Bob Taylor: family business lessons guide CEO of the international co-operative of hardware stores.

AuthorHromadka, Erik
PositionCEO PROFILE - Company overview

WHEN BOB TAYLOR joined his family's Virginia Beach hardware store after college, he certainly didn't expect to end up in Indiana, running one of the state's largest businesses. The CEO of Do it Best Corp., an international co-op of hardware stores based in Fort Wayne, initially wanted to work with his family and maintain longstanding relationships with local customers who valued personal service.

"I appreciated the unique connection my father and my grandfather enjoyed with their customers and their community as local small business owners," he says. "The opportunity to work with my family, continue that tradition and grow the business was very appealing."

And while that early decision would eventually bring Taylor and his family to northeast Indiana, the same values he learned from his father and grandfather would serve him well in dealing with thousands of independent hardware store owners and hundreds of vendors that belong to the Do it Best corporate family.

Do it Best Corp. was founded in 1945 as Hardware Wholesalers in Fort Wayne. Today, the co-op company has grown to serve 4,100 independently owned retailers in the United States and 47 countries. In addition to its Indiana headquarters, the company maintains eight distribution centers located in Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Oregon, and Nevada.

The member-owned co-op provides the resources of a large national corporation to local store owners who want assistance in buying power, marketing, store design, technology systems and other services. As the company's fourth CEO, Taylor says he understands the needs of members because he worked in their shoes. He recalls how Do-it-Best was helpful to his family's hardware business when competition from large national retailers began to crowd out many of the small independent hardware stores.

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"We were successful in growing the business, adding new locations and expanding our market in the face of some exceptionally strong competition from our big box competitors," he recalls. "Part of that success resulted from the great partnership we enjoyed with our co-op partner, Do it Best Corp. Their international scope and exceptional buying power helped us even the playing field a bit, and their retail support in terms of store design, advertising and information systems helped us operate on a par with any national retailer."

That relationship with Do it Best shifted gears in 1994 when the company...

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