Do it Best ‘Group’ builds in Orlando
ORLANDO, FLA.—True Value logos on shirt sleeves mingled generously with Do it Best apparel, hats and badges here at the Orange County Convention Center.
The Spring Market, March 21-23, was newsworthy for its bargain deals, vendor variety, attendance record and—especially on the LBM side — programs for dealers.
But the far-and-away big story was simply the visual proof that True Value and Do it Best were combined in an historic, ambitious and complex first-ever market.
If you’re brand new to the industry, here’s some background: Do it Best completed the acquisition of its long-time competitor True Value out of bankruptcy in November. Prior to that in early 2024, Do it Best acquired United Hardware. (And, yes, there were also several sightings of dealers sporting their pride in Hardware Hank on the show floor.)
Do it Best described the market as a “turning point” in the industry, in which the new company combines the strengths of Do it Best, United Hardware, and True Value, to empower independent dealers.
“Our Spring Market is more than just an event—it’s our declaration as the Champion of Independents,” said Dan Starr, Do it Best CEO. “It’s about leveraging everything we’ve built—our scale, our partnerships, and our relentless commitment to independent retailers—to drive the industry forward.”
The market's theme of bigger, stronger, faster was supported by several stats and programs.
On the floor itself, attendees were greeted with more than 1,120 Sneak Peek and Hot Buys, twice as many as last year and with savings up to 55%. The expanded show saw a 25 percent increase in Do it Best vendors at the market, while True Value dealers saw double the number of vendors compared to their last spring event.
Also on the floor, the co-op trumpeted opportunities for dealers with expanded Milwaukee and Diablo programs.
And on the LBM side of the business, Do it Best promoted a new replenishment buyer service. It features a dedicated procurement team that manages purchasing strategies for dealers, reducing workload and optimizing costs.
Do it Best President Nick Talarico and True Value President Dent Johnson engaged in a meet-the-business-press conference on Saturday.
Both leaders pointed to the growth potential in the True Value brand, despite what they describe as a lack of branding investment over the past five years or so.
“To still have 70-plus percent brand awareness, after not having sufficient brand funding, that's a huge springboard for us to reinvigorate the True Value brand,” Talarico said.
Branding is just one of the areas where the Do it Best-True Value integration continues to evolve. E-commerce and supply chain are high on the list, as well.
Asked about fill rates, Johnson said True Value is steadily recovering from a bankruptcy-induced six-week supply chain freeze and fill-rates are getting closer to where they need to be — and "much more healthy than they were even a month ago."
The journey to bring True Value back from its bankruptcy and brink of collapse was a major theme in the CEO's address during the market kick-off. “In summary, we stabilized True Value,” Starr said. “Now we’re focused on making it stronger than ever.”
Culture and competition
Leaders at Do it Best Group—the newly minted name for the combined enterprise—said the market provided the opportunity to bring the cultures together. For decades, the competitive juices have been flowing among True Value and Do it Best sales teams, and bringing the camps into one family has been a challenge, said Johnson.
“It took a little bit, a lot of talk, a lot of messaging, and just spending time together. But what I'm encouraged by is that, particularly with True Value, our cultures are actually very well aligned. They took a detour for a half a decade, in my opinion. But our cultures, you know, especially the more tenured folks, are actually quite well aligned.”
Talarico addressed the competitive tension in local markets where Do it Best competes with True Value dealers.
“There was always the concern about how that was going to work,” Talarico said. “And ultimately what we decided was that if we have to work through that with some retailers, that’s OK. Pleasantly and surprisingly, there have been very few of those kinds of conversations — actually I can count them on one hand.”
“We’re also allowing them to continue to differentiate the product,” Johnson on added. “So that’s going to help move it forward.”
Road ahead
During the press conference, the respective presidents of True Value and Do it Best expressed concern over the possibility of tariff-induced inflation and margin pressures.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Talarico said. “We’re excited about what we have going for Do it Best. But there's a lot happening around home construction. It really affects our members a lot. So we're going to be there to support our members.”
Against that economic backdrop, Do it Best Group CEO Dan Starr said the journey is just beginning. “Just twelve months ago, Do it Best looked very different,” Starr said. “But we were aggressively pursuing growth—growth of our members, and growth of the co-op.”
