True Value Files for Bankruptcy

A hardware company founded in 1948 is going out of business. True Value announced Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and that almost all of its assets and operations will be sold to a rival, Do it Best. However, True Value's 4,500 independently operated locations are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings and will stay open, and True Value says it will continue selling hardware and other products to those locations during the bankruptcy process, CNN reports. Just one company-owned location in Illinois is included in the bankruptcy filing, CBS News reports.

In its filings, True Value cites the slowing of the housing market and hardware sales as reasons for its financial slump. True Value and Do it Best are both member-owned wholesalers that sell hardware and other products to independent stores, and in a statement, True Value says Do it Best "has a similar decades-long history in the home improvement space and also operates with a focus on supporting members and helping them grow." The CEO of Do it Best adds, "This acquisition, if consummated, would provide True Value and independent hardware stores the strongest opportunities for growth for years to come." The companies expect to complete the sale by the end of the year. (More Chapter 11 stories.)