Fort Wayne, IN—The 2006 Do it Best October Market™, held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis from October 14 – 17, brought together thousands of the co-op’s members and vendors to celebrate a successful year and plan for even more growth in the future. Members took advantage of exclusive deals, explored new merchandising strategies, and participated in education sessions designed to help them stay competitive and profitable.

Popularity of Sneak Peek™ grows with addition of
Pre-Planner

Since its inception, the Friday Night Sneak Peek™--a two-hour event featuring exclusive specials on high-traffic, high-margin products from select vendors--has become more popular each year. This trend continued at the 2006 Do it Best October Market, thanks in part to the introduction of the Sneak Peek Pre-Planner. Prior to the October market, for the first time, members could see the deals that would be available at the Sneak Peek by browsing vendors’ “virtual booths” on mydoitbest.com, the Do it Best member portal. Members could see photos, product details, and pricing information, and plan exactly how many of each item to purchase. They then could print out a summary shopping list, sorted by vendor, to see their total savings and make the most of their time at the Sneak Peek.

According to Jay Brown, Do it Best Corp. vice president of merchandising, member response to the Sneak Peek Pre-Planner exceeded expectations. “Members have always been thrilled with the Sneak Peek, but the Pre-Planner made their experience even better. Seeing the specials and planning their purchases ahead of time allowed them to visit more vendor booths and, at the end of the evening, take advantage of more deals than they could in the past.”

Five days of purchasing, education, and entertainment opportunities

While purchasing opportunities like those available at the Sneak Peek were the focus of the market, members also had a wide variety of education opportunities from which to choose. More than 40 free seminars were offered on Friday, including sessions focused on technology, business management, increasing sales, and product knowledge. Do it Best Corp. also launched a new secret shopper program during a special education program focused on customer service. The secret shopper program will give members the opportunity to see their stores’ and employees’ performance through the customer’s eyes, allowing them to evaluate where improvements are needed.

Friday also featured the annual Outdoor Power Preview, which offered members a wide selection of outdoor power equipment products to try out firsthand, along with special purchases, extended dating opportunities, and product knowledge seminars. The buying opportunities continued at the Market Expo, open from Saturday morning through Tuesday afternoon, which featured more than 1,500 vendors offering market specials and new products. Special Category Solutions areas, also back by popular demand after being introduced at the 2006 Do it Best May Market™, focused on six profitable product categories: impulse, fashion, outdoor living, safety, home automation, and home environment. And the New Idea Room, with more than 1,000 items recently added to inventory at the eight Do it Best Corp. retail service centers, showcased the best new products available to home center, hardware, and LBM retailers.

Members who participate in the Do it Best Rental Center™ program also had the opportunity to participate in hands-on vendor workshops, see live product demonstrations and review new product lines at the Rental Zone. The Do it Best Corp. corporate cause of choice also benefited from the Rental Zone, with an auction of products from the live demo resulting in a $12,000 monetary contribution to Habitat for Humanity.

New board leadership elected; industry record-setting rebate distributed

At the Sunday afternoon Shareholders’ Meeting, Do it Best Corp. member-owners elected five board members. Candidates were submitted for consideration by the board’s Nominating Committee, and two members were re-elected to three-year terms:

·        Steve Phillips, Phillips Lumber Co., Cedar Hill, TX

·        Pat Sullivan, Sullivan Hardware, Indianapolis, IN

In addition, three members were elected to their first term on the board:

·        Tom Brown, American Home & Hardware, Elkton, MD

·        Howard Miller, Hartville Hardware, Hartville, OH

·        ­Randy Skinner, Tahlequah Lumber, Tahlequah, OK

Niel Crowson of E.C. Barton Company in Jonesboro, AR, was named board chairman for the 2007 fiscal year. Crowson succeeds Stan Hardman of Hardman’s Do it center® in Spencer, WV, as board chairman. Hardman retired from the Do it Best Corp. board after having served as a director since 1998. Myron Andersen of Builders Do it Best® Warehouse in Kearney, NB, also retired from the board after having served as a director since 1999. Both Hardman and Anderson were recognized for their years of service on the board.

Following the business meeting, Do it Best Corp. President and CEO Bob Taylor delivered his annual address to the co-op’s members. Taylor outlined six key ways retailers can improve their businesses, including building a strong team, growing market share, focusing on variable pricing responsive to market conditions, improving store location and appearance, keeping what customers need and want in stock, and managing cash flow.

“Looking back over my now more than 30 years in this industry,” Taylor explained, “25 of those on the retail side and now these past few years on the co-op side, and in all the visits I’ve made to member stores and discussions I’ve had at markets and meetings elsewhere, these are the most important success drivers that I’ve experienced and that members have shared with me.”

Taylor’s address also highlighted the co-op’s accomplishments during the previous year--the $3 billion sales milestone, the record-setting and industry-leading $122.1 million rebate returned to Do it Best Corp. member-owners, the opening of the Mesquite, NV retail service center, the establishment of two Do it Best Corp. global sourcing offices in China, and the launch of the new Signature™ Store Design Program.

“The Signature Store Design Program is a scalable, flexible performance-focused program aimed at helping you leverage your unique local attributes to build your brand in your local market,” Taylor told the audience of member-owners. “No other program in this industry even comes close. Already we have more than 60 design applications in house, and the number is growing as more and more members look to Signature as the perfect way to help them fuel their growth in the years ahead.”

Signature Store Design Program pro yard design launched

Members not only heard about the success of the Signature program: they also got a firsthand look at the possibilities available to them through tours of Sullivan Hardware & Garden, a prototype of the Signature program, and in a stand-alone Special Exhibit Area. Introduced at the 2006 Do it Best May Market, Signature offers innovative strategies for new construction and retrofits while offering a variety of branding strategies that reflect the diversity to the Do it Best membership. At the 2006 Do it Best October Market, another new option was on display: a pro yard design scalable to fit all lumberyard formats and sizes. Created to maximize sales, contractor convenience, and operational efficiency, the Signature pro yard design helps members make their lumberyard a prime destination for their customers’ home improvement needs.

“Our members are very excited about the possibilities provided by the Signature program,” said Bill Zielke, vice president of marketing & international development. “We want to ensure that the program offers something for all of our member-owners, and this design is a response to unique needs of our LBM member-owners. Their customer is different, and their competition is different, so it’s important that we offer something that designed exclusively for them.”

Do it Best Corp. honored by city of Indianapolis

The 2006 Do it Best October Market marked yet another milestone for the co-op: for 30 years, Do it Best Corp. has hosted its Markets in Indianapolis, generating $18 million in direct spending to the city's economy each year. In a show of thanks, James Garrard, Director of Economic Development for the City of Indianapolis in the Office of Mayor Bart Peterson, presented a Key to the City to Do it Best Corp.

Do it Best Corp. will visit Indianapolis again May 19 – 22, 2007 for the 2007 Do it Best May Market. The 2007 Do it Best Winter Conference & Expo, an annual event, will take place in San Diego, CA, from January 17-19, 2007.

About Do it Best Corp.

Based in Fort Wayne, Ind., Do it Best Corp. is the only full-service, U.S.-based, member-owned hardware, lumber and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry. With annual sales of $3 billion, Do it Best Corp. is the second largest co-op in the industry, serving 4,100 member-retailers in the United States and in 45 foreign countries.