![]() While working for Shafer, Gerberding developed his own vision for creating a dealer-owned company. Using another model, Ace Hardware, formed in 1925, gained combined strength through a franchise of stores that all carried the same name and products. These groups typically tied themselves to a "cost-plus" store that would act as a buyer for the group, then sell merchandise to the associated stores at cost plus a standard handling fee. The independent hardware dealers, who were facing growing competition from national catalog and retail chains such as Sears and Montgomery Ward, fought to be competitive by forming associations and using the pooled resources of the group to buy directly from manufacturers. The jobbers not only added a layer of expense for the independent retailer, they also controlled the retailers to some extent. During the 1920s and 1930s, the wholesale middlemen, also known as jobbers, dominated the flow of goods from the manufacturer to the local retailer. Gerberding spent nearly two decades with Shafer, primarily as a buyer. Schafer was a small hardware wholesaler that served both hardware and building materials dealers within a 100-mile radius. in Decatur, Indiana, at the urging of his uncle, who was the firm's treasurer. After several years he took a job with Schafer Hardware Co. By combining the purchasing power of its members, HWI helped the independent dealer face intense competition from discount stores, warehouse outlets, and big chain operations.īorn in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1900, Gerberding went to work for the Pfeiffer Hardware Co. It was established to serve independent hardware and building materials dealers. ![]() (HWI) was founded in 1945 by Arnold Gerberding as a member-owned cooperative. Origins and Dealer-Owned Cooperatives: 1900-45 In fiscal 1999 (ending June 30) Do it Best reached $2 billion in sales for the first time. A seventh RSC was scheduled to open in October 1999. Do it Best distributes some 70,000 different hardware and building supplies items from six regional service centers (RSCs). From an initial membership of 75 hardware and building and lumber supplies dealers, the cooperative by 1999 had grown to include more than 4,200 member-retailers throughout the United States and 38 foreign countries. (HWI), Do it Best Corporation is one of the largest dealer-owned cooperatives in the United States. Founded in 1945 as Hardware Wholesalers, Inc.
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