Hardware Connection September 9, 2026

September 9, 2026

Vol. 18, No. 17

THE INDUSTRY’S DIGITAL LEADER

SPECIAL ISSUE

2026 BEACON AWARDS ALSO INSIDE Meet the Retailers Raising the Bar Retail Beacon Award Winners Best New Store Honorees PLUS: ACQUISITIONS, NEW STORE OPENINGS, LBM CONSOLIDATION TheHardwareConnection.com HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 1

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September 9, 2026

Vol. 18, No. 17

THE INDUSTRY’S DIGITAL LEADER

SPECIAL ISSUE

2026 BEACON AWARDS ALSO INSIDE Meet the Retailers Raising the Bar Retail Beacon Award Winners Best New Store Honorees PLUS: ACQUISITIONS, NEW STORE OPENINGS, LBM CONSOLIDATION TheHardwareConnection.com HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 1

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12 Special Issue: 2026 Beacon Awards

Shelf Life

BY DOUG DONALDSON

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Upcoming Events

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In the News

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RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNERS

Beaufort Hardware & Paint Company Owner Tommy Simpson pairs a builder’s problem-solving instincts with a keen sense of local demand and a willingness to continually adapt his coastal North Carolina store.

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Gilbert’s Hardware & Appliance Bill Gilbert has kept his family business thriving through decades of change by staying focused on customers and community and by learning at every opportunity.

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Stanley’s True Value Hardware Brothers Mark and Joe Jaconski carry forward three generations of family ownership while helping their Philadelphia-area hardware business write its next chapter.

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CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 | VOL. 18, NO. 17

BEACON AWARDS FOR BEST NEW STORE

Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware David VanderWeele transformed a contractor-focused lumberyard into a destination serving pros and DIYers with expanded assortments, smarter merchandising and a thriving kitchen and bath business.

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Howard Walker’s True Value Hardware Julie Walker-Martin and Cory Martin brought new life to a longtime Henrietta, Texas, hardware business while preserving the local relationships at its heart.

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Riverside Building Materials Owner David Reyna created a new South Texas store around the needs of local contractors and customers, pairing building materials expertise with an independent approach to service.

HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 5

ADVERTISERS INDEX PUBLISHER / PRESIDENT

Scott Wright

swright@YourNHPA.org EDITOR / DIRECTOR OF CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Lindsey Thompson

lthompson@YourNHPA.org EDITOR

Doug Donaldson

doug@thehardwareconnection.com 646-508-7904

A.O. Smith/Reliance

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Epicor Software Corporation BEACON AWARDS SPONSOR

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Dan Beck

518-852-9624 SENIOR DESIGNER

Autumn Ricketts

aricketts@YourNHPA.org CONTRIBUTORS

Brian Dawson

Hardware Connection is published 24 times a year by The North American Hardware and Paint Association.

All editorial contents copyrighted 2026 by the publisher. No editorial may be reproduced without the prior permission of the publisher.

The North American Hardware and Paint Association 1025 East 54th St. Indianapolis, Indiana 317-275-9400 NHPA@YourNHPA.org YourNHPA.org

BEACON AWARDS SPONSOR

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Orgill

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SHELF LIFE

IN GOOD COMPANY

By Doug Donaldson

I

ndependent hardware retailers know how to invest in a business.

They put money into inventory, facilities, technology, delivery vehicles and merchandising. Those investments are visible. You can walk through a store and see them.

Spend some time with this year’s Retail Beacon and Best New Store winners, though, and another kind of investment keeps appearing.

These retailers invest in relationships as much as inventory.

I hesitate even to write that, because relationships shouldn’t become another commodity to measure, manage and monetize. The strongest relationships in this industry work precisely because they aren’t transactional. They develop over years of answering the phone, solving problems, keeping promises, sharing ideas and showing up when somebody needs help.

That comes through repeatedly in this year’s Beacon Award winner profiles.

At Riverside Building Materials, David Reyna’s years in construction help him understand the contractors who walk through his doors. He knows their jobsites and the frustrations that come with keeping projects moving.

At Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware, David VanderWeele has broadened the business considerably while continuing to nurture the contractor relationships that remain its backbone.

Julie Walker-Martin and Cory Martin opened Howard Walker’s True Value Hardware with service and community connection at the center of the operation. That philosophy came from Julie’s father, Howard, who spent decades serving Henrietta, Texas, as a teacher and pastor.

Our Retail Beacon Award winners tell versions of the same story from

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HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 9

SHELF LIFE businesses much further along their journeys. At Gilbert’s Hardware & Appliance, Bill Gilbert has spent decades developing relationships with customers and employees while remaining deeply connected to the community his family has served for generations.

At Beaufort Hardware & Paint Co., Tommy Simpson’s relationships with customers, employees and industry partners have helped an independent operation respond to the changing needs of its coastal North Carolina market. And at Stanley’s True Value Hardware, brothers Mark and Joe Jaconski are drawing on relationships developed across three generations while bringing a fourth generation into the family business.

Behind these retailers, the wholesalers and sponsors of the Beacon Awards—Do it Best, Orgill and True Value—are a significant part of the story, too. Throughout our interviews, winners talked about distributor representatives who answered questions, provided expertise, connected them with other retailers or stuck with them through difficult stretches.

There’s a lesson here that reaches beyond the six businesses receiving Beacon Awards. Relationships

accumulated over years don’t arrive on a truck or appear because somebody approved a capital expenditure.

They grow one interaction at a time.

What impressed me most in talking with this year’s Beacon Award winners was how differently each has achieved retail excellence. Some represent generations of family experience. Others have reinvented longtime businesses, responded to changing markets or created something entirely new. There is no common formula.

Relationships sit at the core of each—connections with customers, employees, families, communities and industry partners that defy a balance sheet. They resist easy measurement, yet their impact is everywhere: in the trust that brings a customer back, the employee who cares about the business, the supplier who answers the call and the community that considers a store its own.

Maybe that’s what this year’s winners reminded me about most: Retail greatness can take remarkably different forms. But behind the numbers, the innovations and the accomplishments are people who have chosen to matter to one another.

There may be no better measure of an independent retailer than that.

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2026 BEACON AWARD WINNERS

The 2026 Beacon Award winners include (seated, from left) Joe Jaconski, Mark Jaconski, Bill Gilbert and Tommy Simpson; and (standing, from left) David VanderWeele, David Strano, Julie Walker-Martin and David Rivas.

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g n i t a r b e l e C

EXCELLENCE IN RETAIL H

By Doug Donaldson

ardware Connection’s Beacon Awards recognize independent home improvement retailers for accomplishments that strengthen their businesses, communities and the industry.

The Retail Beacon Awards are lifetime achievement honors recognizing those with a sustained record of retail excellence, meaningful community involvement and leadership within the independent home improvement industry.

The Best New Store Awards recognize retailers who have brought fresh thinking to a new or significantly transformed operation, with an emphasis on innovation, store design and creating strong connections with the communities they serve.

In the pages ahead, you’ll meet the 2026 Retail and Best New Store Beacon Award honorees and discover the ideas, decisions and relationships that have shaped their success. n

Look for Digital Beacon Award Winners Next Issue The Beacon Awards celebration continues in Hardware Connection’s Sept. 23 issue with a piece about the Beacon Award for Digital Excellence honoree, along with profiles of the Digital Beacon Award category winners. Read about how these retailers are using digital tools and strategies to strengthen their operations, reach customers and move their businesses forward.

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER

Navigating

THE LOCAL CURRENT TOMMY SIMPSON HAS BUILT BEAUFORT HARDWARE & PAINT CO.

BY LISTENING TO HIS EMPLOYEES, HIS CUSTOMERS AND HIS COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY.

T

Drawing on his background in construction, Tommy Simpson has built Beaufort Hardware & Paint Co. around a simple goal: giving customers the product depth they need to finish the job in one trip.

ommy Simpson was having a bad day when he learned he had won the 2026 Retail Beacon Award.

He was standing on a ladder, cutting a hole in the side of a brand-new house for an exhaust vent, when his CFO called with the news.

