An American story

"Surviving... in spite of everything" is the title of a book about the history of the American hardware industry that has just been published. The author is a genuine authority on the scene: Bob Vereen has been writing about the industry for 60 years, having worked for the National Retail Hardware Association for 30 years, and he still continues to work for the Worldwide DIY Council today. He is also a regular contributor of articles on the American market to DIYglobal and our trade magazine DIY International (most recently in issue 2/2010, which is just out). In his book he explains how the major DIY retail chains came into existence and how hardware dealers were able to survive, whereas other specialist trade sectors have disappeared. More information: www.survivinginspiteofeverything.com