Data, Innovation Drive Do it Best/True Value 2026 Spring Market in Denver

The Do it Best/True Value 2026 Spring Market opened in Denver with a different feel than a year ago in Orlando. The integration of Do it Best and True Value is further along, the market floor reflected more visible alignment between the two brands, and the messaging from leadership centered less on the merger itself and more on what comes next for dealers.

That tone came through early in the market’s kickoff session at the Colorado Convention Center, where executives repeatedly tied technology, store execution and data tools to dealer profitability. It also showed up on the floor, where retailers moved between assortments, closeout buys, contractor-focused offerings and new item displays while vendors pointed to a mix of category expansion, program integration and fresh opportunities with dealers from both sides of the organization.

“Everything we’re doing at this Market is about delivering measurable results for independent dealers,” Do it Best Group CEO Dan Starr said. “By investing in stronger systems, smarter analytics, and fully unified operations, and launching Retail Pulse to turn insight into action, we’re giving store owners the tools and the team they need to grow faster and compete with confidence in a rapidly changing retail landscape.”

That message carried through the rest of the market, where education sessions, buying opportunities and merchandising displays were aimed at helping dealers improve growth, margin and profitability. On the floor, that focus showed up through Knowledge Central sessions, LBM training, merchandising zones such as Solutions in Action and Assortment City and destination areas including Contractor Solutions, Backyard HQ, Closeout Zone, Launch Zone, New Item Gallery and Pallet Zone.

In addition to buying opportunities and education sessions, the market also gave dealers time to unwind. A private concert by country star Dierks Bentley—a Grammy-nominated singer known for hits such as “What Was I Thinkin’,” “Drunk on a Plane” and “Somewhere on a Beach”—drew a lively crowd of retailers and vendors after a full day on the floor. Mike Pederson of Samson Hardware Company in Fairbanks, Alaska, summed up the atmosphere, joking that it was a good show if hardware retailers were “putting their wives on their shoulders and dancing.”

Do it Best/True Value 2026 Spring Market Built Around New Retail Pulse Platform

The biggest new element of this year’s market was Retail Pulse, a retail intelligence platform introduced on stage by Do it Best president Nick Talarico and vice president of field sales Eric Lane. Leadership positioned it as a major step in how the company plans to support dealers inside the store.

“We believe it represents a fundamental shift in how we support independent dealers,” Talarico said during the market kickoff event on Friday, March 6. “It’s not simply a tool. It’s a different standard for how we partner with you.”

Talarico said the platform uses store data to identify ways to increase sales, improve profitability and optimize inventory, with insights delivered through territory sales managers during store visits.

Lane said Retail Pulse gives sales managers a clearer starting point before they ever walk into a store. “Before your territory sales manager even arrives in your store, they’ve reviewed your performance,” he said. “Not just against your own history but against a group of peers — stores of similar size, similar markets, and serving similar customers so it’s an apples-to-apples comparison.”

During the demo, executives showed how the platform benchmarks stores against peer groups across metrics such as inventory turns, gross margin percentage, retail sales dollars and GMROI, allowing users to drill into departments and categories to identify opportunities.

Lane said the tool helps sales teams move directly to solutions. “Retail Pulse is already showing us: What’s under-performing, what’s over-inventoried, what’s tying up cash and what’s below peer performance,” he said.

Talarico said the platform will continue to evolve as the company expands its use of retail and vendor data to support store-level decision making.

Beyond Retail Pulse, leadership also pointed to the broader integration work happening across the organization. President of True Value Dent Johnson said most customer-facing integration is complete or nearly complete. Talarico said the sales team has been integrated for the last 60 days, a move he described as especially noticeable for retailers. Johnson added that the company is ahead of where he expected it to be 12 months ago.

Technology and Ecommerce Frame Co-op’s Strategy

The Do it Best/True Value leadership team also used the market kickoff session to outline a broader technology and ecommerce strategy aimed at helping independent retailers compete more effectively.

Ken Widner, executive vice president of information technology and chief information officer, told attendees that innovation in retail only matters if it translates into measurable outcomes for dealers. “Innovation isn’t what you announce. It’s what you do,” Widner said. “And it only matters if it’s better for your business.”

Widner described the company’s technology work as focused on connecting data across the retail ecosystem — including pricing, inventory, merchandising, ecommerce and store design — so retailers can act on insights more easily. He said the company has expanded its engineering staff, established a technology center in Dallas and partnered with technology firms including Adobe, Microsoft and Oracle to support those efforts.