“That took me from one mood to another,” Simpson recalls.

There was Simpson, more than 25 years into running a hardware store, standing on a ladder, saw in hand—fitting for a retailer who came to hardware through construction and still approaches the business with a builder’s instinct. From the ladder or on the store floor, he understands what people need, figures out how to provide it and keeps adjusting until it all works.

Since opening Beaufort Hardware & Paint Co. in 1998, Simpson has expanded the store from about

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Simpson shares insights during a retailer forum at this year’s IHI Conference, discussing how Beaufort Hardware & Paint Co.’s decentralized management approach gives department leaders ownership of their areas and a voice in how the store operates.

7,000 square feet to more than 18,000, supplemented by a 10,000-squarefoot lumber warehouse and a large garden center. The business has grown by paying close attention to Beaufort, a small coastal North Carolina town whose population swells during the summer and life near the water shapes what customers need.

In 2025, Simpson made another significant move, leaving a national branded co-op and taking Beaufort Hardware & Paint fully independent.

Simpson says the change gave the business greater latitude over pricing, product selection and merchandising,

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an approach that better fits the market he has spent decades learning. That autonomy extends to the people who know the store best: his employees.

For Simpson, the Beacon Award belongs to the people who work those aisles every day.

“My employees are the ones who should get it,” he says. “They’re the ones customers see and the ones taking care of them.”

Built for Beaufort Simpson graduated from high school in 1975 and spent the next several years working in construction. The property

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER where Beaufort Hardware & Paint stands today was then Huntley Building Supply, a place that became important to Simpson well before he imagined himself running a hardware store.

When Simpson was getting his construction business started, the lumberyard’s owner extended him credit for building materials. Years later, Simpson would purchase the property and open his own operation.

He credits that early act of faith from Huntley as instrumental in getting his first construction company up off the ground.

As he embarked on his new career path as a hardware store owner, Simpson knew construction well, but retail hardware was something he would need to learn. He did have one considerable advantage: He knew Beaufort.

The town has about 4,500 year-round residents, with tourism swelling that population during the summer. Fishing and boating are part of everyday life, and Simpson’s own family connection to the area stretches back centuries.

As such, Beaufort Hardware & Paint has increasingly become a reflection of the place outside its walls.

Stainless-steel hardware receives particular attention because of the marine environment. The fishing department carries rods, reels and

Beaufort Hardware & Paint has embraced technology throughout its operations, including 45,000 electronic shelf label tags that streamline pricing updates and improve efficiency across the store.

supplies for customers heading out onto the water. Water pumps sell well enough that Simpson says another 15 to 25 might be waiting in the back room beyond those on the salesfloor.

“We try to be really good at single categories rather than trying to cover all bases,” he says.

Grilling helped prove the efficacy of that strategy.

When Beaufort Hardware expanded from 7,000 to 12,000 square feet, Simpson wanted to test what would happen if he gave important

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departments considerably more depth.

He created enough space to display about 30 grills.

Before the change, Simpson says, the store might have sold one grill a month. After, they started selling daily, and the store became a destination for grills and accessories.

Later expansions carried that thinking into other departments.

Simpson wants to give customers confidence that when they visit Beaufort Hardware & Paint for a project, the items they need will be there.

Today, the store combines hardware and building materials with paint, tools, plumbing, lawn and garden, outdoor living, home goods and other categories. Its current assortment includes a full-line Benjamin Moore paint department, expanded Milwaukee and DeWalt tool offerings and a lumber barn stocked with treated lumber, plywood, concrete and other building materials.

The store keeps changing, too.

Simpson says he regularly reworks center aisles and endcaps, and department heads have latitude to identify products they believe belong in their areas.

Technology has changed the mechanics behind those decisions.

About 45,000 electronic shelf tags now enable pricing to update without employees having to manually replace tags throughout the store. Simpson says the need became particularly

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apparent during the pandemic, when rapid price changes made keeping thousands of items current increasingly difficult. Market-based pricing information also helps Beaufort Hardware & Paint evaluate prices for its own trading area.

Give Them Something to Own The same independence Simpson values as a retailer extends to the way he manages roughly 50 employees.

Beaufort Hardware & Paint operates without a traditional general manager.

Instead, department heads receive considerable responsibility for their areas, including the opportunity to bring in merchandise they believe customers will buy.

Simpson says employees regularly come to him with ideas about what they want to do with their departments and how they want them to look. His role is often simply to give them room to follow through.

“It’s very personal,” Simpson says.

“They take ownership.”

His marketing team works much the same way.

Employees take ownership of social media and appear in the store’s advertising, often developing ideas and campaigns largely on their own.

Simpson may offer a suggestion, but he doesn’t dictate what happens next.

“We might have suggestions, but they take it and go with it,” he says.

“It’s a fun group to work with.”

HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 17

2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER The results have attracted attention beyond the store’s social feeds. Simpson says Beaufort Hardware & Paint has received calls from other businesses asking who handles its marketing.

The store’s “Tommy’s Top Picks” promotion adds Simpson himself to that outreach, highlighting a changing selection of products he recommends.

Other fun, recurring employee-driven posts, such as “Whatchamacallit Wednesdays,” also bring lots of engagement and thousands of social media views.

For Simpson, the freedom employees get comes with an expectation that customers enjoy coming in.

“It’s hardware; it’s fun,” he says.

“Working in a hardware store has got to be one of the most rewarding things in the whole world. You talk to people and solve their problems. They love the attention, and they love that we know their name.”

Such enthusiasm regularly spills past ordinary business hours.

A Ladies’ Night event that began five or six years ago quickly outgrew Simpson’s expectations. He planned the first event for about 30 people; 70 showed up. Attendance kept climbing, eventually approaching 400, with a line stretching outside the store.

“So loud that you can’t hear for days,” Simpson says. “Such a good time.”

The response gave Simpson another idea: Turn the gathering into a fundraiser.

More recent events have used ticket sales to support local causes.

The annual April customer appreciation day operates on an even larger scale. Vendors join local fire and police departments for an event that takes on the feel of a community block party. Simpson says 11 grills might be cooking at once, with preparation beginning the night before. By noon, the store may have served a couple thousand people.

For Simpson, the event reflects something that extends beyond a single day. He wants customers to feel a sense of connection to Beaufort Hardware & Paint—that this is their hardware store.

And he wants employees to feel much the same way.

“It’s not my hardware store,” Simpson says. “It’s their hardware store. My employees feel like it’s their hardware store.”

Independence With Plenty of Company Going independent has given Simpson more control over what happens inside Beaufort Hardware & Paint. He still actively seeks outside ideas.

Orgill entered the picture years ago as a secondary supplier after one of Simpson’s employees suggested adding another source.

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Events such as Ladies’ Night have become a signature part of Beaufort Hardware & Paint’s Co.’s community outreach—an event that began with 70 attendees has grown to draw about 400 and serve as a fundraiser for local causes.

“Orgill is one of the best decisions I have ever made,” Simpson says.

The relationship grew gradually.

Orgill representatives visited the store, helped adjust assortments and offered suggestions. During the pandemic, when product availability became especially difficult, Simpson recalls an Orgill representative being in the store every week, working on assortments and shelves almost as though he were another employee.

That regular presence has continued throughout Beaufort Hardware & Paint’s transition to independence. Simpson says Orgill representative James Michael spends so much time at the store that he eventually decided just to make room for him.

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“I have an office for him,” Simpson says. “He’s here so much, I had to find him a place to work.”

Such close collaboration shapes how Simpson approaches his relationships throughout the independent hardware industry.

Speaking from the Beacon Awards stage, he looked around the room and talked about what he gains from conversations with others who have built careers in the industry.

“We enjoy what we’re doing. We’re always thinking better,” he says.

“It’s wonderful to have partners and people in the industry to share your concerns, share what you do.”

Then he heads home, those conversations front of mind.

