The True Value Company is an American wholesaler with over 4,500 independent retail locations worldwide. A number of different retail identities are supported by True Value Company, including True Value, Grand Rental Station, Party Central, and Taylor Rental, Induserve Supply, Home & Garden Showplace as well as affiliate stores that purchase from True Value Company but do not use any of the national store identities. The wholesaler supports its retailers through 13 regional distribution centers and approximately 2,500 associates in 60 countries. The corporate headquarters are located in the O'Hare neighborhood of Chicago. Historically it was a cooperative owned by retailers, but in 2018 it was purchased by ACON Investments.
History
True Value Company traces its roots to four hardware cooperatives and a hardware wholesaler: American Hardware & Supply, Coast to Coast Corporation, Cotter & Company, and the Midwest-based Hibbard Spencer Bartlett & Company. , New York City, New York. The lumberyard shut down in 2009. Cotter & Company was established in 1948 by John Cotter with 12 original member stores. The cooperative grew in membership and in 1962 Cotter & Company purchased the assets of Hibbard Spencer Bartlett & Company for $2.5 million, acquiring the True Value trademark for $2500 as part of the acquisition. ServiStar Hardware had previously purchased Coast to Coast Hardware and had renamed itself to Servistar & Coast to Coast Hardware. Their hardware stores were operating under either ServiStar or Coast to Coast retail identities. In 1997 they merged with Cotter & Company to form TruServ Corporation. During a 1999 audit, accounting irregularities of about $100 million were discovered originating from pre-merger Cotter & Company, leading to a $131 million loss that year causing the value of TruServ stock to plummet. During this tumultuous period, a number of hardware stores chose to leave TruServ to join competing hardware cooperatives. TruServ Corporation brought in new management, eliminated the ServiStar and Coast to Coast brand names, and streamlined operations by closing many of the regional distribution centers. In 2006 TruServ Corporation was renamed True Value Company. In 2018 an international private equity investment firm, ACON, purchased True Value. In 2019 True Value announced the opening of its first all new custom designed distribution center in over 30 years. The new warehouse is a 1.4 million square foot facility servicing over 1000 stores located in Hanover Township, Pa. and is set to open in the fall of 2019. This update comes as True Value has grown and expanded the number of businesses it serves after the majority of the company was purchased by ACON in 2018. Along with the new distribution center True Value has also adopted the "hub-and-spoke" model along with new software that will allow all warehouses to operate extremely efficiently through forecasted inventory models.
General Paint & Manufacturing
True Value owns its paint manufacturing plant known as General Paint & Manufacturing and also manufactures paint for a variety of other companies. GPM was established in 1922. The factory in Cary, Illinois, became operational in April 1976. The facility manufactures latex paints, oil based paints, stains and aerosols exceeding 7,300,000 gallons annually. GPM also manufactures a complete line of jansan/cleaning chemicals. The 575,000 square foot facility has diverse manufacturing capabilities in one location. In July 2018, it was announced that the True Value EasyCare Ultra Premium Acrylic Latex paint earned the Asthma and Allergy Friendly Certification
Home & Garden Showplace
Home & Garden Showplace is the garden center store identity of the True Value Company. It was started by ServiStar to help build their lawn and garden sales. Today there are over 260 Home & Garden Showplace stores across the United States. Each store is independently owned and purchases merchandise through the True Value distribution centers and buys from many growers of plants through various True Value buying programs.
Other affiliates
Grand Rental Station, Taylor Rental, Party Central, and True Value Rental are the rental store identities of the True Value Company. Grand Rental Station, Taylor Rental, and Party Central are all standalone, independently owned franchises. In addition to True Value stores there are over 400 affiliate stores across the United States. These stores purchase merchandise both through the True Value distribution centers and directly from certain manufacturers. True Value Rental is the in-store rental program found in many True Value Hardware stores across the country.
Induserve Supply
Induserve Supply is the MRO store identity of the True Value Company. Induserve Supply is a network of independent commercial, industrial and MRO suppliers, as well as many True Value retailers, providing products for small businesses, major institutions, universities, and government offices.
House brands
True Value's Green Thumb, Master Electrician, Master Plumber and Master Mechanic brands are made by many different manufacturers worldwide. They are manufactured to company specifications and are sold exclusively by True Value member stores, including True Value, Home & Garden Showplace, and other affiliates.
TruServ Canada
The roots of the Canadian affiliate TruServ Canada go back to the Stedman's chain founded in 1907 in Ontario, and the Macleod's chain of Western Canada founded in 1917. Together they became Macleod-Stedman Inc. in 1964. In 1992 Macleod-Stedman became Cotter Canada. When Cotter in the US changed its name to TrueServ 1997, so did the Canadian affiliate. Since 2001, the American chain no longer owns any stake in TruServ Canada.
