75-Year-Old Hardware Retailer True Value Files for Bankruptcy, Agrees to $153 Million Sale to Do it Best

Oct 14, 2024, 07:19 PM

True Value, a Chicago-based hardware wholesaler and home improvement retailer founded in 1948, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday morning in Delaware as it seeks to sell its business operations to rival Do it Best Corp, a fellow hardlines wholesaler. The company announced an agreement to sell substantially all of its business to Do it Best for $153 million, with the sale expected to be completed by the end of the year. True Value serves over 4,500 independently owned stores worldwide, with total retail sales of $10 billion. The company stated that its retail stores are independently owned and are not part of the bankruptcy process, and no stores are being shuttered. The decision comes amid a weak housing market that has led to plunging sales for the 75-year-old hardware brand.