“And then I take it back and I share that with my employees,” he says. n

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Bill Gilbert, recipient of the Retail Beacon Award, has spent six decades helping build Gilbert’s Hardware & Appliance while investing in his stores, employees and the surrounding community.

g n i k o o L l Stil

FOR WHAT’S NEXT RETAIL BEACON AWARD RECIPIENT BILL GILBERT MARKS SIX DECADES GROWING GILBERT’S HARDWARE & APPLIANCE IN OWOSSO, MICHIGAN, AND BEYOND.

B

ill Gilbert started working in his parents’ 20-foot-wide Western Auto store when he was 11 years old. Six decades later, the business bears little resemblance to the place where he cut up boxes, stocked merchandise and handled freight after school and

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER on weekends. Gilbert’s has expanded into new categories, added another location and repeatedly remodeled and reinvested as customers and retailing changed around it.

At 72, Gilbert is still asking what comes next.

Even as he makes plans to attend the Do it Best Fall Market in Indianapolis, Gilbert intends to arrive early to catch a vendor refresher class. He figures he can still learn something.

Constant curiosity and a steady instinct to do better help explain how he has authored a standout retail career spanning nearly 60 years.

“I think I’ve missed only one market in my 55 years in the hardware business, and I’ve always been amazed at the number of truly great hardware stores out there,” Gilbert says. “It’s humbling and amazing to receive the Beacon Award.”

a bicycle, it was the same service. We give everybody that personal attention.”

Bill became an owner in 1976. Three years later, the family began shifting its general-store assortment toward hardware and joined True Value. Bill and brother K.C. Gilbert would work together as partners for four decades, a relationship Bill credits for much of the company’s growth.

Gilbert’s kept evolving. A second location opened in 2006 in the town of DeWitt. Shortly after came the global financial crisis and a difficult Michigan economy that lasted through 2010. In 2012, Gilbert’s made another significant move when it joined Do it Best.

Today, the company employs some 45 people, about 80% of whom are full-time. Gilbert acknowledges that his staffing model may seem old-fashioned, but it promotes the knowledgeable personal service he wants customers to receive.

It also puts a responsibility on the Same Service, Every Customer owner to demonstrate what such Gilbert grew up inside the business his service looks like. parents, Chuck and Mary Ann Gilbert, “As an owner, all eyes are on you,” opened in Owosso, Michigan, in he says. “Your mentorship is constant.”

1965. He learned early what his father That can mean picking something expected when a customer walked up off the floor when it needs to be through the door. picked up, stepping into a job when “My dad didn’t care about the class of an employee needs help or bringing a customer or what they were buying,” managers and ownership staff to he says. “[Whether] someone came in industry markets so they can continue for just a nut or bolt, a deep freezer or to develop their skills.

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER

Accepting the Retail Beacon Award, Bill Gilbert thanked the partners, employees and family who shaped his career, becoming emotional as he recognized his wife, Debbie, for raising their four children while supporting and working alongside the family business.

One measure of whether his tactics work comes directly from customers.

Gilbert takes particular pride when shoppers tell him his store is among the nicest, best-maintained hardware operations they’ve been to. Having grown up learning and adhering to his father’s expectations, he now sees his own employees carrying them forward.

new endcaps and an attached 3,800-square-foot glass garden center. Lawn-and-garden sales increased 60%, while the additional space enabled Gilbert’s to strengthen plumbing, cleaning, tools, electrical and other departments.

The DeWitt store followed with an interior and exterior remodel in 2023. Expanded lawn and garden and Giving Customers a Reason to Return outdoor-living assortments helped Six decades in the business have those become destination categories, only strengthened Gilbert’s appetite while the store built its outdoor power for change. equipment offering across cordless A major renovation of the Owosso and gas products. Sales increased store was completed in 2022, adding 20% following the renovation and 2,000 square feet of retail space, have kept growing.

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER

Gilbert’s Hardware & Appliance in Owosso, Michigan, is one of two Gilbert’s locations, supported by a workforce of about 45 employees—roughly 80% of them full-time.

“Customers want to be given a reason to frequent your store,” Gilbert says. “Whether it’s a remodel as drastic as adding a garden center or adding a dominant department of something you hadn’t previously been selling, every hardware store [owner] needs to examine what they can do.”

Gilbert uses sales data to help make those decisions. Departments can be developed at basic, expanded or dominant levels, depending on the opportunity. And when an expansion doesn’t perform as expected, he’s willing to reverse course.

His willingness to experiment also led to the development of Gilbert’s Scratch & Dent Center.

Appliance retail inevitably generates damaged merchandise through shipping, warehousing and installation. Gilbert purchased a former wheel-alignment and repair facility initially for warehouse space, then had an idea. He transformed the building into a dedicated outlet for scratched and dented appliances, supported by full-time technicians who test merchandise before Gilbert’s sells it.

The concept builds on a category Gilbert’s has developed since adding major appliances in 1980. Today the operation can sell, service, install and, in many cases, quickly deliver appliances. The capability has become strong enough that customersseeking Continued on Page 27

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER

Bill Gilbert talks to a customer about a product, putting into practice the service philosophy he learned from his father: Every customer deserves the same personal attention, regardless of the size of the purchase.

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showed her how to use it and spent some time talking her through the immediate solutions have been particulars of the job. It was hardly the referred to Gilbert’s by a nearby bigbiggest transaction of his week—and box retailer. Specialization and service, that was precisely the point. he says, are reliable ways for an “If your heart doesn’t get twice independent hardware retailer to the size...” he says of those kinds of give customers another reason to encounters. “That really fires me up.” patronize a local business.

Moments like that happen two or three times a week. He also gets Community on Both Sides satisfaction from watching employees of the Counter develop and seeing another generation Gilbert’s relationship with Owosso prepare to carry the company into the extends throughout its central future. His daughter, Cate Gilbert, is Michigan community. now an owner as well; she’s positioned The Gilbert family has been involved to keep the business going when with downtown development efforts Gilbert eventually retires. since the 1980s; Bill himself has served Eventually being the operative word. on the YMCA board since late that Accepting the Retail Beacon Award, decade. His involvement has included Gilbert spoke about the numerous work on a capital campaign supporting retailers he has encountered during his a childcare center and expansion.

55 years of attending industry markets Community service, he says, is a and credited his family, employees natural extension of the support his and business partners—and his family has received for generations. wife, Debbie—for making his career “The community has given us so possible. The recognition, he says, much,” he says. “It’s our job to give back.” was truly humbling.

That relationship works every day “There are so many dealers and on a smaller, more personal scale, people out there who deserve this too. Gilbert was leaving the store after award,” he says. “I’m very grateful.” closing one night not long ago when he The honor didn’t represent a finish encountered longtime customer Alice line—far from it. Gilbert still has those Williams, who needed fertilizer. Gilbert education sessions at the Do it Best reopened the garden center and began Market to attend. talking with her about what she was After six decades, he can point to trying to accomplish. plenty of reasons to keep learning, He learned that she had been investing and improving. But the best spreading fertilizer across her yard by reason might also be the simplest, he hand. He found a small hand spreader, says: “I still have fun coming to work.” n Continued From Page 24

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HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 27

Brothers Mark (left) and Joe Jaconski lead Stanley’s True Value Hardware’s two Pennsylvania locations, with Mark overseeing the Philadelphia flagship and Joe heading the Oreland store.

2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER

n O g n i d l i Bu

BROTHERLY LOVE MARK AND JOE JACONSKI HAVE GROWN STANLEY’S TRUE VALUE HARDWARE IN PHILADELPHIA AND ORELAND, PENNSYLVANIA, STRENGTHENING THEIR PARTNERSHIP WHILE PREPARING A FOURTH GENERATION TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP.

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hen Mark Jaconski was a kid, he had big plans for Stanley’s Hardware.

“I used to joke that we were going to buy up the entire block and call it Stanleyville,” he says.

The name never ended up gracing a sign, but the ambition behind it proved considerably more durable.

Mark and his brother, Joe, grew up in the Philadelphia hardware business that their grandfather Stanley Jaconski started in 1948. Their father, also named Stanley, carried it forward, and the brothers eventually became the third generation to take responsibility for the family business.

