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CHICAGO (AP) - True Value Co. CEO Lyle Heidemann spends a lot of his time shopping these days — and that's a good thing for a chain that had lost its way in retail.
Roaming the aisles of big-box competitors and other retailers that have put hundreds of its member stores out of business, Heidemann and True Value are actively on the prowl for more customers after a restructuring that has cleaned up its financial problems and given it new momentum.
Whether it can regain business lost to home improvement behemoths Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Cos. remains questionable. But after years on the defensive, the 6,000-store member-owned cooperative is fighting back again with an aggressive marketing strategy and what its first-year CEO calls "a whole new beginning" for True Value. The quest: Attract more "weekend warriors" away from the giant stores.
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