Fort Wayne, IN—The 2007 Do it Best October Market^SM, held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis from October 12–16, brought together thousands of the co-op’s members and vendors to recognize many successes of the past year and to plan for continued growth in the future. Members took advantage of exclusive deals, explored new merchandising strategies, and participated in education sessions designed to help them drive performance and profitability in today’s competitive retail landscape.

Popularity of Sneak Peek^SM grows
Since its inception in October 2005, the Friday Night Sneak Peek^SM – a two-hour event featuring exclusive specials on traffic-building, margin-producing products from select vendors – has become increasingly popular each market. Continuing the trend, members purchased more than $5.8 million in products at the at the Sneak Peek event, ordering more than 958,000 units in just two hours.  Prior to the market, members could review the deals ahead of time with the online Sneak Peek Pre-Planner, available on mydoitbest.com, the Do it Best Corp. member portal.

Members spend time outdoors testing power equipment, rental equipment
While the market floor didn’t officially open until Saturday morning, there were lots of pre-market events in which members could participate, including education seminars, preview meetings, Sneak Peek and Power Preview^SM. The 6th annual Power Preview provided members an opportunity to try out the latest innovations in both outdoor power equipment and outdoor barbeques from more than 25 vendors. On Saturday and Sunday, members continued their hands-on experience, this time with rental equipment, at the 3rd annual Rental Zone. The buying opportunities continued on the market expo floor, open from Saturday morning through Tuesday afternoon, which featured more than 1,500 vendors offering specials and new products. The New Idea Room displayed more than 1,000 new items available through the Do it Best Corp. retail service centers. Pallet specials lined the hallways of the Indiana Convention Center, giving members additional buying opportunities on products available in larger quantities.

Expansive Paint & Sundries offering featured in Special Exhibit Area

The Special Exhibit Area was devoted to the co-op’s line-up of paint and sundries, considered to be the most comprehensive paint program in the industry. Designed to accommodate the needs of a wide variety of members, the Special Exhibit Area featured both a dominant and convenience set of Do it Best® private label paints from Sherwin-Williams and Valspar branded products. With the color pallet being a significant driver in today’s retail paint sales, especially with female customers, members were introduced to 36 feet of color options, which included the exclusive private labels under the Do it Best Quality Paints™ line such as Best Look®, Color Solutions ™ and Master Touch®, as well as the Valspar and Laura Ashley brands. Live product demonstrations and how-to seminars were held on Saturday to give members an opportunity to boost their knowledge and sales techniques in this number one do-it-yourself category.

Members offered education opportunities to improve operations

While purchasing opportunities were the focus of the market, members also had a wide variety of education opportunities from which to choose. More than 40 free seminars were offered on Friday, including sessions focused on technology, business management, increasing sales, and product knowledge.  “The education component continues to grow,” said Bill Zielke, Do it Best Corp. vice president of marketing and international development.  “We are seeing increasing attendance at the educational seminars and demonstrations as our members take advantage of the opportunities to develop new skills and bring new ideas to their stores.”  Members also took time away from the market floor to hear from experts on family business issues and best practices in customer service at the Lunch-N-Go sessions.

All work and no play is dull

While there was certainly an abundance of learning opportunities and buying activity, the market was not all business. Members heard a fascinating and inspiring presentation by a true American hero, and a living legend from the Apollo 13 mission, Captain James Lovell, at the co-op’s Kickoff Breakfast on Saturday morning. Members were also treated to an exclusive evening at an Indiana Pacers game, where they posed for pictures with former NBA players Rik Smits and Clark Kellogg, and participated in an after-game shoot-around on the floor of Conseco Fieldhouse. After Sunday’s Shareholders’ Meeting & President’s Address, members mingled and celebrated their portion of the record-breaking rebate distribution at a special reception.

Board leadership re-elected; another industry record-setting rebate distributed

At the Sunday afternoon Shareholders’ Meeting, Do it Best Corp. member-owners re-elected three board members who were up for consideration for additional three-year terms:

• J Johnson, Johnson’s Home and Garden, Maple Valley, WA
• Frank Blair, Schnarr’s Hardware Company, Ladue, MO
• Niel Crowson, E.C. Barton Company, Jonesboro, AR

Niel Crowson was also re-elected as board chairman for the 2008 fiscal year. Crowson served in the same capacity in 2007.  

Following the business meeting, Do it Best Corp. President and CEO Bob Taylor delivered his annual address to the co-op’s members. Taylor touted the growth that Do it Best Corp. achieved in the face of this past year’s rocky economy, emphasizing the “most positive bottom-line performance in our company’s 62 year history.” Taylor’s address also highlighted the co-op’s accomplishments during the previous year including the industry-leading $126.2 million rebate returned to Do it Best Corp. member-owners, a 3.4% increase over last year’s record-setting rebate.

Do it Best Corp. will visit Indianapolis again May 17 – 20, 2008 for the 2008 Do it Best May Market^SM. The 2008 Do it Best Winter Conference & Expo will take place in Orlando, FL, from January 16-18, 2008.

About Do it Best Corp.

Based in Fort Wayne, Ind., Do it Best Corp. is the only U.S.-based, member-owned hardware, lumber and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry and has been in operation since 1945.  With annual sales of $2.81 billion, Do it Best Corp. is the second largest co-op in the industry, serving 4,100 member-owned locations in the United States and in 47 countries.