Over the ensuing decades, they have expanded the original Philadelphia operation, replaced its cramped quarters with a modern

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10,000-square-foot retail space, opened a second location in Oreland, Pennsylvania, and created room for categories their grandfather might never have imagined selling.

Now, the Jaconski brothers are making room for something else: the fourth generation. Mark’s son, Alex, and Joe’s son, Joe Jr., are already working in the business. Joe’s younger son, Jesse, is preparing to join them as well. For Mark and Joe, recipients of a 2026 Retail Beacon Award, seeing another generation come aboard gives their previous decades of work a visible destination.

“We’re setting up for the next generation to see it go forward,” Mark told fellow retailers while accepting the award. “Being third-generation, we’re very proud of that.”

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER Room to Grow Mark remembers loving the hardware business from the beginning. His grandfather and father were industrial electricians and natural problem solvers who handled jobs themselves because, particularly in the early years, necessity demanded it.

That aptitude became part of the Stanley’s approach to customers.

“In our industry, it comes down to service,” Mark says. “We service the heck out of customers.”

That means having people who can help and products that solve problems, including the small fittings, plumbing pieces and unusual hardware that can save a customer another trip.

As the business grew, its original building increasingly worked against that goal. Merchandise occupied the second floor and basement, limiting visibility and making browsing difficult.

Customers often needed to know what they wanted before entering the store.

Mark had imagined changing that since childhood.

After their father died in 2009, Mark and Joe eventually undertook a complicated redevelopment of the Philadelphia property, replacing the old operation with a new store in 2013. That project also changed the brothers’ relationship.

“Building the new building galvanized us together,” Mark says.

The result gave Stanley’s about 10,000 square feet of retail space and room for a considerably different shopping experience. Wider aisles improved flow. Tool rental and a garden center added services and seasonal opportunities. Workwear and pet supplies gained space. The paint department expanded beyond EasyCare to include Benjamin Moore.

The impact was substantial.

“As a company, it allowed us to triple our sales and make for a much better experience—a very shoppable store compared to the old store,” Mark says.

The brothers also incorporated an extensive stormwater-management system into the redevelopment, including underground storage, corrugated piping and a rain garden.

The Philadelphia Water Department recognized Stanley’s as its first “Stormwater Pioneer.”

For Mark, the investment fit the neighborhood. The Philadelphia store’s hilly terrain can send substantial runoff toward properties below the store during heavy rain.

“Anything we can do to help on a large property helps people at the bottom of the hill,” he says.

Finding the Right People More space and merchandise still require someone who knows how to help the person standing in the aisle.

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Stanley’s employs about 30 people in Philadelphia and ten in Oreland.

Mark approaches hiring with a straightforward priority.

“Hire first for personality and willingness to learn,” he says.

“It’s awesome to find a guy with hardware store experience, but if he’s a miserable person, I don’t want him on my staff.”

Technical knowledge can develop through winter training, working alongside experienced employees and solving problems on the salesfloor.

Mark believes the disposition to treat customers well needs to be present from the beginning. That philosophy has become increasingly important as Stanley’s customer base has evolved.

Mark remembers seeing relatively few women shopping for their own projects when he was young. Today, he regularly sees women leading home improvement projects, arriving with research already completed and specific questions ready.

His expectation for employees is simple: Treat everyone with undifferentiated respect.

“Women will come in and say, ‘Guys, don’t talk down to me. I get that at other places,’” Mark says.

Stanley’s also continues to serve customers who arrive carrying knowledge gathered online—sometimes useful, sometimes requiring a little TheHardwareConnection.com

Stanley’s remained open during its 2010-13 Philadelphia redevelopment, with a seven-phase construction plan allowing work to proceed around the existing store. The project’s underground filtration basins and rain garden helped earn it recognition as Philadelphia’s first Stormwater Pioneer in 2014.

troubleshooting at the counter. Either way, employees’ roles remain familiar: Listen, identify what the project requires and help the customer leave with the right solution.

Two Brothers, Two Stores In 2015, Mark and Joe expanded again with the Oreland location, about six miles northeast of the family’s original Philadelphia store.

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2026 RETAIL BEACON AWARD WINNER The move gave Joe an operation in which he could take the lead, while Mark remained closely involved with the Philadelphia store. Mark says that division strengthened both the business and their relationship.

Joe could call on Mark for purchasing help or additional support, particularly during the early stages, while developing his own approach to running the location.

“It really opened the door for him to flourish,” Mark says.

The brothers bring different personalities to the business, something Mark describes with the familiar phrase “brotherly love.” Their differences have also given Stanley’s two experienced operators capable of leading separate locations while drawing on the same family history.

Community support, naturally, remains central to both.

“The only reason we’re here is because of the community and the support they’ve given us all these decades,” Mark says.

Stanley’s supports local organizations and events, including the YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, youth sports and churches. Mark sees those relationships as reciprocal: Generations of customers have supported Stanley’s, giving the business an obligation to participate when the community needs help.

Making Room for What Comes Next The next expansion of Stanley’s may come through another location. Mark has considered adding a third store or ultimately replacing the Oreland operation with a higher-volume one.

He sees potential in categories such as lumber if the family finds a property with the right facilities.

Increasingly, however, those decisions will involve another generation of Jaconskis.

Mark’s son, Alex, graduated from Temple University and has developed experience throughout the Philadelphia operation. A musician outside the store, Alex works in the back room, in the paint department and on the salesfloor, where Mark says his personality and ability to work with people stand out.

Joe Jr. joined the company after graduating from Penn State in 2025. He began at the Philadelphia store to build experience before moving ahead in the family operation. Jesse, also a Penn State graduate, is expected to join his father, uncle, brother and cousin soon.

Mark hopes the three eventually assume responsibility for Stanley’s and find opportunities that he and Joe haven’t yet imagined.

Standing before fellow independent retailers to accept the Retail Beacon Award, Mark acknowledged how unusual that opportunity has

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(From left) Alex Jaconski, Mark Jaconski, Joe Jaconski and Joe Jaconski Jr. represent the third and fourth generations at Stanley’s True Value Hardware, which has been in the family since 1948.

become. He also thanked the family members who have shared the ride, including the “two beautiful women”— his and Joe’s wives—who, as he joked, knew long ago what they were getting into and signed up anyway.

He then turned his attention to the hardware retailers in the room.

“Store owners are unbelievable,” he told them. “Everybody is facing the same challenges and facing them head-on.”

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For a kid who once envisioned a hardware store encompassing an entire block, the measure of growth has changed.

Nearly eight decades after their grandfather opened Stanley’s, Mark and Joe have two stores, three sons preparing for larger roles and another generation with the opportunity to decide where the family business goes from here. n

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2026 BEACON AWARD FOR BEST NEW STORE

David VanderWeele, owner of Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware, brought experience from outside the industry to the business in Big Rapids, Michigan, applying lessons in operations, marketing and category management.

o t n O g n i h c t Hi

A BIGGER IDEA

AT BIG RAPIDS LUMBER & HARDWARE IN BIG RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, OWNER DAVID VANDERWEELE COMBINED A MAJOR RENOVATION, EXPANDED ASSORTMENTS AND A BROADER CUSTOMER STRATEGY TO CREATE A HOME IMPROVEMENT DESTINATION.

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hree times in one week, customers walked into Big Rapids Cash & Carry looking for a trailer hitch.

Each time, the answer was essentially the same: We’re a lumberyard. We’re not a hardware store.

To owner David VanderWeele, the encounters pointed to a larger problem.

He had purchased the Big Rapids, Michigan, business in 2020 and saw an established lumberyard with strong

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contractor relationships, but also a model that left a sizable portion of the local market walking past its doors.

“I looked at the pure mathematics,” VanderWeele says. “There are 2,000 DIY customers compared to one pro.

I saw pretty quickly that we needed to diversify the company.”

The trailer hitches became symbolic of the opportunity. VanderWeele invested nearly $1 million in a renovation and rebranding that culminated in 2023 with a new identity: Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware.

