W.W. Grainger Inc. operates 23 locations throughout the tri-state area, and plans to increase that by 25 percent. The company also said it will increase its local workforce by 10 percent to 20 percent, and its local distribution network by 40 percent.

The company has said the market expansion initiative will help it better serve customers by adding people, products and sales outlets nationwide.

“We’re doing exactly what our customers asked us to do,” Mike Hade, regional branch services vice president for Grainger said in a statement. “Our customers told us they wanted more of the products they need to maintain, repair and operate their facilities, positioned closer to them, and we listened.”

The Chicago-based company said it expects to invest $50 million to $80 million in its market expansion program this year, including the tri-state project. To date, Grainger has expanded its presence in 20 markets across the country, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, South Florida, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

Grainger has expanded its product offering as well. The company launched an enhanced catalog earlier this year that features more than 138,000 facilities maintenance products—23,000 more items than last year’s offering. The new items include more than 7,000 plumbing products; 4,000 material handling supplies; 5,000 fasteners; and 1,600 security products.

A national distributor of heating and air conditioning parts has started construction on a distribution center in Jacksonville.

Johnstone Supply Inc. plans to open the new center in May on the Westside. The company has distribution centers in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, but the 120,000-square-foot center in Jacksonville will be its first this far south. The center will service 54 Johnstone Supply stores in the Southeast with next-day delivery and will offer to stock customized product lines for heating and air conditioning contractors in the Southeast.

“Everyone here at Johnstone is excited about the new facility, which marks a significant strategic move for our company, and we’re looking forward to joining the Jacksonville community,” said Johnstone Supply President & CEO Gary Daniels, “We believe this new distribution center is going to have a very positive effect on our business. The added jobs and business support will be equally positive and beneficial to the Jacksonville area.”

Johnstone Supply has more than $1 billion in annual sales and more than 300 independently owned stores across America.

February 27th, 2007 – Underwriters Laboratories (UL) recently announced a new UL Plumbing Mark for the certification of plumbing-related products that demonstrate compliance with both plumbing codes used throughout the U.S.  

The new UL Plumbing Mark better serves the needs of manufacturers, users, installers, regulators and consumers by clearly identifying plumbing products that comply with all requisite health-effect and performance standards and product requirements. Products bearing the Mark are deemed suitable for use in accordance with both the International Plumbing Code (IPC) and the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC).

“With this new UL Plumbing Mark, manufacturers can now obtain a single certification listing to demonstrate product compliance nationwide from the most widely used, trusted and recognized safety certification organization in North America,” says UL’s Ann Marie Gebhart. “In addition to our plumbing industry expertise and the enhanced brand value for customers’ Listed products, this new certification Mark is another example of UL’s focus on serving the needs of the plumbing industry and our proactive leadership in offering services that benefit our customers.”

UL has more than 75 years’ experience in certifying plumbing products and actively participates on plumbing code bodies and standards groups. As with all UL certification programs, regulators can be assured that products listed to the UL Plumbing Mark are verified under UL’s Follow-Up Services protocol, which ensures ongoing compliance with all applicable standards.

The UL Follow-Up Services program includes periodic field audits of production facilities to assure that only authorized materials are used in product manufacturing. The program also observes that quality assurance and quality control procedures are followed, and that labeling and product literature is accurate with respect to UL-Listed products.

Key facts about the UL Plumbing Mark:

The UL Plumbing Mark is a Listing Mark, meaning that products displaying the UL Plumbing Mark have been evaluated to all applicable nationally recognized health-effect and performance standards, and have demonstrated compliance with both the IPC and UPC plumbing installation codes.
The UL Plumbing Mark will be rolled out in phases, with the long-term intent of using the Mark for all plumbing products, including plumbing appliances. This Mark will first appear on products covered under the category Plumbing Fixture Fittings. This product category includes faucets for lavatories, faucets with pullout spouts and side sprays, hand-held showers, pressure-balanced valves, and thermostatic mixing valves.
The UL Plumbing Mark is offered as an adjunct service in addition to other UL Marks.
To download the UL Plumbing Mark, visit www.ul.com/marks_labels/mark/art.htm#plumbing.

ATLANTA — The Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home improvement store chain, said Monday it will consider shedding its division serving contractors, homebuilders and other business customers, distancing itself further from the strategies advanced by former Chief Executive Bob Nardelli. Its shares rose more than 2 per cent in early trading.The Atlanta-based company said it may sell or spin off its wholesale distribution arm, Home Depot Supply.Frank Blake, the current chairman and CEO of The Home Depot, said the company wants to concentrate more on its retail business.

