Do It Best
| Company type | Cooperative |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hardware, lumber, and building materials |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founder | Arnold Gerberding |
| Headquarters | Fort Wayne , United States |
Area served | United States, Central America, South America, Caribbean |
Key people | Dan Starr (CEO) |
| Products | Hardware, lumber, building materials |
| Website | doitbest |
Do it Best Corp., originally known as Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. (HWI), is a cooperative owned by its members specializing in hardware, lumber, and building materials, with its headquarters located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It stands as the second-largest cooperative in its sector, generating annual sales exceeding $6 billion. Members have the option to feature the Do it Best brand within their establishments.
History
Established in 1945 by Arnold Gerberding, with financial backing from 100 independent proprietors across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, HWI embraced a cooperative structure to maximize purchasing power for its members. The organization inaugurated its first warehouse in 1948 and introduced a proprietary truck delivery system by 1955. When Gerberding retired in 1967, the cooperative's membership had grown beyond 600.
Following Gerberding’s tenure, Don Wolf assumed leadership and enhanced distribution capabilities by opening a center initially in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, which was later moved to Sikeston in 2014. Presently, Do it Best maintains nine distribution centers alongside three regional lumber offices distributed throughout the United States.
In 1992, Mike McClelland took on the presidency and spearheaded the company's expansion into Central America, South America, and the Caribbean markets. The year 1998 marked the merger between HWI and Minnesota’s Our Own Hardware, accompanied by a rebranding to Do it Best Corp. Bob Taylor became president and CEO in 2002, guiding the company’s growth into commercial and industrial sectors as well as e-commerce until his retirement in 2016. Dan Starr succeeded him as CEO.
By 2022, Do it Best had become Indiana’s largest privately owned firm. That December, it transitioned its corporate headquarters to the Electric Works campus located in Fort Wayne. In March 2024, Do it Best completed a merger with United Hardware Distributing Company, integrating an additional 700 stores, a distribution facility in Milbank, South Dakota, and acquiring the Hardware Hank brand. This merger received approval from United Hardware shareholders in April 2024.
In November 2024, Do it Best purchased True Value Company following its bankruptcy for $153 million. This acquisition included True Value’s inventory, brand rights, a paint manufacturing plant, and over 4,500 retail locations—expanding Do it Best’s total store count to more than 8,000.