That transformation—and the measurable results it has produced— have earned Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware the 2026 Beacon Award for Best New Store.

Making Room for a New Customer VanderWeele came to hardware retail after a career that included insurance and a Valvoline auto store, where he gained experience running companies and studying category management.

Across those businesses, he says he learned a lesson that shaped his approach in Big Rapids.

“The craft is not about the product or service. It’s a people business,” he says. “Continue to help people solve their problems, and the product kind of works itself out.”

When VanderWeele purchased the business, the store was heavily

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dependent on contractors, who represented about 90% of its business. He wanted to preserve those relationships while making homeowners feel equally welcome.

His timing proved prescient.

VanderWeele says the business was in the process of shedding about half of its longtime pro customers to retirement and some additional attrition. Today, contractors account for about two-thirds of business, with homeowners representing the remaining third.

The physical store changed to support that broader customer base: 4-foot shelving gave way to 8-foot fixtures that effectively doubled merchandising capacity. Lighting was doubled, aisles widened and carts and baskets added. One checkout became four, while barcode scanning, individual employee email addresses and a modernized phone system eliminated some of the friction VanderWeele found when he arrived.

New or greatly expanded plumbing, electrical, lawn-and-garden, paint, hardware and tool assortments gave customers more reasons to visit.

VanderWeele drew on his category-management background to determine space allocations, product placement and adjacencies. He also chose to emphasize better and best products and recognizable national

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2026 BEACON AWARD FOR BEST NEW STORE brands rather than competing primarily on opening price points.

The Milwaukee department illustrates one of the biggest payoffs. Big Rapids expanded what had been about a 6-foot presentation into a destination area of about 30 feet. After Milwaukee (including the Packout product line the store wanted to promote) was moved to a more prominent location, sales from the area increased nearly 40%.

Turning Projects Into Possibilities Perhaps no department better captures the new Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware than its kitchen and bath design center.

The service existed before VanderWeele purchased the company, but the department received virtually no marketing. Relying on expertise from his co-op, Do it Best, he made “Kitchen & Bath Design Center” part of the company’s branding and began promoting an operation he believed competitors couldn’t easily match.

Today, he says kitchen and bath accounts for about a third of total sales and is among the company’s most profitable departments.

It also fits his favorite description of the business: “Disney World for homeowners,” he calls it.

“We make people’s dreams come true,” he says. “A person’s home is their largest purchase. They work

During his Beacon Award acceptance speech, David VanderWeele credited his team and fellow independent retailers, then challenged the industry: “It’s easy for us to get intimidated by big boxes.

I personally think it’s time they start getting intimidated by us.”

extremely hard their entire life and save money to do the kitchen they’ve dreamed about or the bathroom they’ve always wanted.”

That project-oriented approach has expanded further through construction services; VanderWeele told the Awards Gala audience in Orlando, Florida, that he has already booked work into next June.

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The transformation has produced results behind the scenes as well.

Gross margin, once about 17%, has averaged about 28% over the past 24 months. A shift toward more disciplined purchasing and just-in-time inventory reduced annual inventory carrying costs by nearly $400,000, while sales per employee increased 18%.

The store’s reach has expanded, too. Customers who once came from a service radius of about 40 miles now request deliveries as far as 150 miles away.

Those numbers help explain why VanderWeele believes diversification was essential. When the building materials market fell sharply, Big Rapids kept sales roughly flat despite building materials representing nearly 70% of its business.

The transformation continues.

VanderWeele credits Do it Best with providing resources, training, marketing support and access to fellow independent retailers while allowing him to determine the direction of his own company.

When accepting the Best New Store Award, he offered a challenge to fellow independent hardware retailers competing against national chains with vastly larger marketing budgets.

“It’s easy for us to get intimidated by big boxes,” he told the audience.

“I personally think it’s time they start getting intimidated by us.”

For Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware, VanderWeele’s confidence now has a nearly $1 million transformation—and a growing list of stellar performance metrics—behind it. n

The transformation of Big Rapids Lumber & Hardware broadened the store’s reach beyond its traditional contractor base, with homeowners now accounting for about one-third of its business.

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HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 37

With support from co-op True Value, Julie Walker-Martin and Cory Martin opened Howard Walker’s True Value Hardware in Henrietta, Texas, as a tribute to Julie’s father. (From left) Eric Lane, Do it Best’s vice president of field sales, Martin, Walker-Martin and Do it Best COO Nick Talarico.

p U g n i Liv

TO A NAME

JULIE WALKER-MARTIN AND CORY MARTIN HONOR THE LEGACY OF HER FATHER, HOWARD WALKER, AT THEIR HENRIETTA, TEXAS, TRUE VALUE THROUGH ATTENTIVE SERVICE, DISTINCTIVE MERCHANDISING AND HELPING TO REVITALIZE DOWNTOWN.

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tanding onstage to accept the 2026 Best New Store Beacon Award in Orlando, Florida, this July, Julie Walker-Martin thanked her team, True Value and the people who helped turn a difficult project into a successful store.

Then she talked about her father.

Howard Walker spent decades serving Henrietta, Texas, as a teacher and pastor. From him, Julie says, she learned about hard work and the responsibility that comes with helping others.

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What the Martins have accomplished since they opened explains why the business has earned a Best New Store Beacon Award.

“He taught me about serving the community,” Julie told the Beacon Awards audience. “We try to complete that every day with our customers and serving our community.”

Howard was supposed to have had a role in the hardware store himself. His retirement plan included spending time there, greeting customers and staying connected with the people he had known through a lifetime in Texas’s Clay County. He died in 2022 before seeing that to fruition.

Julie and her husband, Cory Martin, carried the idea forward, naming the business Howard Walker’s True Value Hardware. The store opened Jan. 27, 2025, in downtown Henrietta. The name pays tribute to Howard.

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Old Character, New Purpose Creating the store meant transforming a former boot factory that had seen better days. The Martins wanted to retain as much of the historic property as was practical while creating an inviting, accessible retail environment.

“We wanted to bring the old into the new,” Julie says.

Original architectural elements remain, including an interior arch and old fire door. The Martins preserved vintage ceiling tile where possible, while the renovation added LED lighting, insulation, new windows, HVAC systems and an updated storefront.

Accessibility was particularly important to Julie, who wanted safe aisles, ramps and railings throughout the property.

Her goal was an open store that felt substantial without losing the personality of a hometown business.

“It had to be more than a mom-and-pop shop,” Julie says. “It had to have a grandiose feel but still warm and cozy.”

The result is about 8,000 square feet of selling space within an 8,900-square-foot operation, with additional space being prepared for convenience lumber and future expansion of the lawn and garden department, including live plants.

HARDWARE Connection ■ September 9, 2026 ■ 39

2026 BEACON AWARD FOR BEST NEW STORE Julie also mixed conventional hardware fixtures with pieces that give the store more personality. When a nearby furniture business closed, she acquired rustic bookshelves and tables that are now placed around the salesfloor.

A landing pad near the entrance changes with the seasons, displaying everything from grills and fire pits to outdoor furniture. Large front windows have become another merchandising tool. One EasyCare display used satin material to create the appearance of paint pouring from five-gallon buckets.

Seasonal windows have become something local residents watch for throughout the year.

Learning What Henrietta Needs Working with True Value, the store is increasingly tailored to its market.

Hardware, paint, lawn and garden, electrical and plumbing rank among the store’s top departments. Plumbing continues to expand, with products such as Fluidmaster repair items selling quickly. Milwaukee and DeWalt have a strong presence, while farm, ranch and equine products reflect the surrounding market.

Lawn and garden is another growth opportunity. The Martins own a property across the street that could support an expanded department, and repeated customer requests have convinced Julie that adding lumber also makes sense.

Julie Walker-Martin accepts the Best New Store Beacon Award from Hardware Connection editor Doug Donaldson, recognizing a young operation that has grown its year-to-date transaction count from about 3,000 to nearly 7,000.

The store is learning in other ways.

