NEW SHOW LAYOUT, ONLINE ORDERING HIGHLIGHT
WALLACE HARDWARE'S "HANGING OF THE GREEN" DEALER MARKET

Gatlinburg, TN (December 7, 2006) – Approximately 300 retailers and 200 vendors attended the Morristown, Tennessee-based Wallace Hardware Co., Inc.'s "Hanging of the Green" Fall Dealer Market November 28-30.

The event featured new dealer benefits and ordering systems with a re-engineered Market layout – both designed to help retailers increase their profitability and efficiency while at the Market.

For the first time in its history, Wallace Hardware created a pre-order online selling event that ran two weeks prior to the November dealer market through the Illinois-based InXpo.

Dealer Advisory Board Member Brian Basham of the Kentucky-based Don's Lumber & PRO Hardware praised the InXpo online ordering option. Basham, who buys for a three-store operation, said pre-ordering saved him quite a bit of time. "I do all of the buying for three locations and I was able to do quite a bit of pre-ordering in advance," said Basham, who serves as hardware manager for Don's Lumber & PRO Hardware. "That freed up a lot of my time at the show to check out new products and purchase displays, which I did not have as much time for in the past."

Wallace Hardware Vice President, Richard Snowden, said Wallace Hardware also implemented a new show layout for the Market, featuring a center aisle with 40 endcap booths. "We have never done that kind of a layout before, and we decided to try a different look to allow for a better flow of people. It was exciting and seemed to stimulate add-on sales." Snowden added, "Our hardware sales were considerably up over last year and commodity unit sales were better than last year. We were very pleased with the response to this show."

Many retailer attendees also participated in a pre-show dealer conference on November 28, which featured a popular presentation on leadership best practices by Glyn Ed Newton of Dale Carnegie.

Prior to the opening of the market, Wallace Hardware hosted a Dealer Advisory Board Meeting for eight key PRO Hardware and FARM MART retailers. Shari Kalbach and Brendan Sullivan, managing directors for the Denver-based PRO Group, Inc. led the retailers in a discussion about new advertising and marketing programs along with in-store trim kits and value-added services available to retailers.

In other news, executives from Wallace Hardware will travel to Fayetteville, Tennessee December 7 to formally present the Paul L. Cosgrave Award to Roy Jones and his staff at Fayetteville PRO Lumber in conjunction with the store's annual holiday party at the Fayetteville Best Western Hotel. The Paul L. Cosgrave Award is presented annually to a PRO Hardware retailer and recognizes superior commitment to the principals and ideals of effective hardware merchandising, developed by PRO Hardware founder Paul L. Cosgrave. Wallace formally presented Jones with his award earlier in the year, but Snowden said the December 7 presentation in front of the staff members and their families is designed as a team-building event for the store and the Jones' family.

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Wallace Hardware Company, Inc., based in Morristown, Tennessee, is a wholesale distributor of hardware, lumber and building materials, and farm supplies. Wallace Hardware joined the PRO Group in 1964 and currently markets the PRO Hardware, FARM MART and GOLDEN-LINK programs to more than 2,000 retailers. Wallace Hardware Company serves retailers in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Media Contacts:
Brendan Sullivan, PRO Group, Inc.
303-792-3000
brendan.sullivan@pro-group.com
 
Ruth Furman, Publicist
702-255-8288
ruth@ruthfurman.com