Despite Heidi's Crimes

Since reporting in July that Do it Best (DiBCo) had partnered with Sherwin-Williams to create hardware’s worst paint offering, my following has grown by more than 300 people.  Though like all statistics, this one can be deceiving, because the news at Do it Best is not solely responsible for the increase. 

Supporting that trend is a parade of Sherwin-Williams employees, shepherded here by CEO Heidi Petz, who continues to drive engagement better than Charles Gassenheimer and DiBCo CEO Dan Starr combined.  So that more than 10% of Sherwin’s non-manufacturing and distribution staff of more than 40,000 now follow this page.  Many of whom implore me to continue to press Sherwin for accountability, while shitposting their boss on the subreddit for Sherwin employees.  Which I hope they do on their own time and devices, because the administration in Cleveland does monitor the site.  

That accountability may be coming for Sherwin, which has a deadline of October 31 to get a thermal oxidizer operating in Rochester, according to the terms of a consent order Sherwin entered into with Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in August. 

Should the thermal oxidizer be installed, the clock will begin ticking on the five years of litigation Sherwin will face out of Rochester, where cases are already in place to bring suit with more to follow once Sherwin turns the thermal ox on.  Creating the admission of guilt lawyers will prey on.  Guilt which an environmental expert told a packed house at the Rochester town hall last week was evident from his findings, which included a cocktail of solvents, plasticizing phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil samples there.  A staggering 24 parts per million of bioaccumulated toxins, creating a synergistic toxicity according to this expert, so that the total is more than the sum of its parts.  Hyper-poisoning the residents there and dispensing cancers in great numbers, all in an avaricious pursuit of wealth for Heidi.  Money I hope she puts aside to cover the legal fees, for the retribution she has coming.     

But despite Heidi’s crimes, it was Dan Starr on your minds last week.  With the outreach from the Do it Best network answering some of the questions members have about what’s going on there.  Beyond what we knew already about the financial performance, which continues a 10-year downward trend steepened over the last two years by the acquisitions of United and True Value Hardware.  And Starr’s ill-conceived investment in Nation’s Best Hardware, which returned less than $192,000 to the group last year, less than one half of one-percent return on the $39 million Starr sunk in Nation’s Best.  Principal which has already been written down to $11 million, leaving members nothing to show for all that cash. 

Now comes more bad news for Do it Best on this deal, after sources confirmed last week that Nation’s Best Hardware purchases a “significant” amount of material from independent hardware distributor Orgill.  With Ace Hardware, Orgill is Do it Best’s main rival in the independent hardware channel, contributing to the lack of confidence in Starr which seems endemic throughout his network.  With many members left feeling “betrayed” by Starr, who refuses to answer their questions about his ownership interests in Nation’s Best and his commitment to the group, considering his significant side-hustles.  Including one high-paying board position with a publicly traded bank, which on its face calls into question Starr’s commitment to the group, while raising more questions about potential conflicts.  Scurrilous charges against a sitting CEO, but not outlandish ones considering what I’ve learned.    

That the deal allows Nation’s Best to buy significantly from Orgill exposes a flaw in Starr’s strategy, one which leaves profits from this enterprise to fund a competitor’s expansion into Do it Best and True Value stores.  An expansion I’m told has been “robust” for Orgill since the True Value-Do it Best merger, draining millions in capital and earnings from Do it Best coffers.  Exactly as Starr planned it, explaining why he’s avoiding members’ questions.  A strategy likely to work out for him as well as his investment in Nation’s Best, because if Starr won’t answer his members’ questions, Fort Wayne knows who will.

A final thought for this week is my concern for inflation, which I’m expecting to be substantial for the next two years, an opinion partially informed by the Producer Price Index (PPI) which was announced last week up 5.4% for the 12 months ending in August.  A lagging indicator that more consumer price inflation should be expected, with the 7.7% rate of inflation in the price of finished goods entering the country only bolstering that likelihood.  Add in the rising cost of diesel fuel and I’m forecasting a low double-digit percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by the end of next year, with the price of liquid coatings rising even faster than that. 

Even if the war were to end. 

Thanks for all the new follows; it always feels good to know I’ve struck the right chord.  And without the validation your presence here provides, I’d be forced to agree with my critics that I’m no more than daft.  I’m looking to connect with any True Value or Do it Best members, board members and employees who can help inform this story.  Hit me up here if that’s you.  All communications are privileged, protected and confidential.