Julie regularly uses True Value’s marketing resources, combining national campaigns and branding with posts about Henrietta businesses, schools and community events.

That local emphasis carries onto the salesfloor, where the eight-person team is encouraged to spend time with customers and understand the projects they’re working on.

“People want to stay local and not drive to Wichita [Falls],” Julie says. “Our goal is to make this store convenient to the community, but have what the community thrives on and needs.”

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Howard Walker’s True Value Hardware occupies the former Olsen-Stelzer Boot and Saddlery building in downtown Henrietta, Texas, where Julie Walker-Martin and Cory Martin preserved some original architectural details.

Customers are responding. The store reported about $576,000 in sales in 2025, while year-to-date transaction counts increased from about 3,000 to nearly 7,000.

The business also demonstrated its value when Henrietta needed it most.

During a winter storm in early 2026, the store remained open with adjusted hours and limited staffing while much of the town shut down. After critical products sold out, True Value arranged for an emergency truck carrying antifreeze, faucet covers and heaters.

That response reflects the service philosophy Julie emphasized from the Beacon Awards stage.

The store also supports local schools and National FFA Organization TheHardwareConnection.com

programs, the animal shelter, hospital events and other community organizations. Julie envisions more events inside the store as well, including workshops on basic home repairs and a seating area near the entrance where customers can have coffee and visit.

It all circles back to the role Howard Walker once imagined for himself.

“I’m about service because that’s what I believe we’re supposed to do,” Julie says. “We have to give back to the community.”

For her, the Beacon Award recognizes new-store excellence and an idea handed from one generation to another: that a business can succeed by becoming useful to the place it calls home. n

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2026 BEACON AWARD FOR BEST NEW STORE

s t r a m S r o t c a r t n Co

DRIVE FAST GROWTH OWNER DAVID REYNA ENTERED A COMPETITIVE MARKET IN RIO GRANDE CITY, TEXAS, YET HE GREW RIVERSIDE BUILDING MATERIALS THROUGH CONTRACTOR EXPERTISE, STRONG PRODUCT ASSORTMENT AND A RAPIDLY EXPANDING DELIVERY OPERATION.

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efore Riverside Building Materials opened its doors to the public, David Reyna gave the business a test run.

For several months in early 2023, the new Rio Grande City, Texas, operation supplied Reyna’s own construction company. Having spent nearly three decades in construction building 50 to 70 homes a year, Reyna knew the frustrations contractors encounter when

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David Reyna (with his wife, Veronica) drew on three decades of construction experience to shape Riverside Building Materials around contractor needs, helping the young Rio Grande City, Texas, operation expand its reach across four South Texas counties.

materials are unavailable, deliveries arrive late or a supplier forces them to make multiple stops.

So he used those first months to work out the glitches.

“We knew the materials they needed,” Reyna says. “We knew what to tackle, the deliveries and the systems to implement to eliminate the issues lumber companies typically have.”

Riverside officially opened in April 2023. Less than three years later, it has grown into a $15 million–plus operation serving four South Texas counties, with more than $1.5 million in inventory and eight flatbed delivery trucks.

That combination of rapid growth and contractor-focused execution earned Riverside Building Materials the 2026 Beacon Award for Best New Store.

corridor just north of the Mexican border—with warehouses and an idea that someday it could become a building materials business.

He tried twice to make it happen.

Funding and other obstacles got in the way.

His third attempt came together in 2022, when he worked with banks and Orgill to secure financing and prepare the business for launch.

The competitive landscape was already crowded. Riverside entered a market with several established lumber dealers, some with more than 30 years of history. Reyna knew matching their longevity wasn’t an option.

Service was.

“We were the underdogs,” he says.

“How do we beat them? The main thing is servicing the contractors better.”

A Third Try Becomes the Right Time That meant treating mistakes as The idea had been years in the making. opportunities to improve the operation.

Reyna entered construction in his When Riverside falls short for a 20s while working for a nonprofit that customer, the team examines what coordinated home renovations for happened and changes the process to low-income families. He soon started keep it from happening again. his own renovation company with his “Whenever we make a mistake or fail wife from their kitchen table, eventually a customer, I don’t care if it’s small or growing Reyna Homes into a major medium, we gather the team and make custom and spec homebuilder in sure we learn from it,” Reyna says. the area.

This approach helped Riverside About 15 years ago, he purchased a gain contractors through referrals 5.5-acre property—along the U.S. 83 and repeat business. Reyna also TheHardwareConnection.com

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2026 BEACON AWARD FOR BEST NEW STORE met with local builders individually, drawing on relationships and credibility established through his construction career.

Logistics That Match Growth Riverside’s one-stop-shop strategy begins with understanding what builders actually use.

The assortment stretches across lumber, rebar, sheetrock, insulation, roofing, plumbing, electrical, paint, windows and stucco products. Reyna pays particular attention to items contractors might otherwise have to hunt down elsewhere, including specialized stucco panels, fasteners, mesh and finishing tools.

“I know exactly what a builder needs,” he says. “We need to have everything from the doorknob to certain types of screws.”

Contractor requests also influence what gets added. Employees bring customer feedback into regular meetings, enabling Riverside to identify repeatedly requested products and expand inventory accordingly.

As sales accelerated, however, Reyna discovered that having the right materials was only half the equation.

Riverside had to move it just as quickly.

The company went from one delivery truck its first year to eight by its third year. Its yard now handles

David Reyna credits his strong relationship with wholesaler Orgill, which helped Riverside Building Materials gain ground quickly. Riverside now, astonishingly, serves about 80% of the contractors in its local community. (From left) Veronica Reyna, David Reyna and Orgill CEO Boyden Moore.

about 25 to 30 deliveries each day, more than 500 a month.

“When you have great salespeople, they require great yard support,” Reyna says. “The yard needed to keep up with the growth.”

Riverside now has a dedicated yard manager coordinating deliveries, trucks and forklifts. The 5.5-acre site includes a 5,000-square-foot retail store and three 4,000-square-foot warehouses, with a fourth warehouse planned. The retail store itself is also targeted for expansion.

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Riverside Building Materials occupies a 5.5-acre site along the U.S. 83 corridor in Rio Grande City, Texas, with a 5,000-square-foot retail store and three warehouses— and plans underway for a fourth warehouse and an expanded retail space.

Orgill helped Reyna create the original retail operation, developing the floor plan and product placement, connecting Riverside with its gondola supplier and sending a crew to assemble shelving. Orgill also helped establish assortments and recommended Epicor for point-of-sale and inventory management. Today, twice-weekly Orgill deliveries help Riverside replenish plumbing, electrical, paint and other categories quickly.

Reyna says that support has been especially meaningful because Orgill remained engaged through his earlier unsuccessful attempts to launch the business.

“I couldn’t see this happening without Orgill,” he says.

Riverside is already looking beyond its original market. The company serves Starr, Zapata, Hidalgo and Cameron counties, and Reyna says

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about half its sales now come from Hidalgo County, where he hopes to open a second location within the next two years.

Accepting the Beacon Award, he reflected on how close his store came to remaining an unrealized idea.

“Three years ago, Riverside was just a mission,” he told the audience.

“And I must say that mission almost never became a reality.”

For him, the recognition belongs as much to the community and his team as it does to the company itself. He sees Riverside’s success as evidence that a locally owned business from rural South Texas can compete well beyond its home market.

His next goal is straightforward.

“We’re very excited, very happy and motivated to go back home and continue serving our community better than anyone else.” n

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BEACON AWARD SPONSORS

THANK YOU, BEACON AWARD SPONSORS!

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very Beacon Award begins with a retailer whose leadership, ideas and commitment deserve recognition. Bringing those stories to a national audience takes another kind of commitment—one made year after year by companies that believe deeply in the future of independent home improvement retail.

The North American Hardware and Paint Association and Hardware Connection extend our sincere gratitude to the sponsors whose support makes the Beacon Awards possible. Wholesale sponsors Do it Best, True Value and Orgill help us recognize retailers whose accomplishments set an example

for the entire industry. Ettore, Epicor and Fluidmaster lend their support to a program dedicated to celebrating excellence throughout the independent channel, while WD-40, sponsor of the Digital Beacon Awards, helps us recognize retailers who are finding creative and effective ways to connect with customers online.

