance among the best producers. So if we want to recruit and keep the best people for our teams, we have to recognize the importance of a strong weakest link. We can demonstrate the impact of the weakest link with some basic math. If you have a five-person team and all five people are "10s", then you might add that up and say your team is a "50". But what if one of those people goes into a funk and becomes a "5"? Now your team is a 45, and its effectiveness drops by 10 percent. That's a pretty big impact, but it still falls short of reality. In the real world, synergy exists, so our impact on a team is more like multiplication than addition. One and two doesn't equal three in teamwork; with synergy, one and two can equal ten. Consider the previous example but with multiplication. 10 times 10 times 10 times 10 times 10 equals 100,000. But 10 times 10 times 10 times 10 times 5 equals only 50,000. One weak link reduces the team's effectiveness by a whopping 50 percent. Clearly, the way to keep good people is to keep them around other good people. When good people find themselves working with people who are mediocre, dissatisfaction creeps in. Pretty soon, the productivity of the really good people begins to fall off too. They lose their motivation for excellence. Everyone on a team needs to add excellence, which means leaders first need to place people in roles that make the most of their gifts and talents. But a person with the right skills and the wrong attitude is still like the proverbial bad apple that spoils the whole batch. So if you want a team that experiences high success, fill it with people who are both capable and committed to doing great work.

-Written by Barry Shamis