“We’ve built an ecosystem which connects performance data, pricing, inventory, merchandising, ecommerce and store design,” Widner said. “When it’s connected, innovation compounds.”

Executive vice president of marketing and ecommerce Allison Flatjord highlighted how the company’s ecommerce platform is designed to support in-store retail rather than replace it.

“Our model is unlike anything else offered in the industry,” Flatjord said. “There are no set up fees, no monthly platform fees, and you only pay when you sell.”

Flatjord said the company continues to invest in driving online traffic to local dealer websites. During a recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotion funded by Do it Best, she said, 63 percent of online orders resulted in customers coming into stores to complete the purchase.

“That is what our ecommerce program is all about — driving customers into your stores,” Flatjord said.

She added that ecommerce sales are up 38 percent year over year and order volume has increased 39 percent, while participation in same-day pickup programs has grown 242 percent in recent years.

Retailers Respond to Buying Opportunities, New Tools 

During the three-day market, Hardware Connection interviewed several retailers about the market, and their comments pointed to a show that was serving different needs at different stages of the business cycle. Some came to place orders and reconnect with vendors. Others were looking for specific categories, fresh ideas or a clearer picture of what the combined Do it Best/True Value organization can offer.

Mike Pederson of Samson Hardware Company in Fairbanks, Alaska, said he came to Denver with a defined list. “Mainly adding paint sprayers,” he said. “Beefing up the paint department is what I was mainly after this time.” He said he was able to find what he was looking for and also attended some of the marketing sessions.

For Danny Hartsfield of Lauderdale Lumber & Hardware in Henning, Tenn., the market had a more foundational purpose. Hartsfield, along with Curtis McElmore and partner Nathan Hartsfield, is in the process of buying the business. “We have loved the market. We’ve learned a lot,” he said. “We got to talk to the lumber buyers. We’ve been very welcome and everybody’s given us a lot of knowledge.”

Lisa Olson of United True Value in Oconto Falls, Wis., said her team arrived better prepared than in past markets, which allowed more time to look beyond core ordering. “We’re ahead of schedule,” she said. “We usually come and do all of our work here and we’ve prepared this time, so I have a lot of our orders done already. So we’re getting a chance to look at stuff that we don’t normally have time for, which is great. Seen a lot of new products.”

Olson also pointed to the closeout area as a continuing draw. “We do really well with that stuff, closeout stuff, because we can pass it on to our customers, the bargains,” she said.

George Lyall of Runnings in Marshall, Minn., said the market’s vendor turnout remained one of its strengths. “The amount of vendors that are here supporting the membership is fantastic,” he said. Lyall said a big part of his trip was reconnecting with supplier partners and digging into products and promotions. “Most of my business here is catching up with my vendors community and kind of reconnecting twice a year really,” he said.

Kyle Daniels of Hess Lumber Co. in Malad City, Idaho, said the market was useful as his company continues to build out its farm and ranch assortment. “I’ve seen a lot of new vendors here this year that were new to me,” he said. “So seeing some of their products has been super helpful.” 

Daniels also pointed to Retail Pulse as one of the most notable elements from the kickoff session. “I think there’s a lot of benefits that that program can offer to the stores and seeing where certain categories or departments need some work, need some updating, or how you can really make your inventory work for you,” he said.

Vendors See Traffic, Field Questions

Vendors described a market where retailers were asking pointed questions about both products and the larger Do it Best/True Value integration.

Ryan DeArment, EVP sales & marketing at CHANNELLOCK, said there had been much interest in the booth, especially around new products and exclusive offerings. “We’re getting a lot of placement on supplier displays as well,” he said. “It’s been a good show.” 

He added that many questions from the True Value side centered on timing and category transitions as programs continue to come together. “We’re really just trying to grow the program, grow the presence, really sell the compete and win story,” he said. “This allows the independent hardware store to buy a national global brand product and compete with the other global brands at all other retailers.”

Rick Grear, CEO of Dumond Global, said the company was seeing solid response to eco-friendly paint removal products. “The traffic that’s been through our area has been very receptive,” Grear said. “They love water-based solutions. They love products that are eco-friendly and can get down to bare for good surface preparation reasons in one application.” 

Morgan Allen, national sales manager for BlueLinx, said the show continued to offer a strong chance to meet members face-to-face from around the country. He said retailers were asking about new products and commodity categories, especially wood and panels, and suggested some stores that historically were not as involved in those areas are becoming more interested.

The next Do it Best/True Value Market will take place Sept. 25–28, 2026, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.