Their support allows us to give these remarkable independent retailers the recognition they have earned. To every sponsor who stands behind the Beacon Awards—and behind the people and businesses they celebrate—thank you. We are genuinely grateful to have you as partners in this program.

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UPCOMING EVENTS Wallace Distribution Fall Dealer Market Blish-Mize Fall Customer Buying Market Sept. 30–Oct. 1, Sevierville Convention Sept. 11-13, Overland Park Convention Center, Sevierville, Tennessee Center, Overland Park, Kansas

SEPTEMBER

World Millwork Alliance Annual Convention & Tradeshow Sept. 14-16, Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Orlando, Florida Bradley Caldwell Fall Show Sept. 15-17, Atlantic City, New Jersey LMC Leadership Summit Sept. 15-17, Seattle Horizon Distribution Inc. Tradeshow Expo Sept. 16-17, Yakima Convention Center, Yakima, Washington

OCTOBER

METALCON Oct. 7-9, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida Hardlines Conference Oct. 20-21, Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa, Ontario Equip Exposition Oct. 20-23, Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky LMC Expo Oct. 28-30, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia

NOVEMBER

Ace Hardware Fall 2026 Convention Sept. 22-24, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida

Orgill Winter Online Buying Event 2026 Nov. 2-15

GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door Expo Sept. 23-25, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas

North American Wholesale Lumber Association Traders Market 2026 Nov. 4-6, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California

Do it Best, True Value Fall Market Sept. 25-28, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis

DIY Con Nov. 6-8, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas

Plan for the 2027 IHI Conference!

The Independent Home Improvement Conference returns to Marco Island, Florida, Sept. 28-30, 2027. The event will bring together more than 700 independent retailers, vendors and industry partners for educational sessions, networking opportunities and access to new products and solutions designed to support store growth and operations.

LBM Advantage Fall Planning Conference Nov. 9-11, Encore Boston Harbor, Boston HDA Executive Planning Conference Nov. 10-12, The Westing La Paloma Resort & Spa, Tucson, Arizona

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ISSA Show North America Nov. 16-19, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas PLMA Store Brands Marketplace/ Private Label Trade Show Nov. 15-17, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Chicago STAFDA 50th Annual Convention & Trade Show Nov. 15-17, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California Deck Expo / International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo Nov. 17-19, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans

DECEMBER

2026 Irrigation Show and Education Week Dec. 7-10, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas LBM Expo 2026 Dec. 9-10, Earth Expo & Convention Center, Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Connecticut Northeastern Retail Lumber Association Annual Meeting Dec. 10, Earth Expo & Convention Center, Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Connecticut Automated Retail & Kiosk Innovation Show Dec. 14-16, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida

For a complete listing of calendar dates, click here.

IN THE NEWS

FLURRY OF DEALS RESHAPE BUILDING PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTION

It has been a busy month in building products distribution. A fast series of acquisitions announced or completed leading up to Labor Day shows the continuing consolidation of building products and specialty distribution, with companies adding locations, customers and product expertise across several markets.

Builders FirstSource acquired Gleckler & Sons Construction and Gleckler & Sons Building Supplies, expanding its Florida operations with 11 locations serving homebuilders in the central, northeastern and western Sunshine State. The businesses provide residential framing services,

roof and floor trusses, exterior doors, millwork and other building materials.

The deal continues an aggressive acquisition strategy for Builders FirstSource, following its Aug. 3 acquisition of Innovative Construction Group, an off-site construction company with facilities in Florida and South Carolina. Before those two transactions, Builders FirstSource had completed 42 acquisitions since 2021 representing $2.3 billion in annual sales. CEO Peter Jackson said during the company’s second-quarter earnings presentation that Builders FirstSource continues to see M&A opportunities in the market.

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Texas is another focus of recent activity. On Aug. 31, Contract Lumber announced its acquisition of HT Building Products, adding operations in Houston and Dallas. Contract Lumber already operated seven Texas locations and says the acquisition increases its scale and reach in the state and the Southwest.

On Sept. 1, White Cap completed its previously announced acquisition of Ace Contractors Supply, expanding the specialty construction distributor’s presence in central Texas.

The activity extends into specialty hardware and fasteners. Distribution Solutions Group acquired South Florida–based American Fasteners Corp. on Sept. 2. American Fasteners operates three locations and generates about $39 million in annual revenue; it is the largest Milwaukee Tool dealer in the region and serves more than 11,000 customers.

Also on Sept. 2, Richelieu Hardware acquired the hardware division of The Penrod Company, a national distributor specializing in hardware and components for residential and commercial doors. The acquisition adds about $70 million in annual sales to Richelieu and expands its reach among manufacturers, contractors and specialty distributors.

As distributors grow through acquisition, independent home improvement retailers are increasingly buying from larger organizations with TheHardwareConnection.com

broader territories, assortments and capabilities—a shift that can change everything from product access to supplier relationships.

NEWS STORES, ACQUISITIONS • Milwaukee-based Bliffert Lumber has opened its 16th Wisconsin location in Platteville.

• Merrill Ace Hardware in Merrill, Wisconsin, celebrated the grand opening of its new store in August.

• Sneade’s Ace Home Center celebrated the grand opening of its Prince Frederick, Maryland, location Aug. 27-29 with a block party, vendor demonstrations, giveaways and specials across its five stores.

• Pague & Fegan Ace Hardware opened its new store in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 20, featuring expanded assortments and new power tool and paint departments.

• Midland Park, New Jersey–based Kuiken Brothers Company has reached an agreement to acquire Paramus Building Supply, adding

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Dettinger Lumber Company

County Building Center Ace Hardware

locations in the Garden State towns of Paramus and Bergenfield.

• Jason Dyke plans to open Pullman’s Ace Hardware in Pullman, Washington, in early October, returning an Ace store to the community for the first time since 2018.

• County Building Center Ace Hardware in Ardmore, Oklahoma, celebrated its grand reopening Aug. 27.

KUDOS • The Do it Best Foundation awarded more than $144,000 in grants to

Built by Hardware People ...

For Hardware People.

Testimonial: Frank Stoltmann, Bullock Supply,

J3 Customer

“Our previous system was cumbersome to work with and we had very little customer support,” Frank Stoltmann of Bullock Supply explains. “That’s where J3 POS really helps us out. Fred’s family was in the hardware business for 100 years, so this system was born out of the hardware industry,” Frank says. “Understanding the requirements for a supply store and designing the POS so it’s easy to use at the front counter speeds up our operation, makes us more informed when we’re talking to customers, and gives us the ability to track inventory.”

“We had a very short window for install and J3 POS went above and beyond to get it done. We had good solid training right from the start. Its quick lookup buttons let us click on a department and find an item very easily. And as we’ve gotten more familiar with the system, constant communication with J3 POS staff makes our utilization even easier.”

“J3 POS software is tailored to our growth needs,” Frank adds. “It’s what we need for today, tomorrow, and well into the future.”

“We can grow into the software versus modifying ourselves to fit a software.”

“Grade A support— Everything about what you guys do is top notch.”

“Having a server on site gives us a level of confidence… we can see it, touch it, feel it.”

See why independent supply stores trust J3 POS. Book your personalized demo today.

1-888-600-5522 • sales@j3pos.biz • j3pos.biz

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21 organizations supporting youth services, food security, health care, education and other community needs.

For more, read this article.

• Dettinger Lumber Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, founded by Jacob Dettinger in 1926, joins the Hardware Connection Century Club, celebrating 100 years in business.

• Do it Best Group vice president of human resources Celestial Stevens received the 2026 Empower Award from the Indiana Women’s Celestial Collaborative and Stevens Indiana Chamber of

TheHardwareConnection.com

Commerce, recognizing her leadership and advocacy during a 21-year career with the company.

• Trex is celebrating its 30th anniversary with employee events and a planned New York Stock Exchange opening bell ceremony while outlining plans to expand further into outdoor living and double the size of its business over the next four years.

• Behr Paint Company is marking the 10th anniversary of its Color of the Year program with a $250,000 donation to Habitat for Humanity to support affordable homeownership programs—while naming Grounded, an earthy olive green, its 2027 Color of the Year.

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• Newton’s True Value in Cherryvale, Kansas, announced that owner Megan Menzer has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who. • E&H Ace Hardware in Dublin, Ohio, celebrated its grand reopening Aug. 31, nearly nine months after a fire severely Megan Menzer damaged the store.

• Simpson Strong-Tie donated $25,000 for wildfire relief and recovery efforts in eastern Washington and Canada, including $15,000 to the Innovia Foundation and $10,000 to the Canadian Red Cross.

• LP Building Solutions was named the 2025 Safest Company in its category by APA—The Engineered Wood Association, marking its fourth consecutive win and 16th overall in the award’s 18-year history.

• Ransom Brothers Ace Hardware in Ramona, California, was named the 2026 Miracle Bucket Market Champion after raising $2,953.67 for Rady Children’s Hospital, the highest total among 30 participating Ace stores in the region.

• Branneky True Value Hardware in Bridgeton, Missouri, was named Best Garden Store/Nursery in the 2026 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Headliner awards.

• Mueller Lumber Company in Mitchell, South Dakota, was named the

Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Family Business of the Year.

• Artie’s Ace Hardware in Phoenix will celebrate its 50th anniversary and the grand reopening of its Paradise Valley, Arizona, store Sept. 18-20 with a ribbon cutting, vendor events and other promotions.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE • QXO has appointed Ken West president and COO, effective Sept. 1.

West joins QXO from Honeywell Technologies, where he most recently served as president and CEO of Honeywell Ken West Process Technology.

• Hancock Lumber has promoted Matt Duprey to chief white pine officer, giving the 32-year company veteran responsibility for the Matt Duprey strategic direction and operations of its eastern white pine business.

• Bayport, Minnesota– based Andersen Corporation has named Kelly McLain senior vice president and chief legal officer, succeeding Andrea Nordaune, who is retiring after more than 30 years with Kelly McLain the company.

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Welcome to the Hardware Connection Century Club!

The Hardware Connection Century Club, sponsored by the NHS Concept to Commerce, recognizes “The Innovators and Survivors Who Helped Build America.” Our Century Club currently includes 804 hardware and LBM retailers, 21 wholesalers and 207 manufacturers that were founded in the United States of America and remain in business after 100 or more years.

You can find the complete list of Century Club members including old store photos and links to company history by clicking here. We congratulate the following retailers who have been added to the Hardware Connection Century Club this past year: Andrew Posey & Son Hardware, Jasper, AL—1924

Kelly Seed & Hardware Co., Peoria, IL—1905

Bourassa True Value Hardware, New Bedford, MA—1924

Learned Lumber, Hermosa Beach, CA—1924

Bowling’s Feed and Hardware, Catlettsburg, KY—1924

Legg Lumber Company, Holt, MI—1884

Braun Building Center, Manitowoc, WI—1905

Lummus Building Supply Co., Atlanta, GA—1925

Carl Eliason & Company Lumber & Hardware, Sayner, WI—1924

Morrison Terrebonne, Houma, LA—1924

Chairtown Lumber Company, Gardner, MA—1924 Clark Devon Hardware, Chicago, IL—1924 Congleton Lumber, Lexington, KY—1905 Denver Lumber Company, Denver, CO—1923

National Lumber Company, Baltimore, MD—1919 Newton’s True Value Hardware, Cherryvale, KS—1924 Page Lumber, Poughkeepsie, NY—1924—1,000th Centrury Club member

Dettinger Lumber Company, Pittsfield, MA—1926

Paschal Brothers Hardware & Lumber, Jacksonville, FL—1924

Gennett Lumber Company, Fletcher, NC—1901

Ransom Brothers Lumber & Supply, Ramona, CA—1924

Guy C. Lee Building Materials, Smithfield, NC—1924

Requarth Company, Dayton, OH—1860

Hamilton Building Supply, Hamilton, NJ—1924

Rocky’s Ace Hardware, Springfield, MA 1926

Heller Lumber Company, Arlington Heights, IL—1924

Southern Builders Supply, Valdosta, GA—1880

Holman Supply Company, Moultrie, GA—1920

Union Lumber Company, New Albany, MS—1902

Howell Hardware, Millville, NJ—1924

Valley Park Elevator & Hardware, Valley Park, MO—1874

Hunter’s Hardware, Berkley Spring, WV—1870

Western Materials Inc., Yakima, WA—1915

H&W Hardware, New York, NY—1924

William B. Morse Lumber Company, Rochester, NY—1853

SPONSORED BY

• A.O. Smith has named John Forryan operations director at its Ashland City, Tennessee, facility following the retirement of Patrick Gill after more than 20 years with the company.

Rebecca Grizzle was also promoted to operations director at the company’s Johnson City, Tennessee, plant.

• Nation’s Best regional vice president Greg Smith is retiring after 50 years in the building materials industry, including the past five years with the Dallas-based company.

• In other Ace Hardware news, the co-op made a move into high school sports sponsorship during ESPN’s High School Football Kickoff Aug. 21-22, with on-site signage and an in-game “Helpful Player” feature that was shared through League Ready, a high school sports channel operated

by Paragon Sports Marketing. Also, Ace’s RedVest Media announced new measurement, audience, social and influencer capabilities and commerce-media partnerships at its inaugural 2027 Upfront event. For the full story, see this article.

WHOLESALERS, MANUFACTURERS • Nashville, Tennessee–based • Do it Best Group reported $5 billion LP Building Solutions will indefinitely curtail oriented strand board production in fiscal 2026 consolidated sales, at its Jasper, Texas, facility beginning in up 3.8%, and will distribute $132.9 October in response to soft demand. million in patronage dividends as the • ABC Supply has acquired the assets cooperative continues integrating True Value operations, assortments and of Martini Brick Sales in Corpus Christi, Texas, with the longtime distribution. For the full story, see here.

• In related Do it Best Group news, the masonry supplier continuing to operate under its existing name and leadership. co-op will close its Montgomery, New • Irving, Texas–based Builders York, distribution center in the second FirstSource has formed a strategic quarter of 2027 and shift its volume to partnership with AI platform Digs, the company’s 1.4 million-square-foot leading a $25.3 million Series A facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, as it continues to integrate the Do it Best investment and entering a five-year agreement to develop AI-powered tools and True Value distribution networks. for homebuilders and homeowners.

For the full story, see this article.

• Ace Hardware has opened its 100th • Construction Resources, a subsidiary of The Home Depot, has new store of 2026 and says it remains acquired Fuse Specialty Appliances on pace to open more than 170 by & Plumbing, adding seven luxury year-end, after adding more than kitchen-and-bath showrooms across 1,100 over the past six years. For the full story, read this article.

South Florida.

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• ProVia is expanding its manufacturing footprint with new facilities in Dover, Ohio, and Mocksville, North Carolina, totaling 890,000 square feet and supporting growth in its vinyl window and patio door business.

• Hillman Solutions Corp. has completed its approximately $315 million acquisition of Kanebridge, adding a U.S. master-distribution platform with more than 44,000 commercial and military-grade fastener SKUs. • Makita launched Makita Industrial Tools Corporation on Sept. 1 following its acquisition of Panasonic

Electric Works’ power tool business, expanding Makita into factory fastening equipment and industrial IoT solutions.

IN MEMORIAM • John Allen Martin, 84, a former owner and operator of Honey Creek True Value Hardware John Allen in Conyers, Georgia, Martin passed away Aug. 22.

• Barbara Holmberg, 88, of Morris, Illinois, passed away Aug. 27 at Serenity Estates in Morris. Holmberg worked alongside her husband, Kenneth, at their family-owned Worth True Value Hardware in Worth, Illinois.

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