Just last year, Home Depot announced it had completed its $3.2-billion purchase of Orlando, Fla.-based Hughes Supply Inc., a distributor of construction, repair and maintenance products.

The deal, Home Depot’s largest acquisition ever, doubled the size of HD Supply division, which serves business customers including municipalities and maintenance professionals.

The division was seen as a big opportunity for growth by former Mr. Nardelli, who resigned in early January after six years at the helm of Home Depot.

Mr. Nardelli had said repeatedly that he believed the company’s strategy under his watch did not need changing. But earlier this month, the company said it is giving a seat on its board to an investment group that wants the company to consider, among other things, a leveraged buyout as a way to generate shareholder value.

The group, Relational Investors LLC, had threatened a proxy fight over the home-improvement company’s strategic direction, part of an undercurrent that led to Mr. Nardelli’s resignation.

Mr. Blake said the announcement regarding Home Depot Supply was part of a strategic review the company conducted in November.

HD supply has annual revenues of approximately $12-billion, has nearly 1,000 locations nationwide and in Canada, and employs more than 26,000 associates, the company said.

Home Depot has retained the investment firm Lehman Brothers as its financial adviser to assist in this process.

Home Depot shares rose 92 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $41.92 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

NSF Partners with International Code Council to Ensure Ongoing Compliance with International Plumbing Code

February 7, 2006 – Ann Arbor, MI and Falls Church, VA — NSF International and the International Code Council (ICC) today announced a first-of-a-kind agreement that will make NSF American National Standards available to building code and plumbing code officials through the International Code Council.

Under the new agreement, both non-profit organizations will work together to provide ICC members all NSF/ANSI standards referenced in the International Plumbing Code (IPC).  IPC currently references several NSF/ANSI drinking water product and food equipment standards.  The IPC includes regulations for plumbing facilities without restricting the use of new materials, products or methods of construction.

Having ready access to the standards referenced in IPC will result in additional time and cost savings for building and plumbing officials and will help consolidate these requirements throughout the industry.  Members who will benefit from the new agreement include:

• fire officials,
• architects,
• engineers,
• builders,
• contractors,
• elected officials,
• manufacturers, and
• others in the construction industry (state, county and municipal code enforcement).

“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to public health protection,” said Bob Ferguson, NSF Vice President of Water Systems.  “Working together, we will provide services to building code and plumbing code officials to make sure they obtain the information they need regarding code and regulatory compliance.  We are two organizations with a similar mission – we help the world live safer.”

These NSF/ANSI standards referenced in the IPC include: 

• NSF/ANSI Standard 3: Commercial Warewashing Equipment
• NSF/ANSI Standard 14: Plastics Piping System Components and Related Materials
• NSF/ANSI Standard 18: Manual Food and Beverage Dispensing Equipment
• NSF/ANSI Standard 42: Drinking Water Treatment Units – Aesthetic Effects
• NSF/ANSI Standard 44: Residential Cation Exchange Water Softeners
• NSF/ANSI Standard 53: Drinking Water Treatment Units – Health Effects
• NSF/ANSI Standard 58: Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Treatment Systems
• NSF/ANSI Standard 61: Drinking Water System Components – Health Effects, and
• NSF/ANSI Standard 62: Drinking Water Distillation Systems

“The agreement between ICC and NSF underscores our commitment to public health and safety,” said International Code Council CEO Rick Weiland. “This is the beginning of a collaborative effort between both organizations to support the plumbing and HVAC industries.”

NSF is a non-profit organization committed to protecting the public by certifying products and writing standards for food, water, air and consumer goods.  Similarly, ICC is committed to providing quality codes, standards and services to stakeholders concerned with the safety and performance of the building environment. 

If you would like additional information on the NSF/ICC agreement, please contact Bob Ferguson at 734.827.6883 or ferguson@nsf.org.

Source:

NEWARK, N.J. – American Standard Cos. said Thursday it will sell its well-known plumbing fixture business and spin off a unit that makes auto braking systems, then rename the company Trane after its signature brand of air-conditioning systems.

Wall Street applauded the breakup, sending the stock rising more than 7 percent to $53.25, its highest level since the company went public in 1995.

Although American Standard, based in Piscataway, N.J., is best known for its kitchen and bath products, the Trane operation brought in $6.8 billion, or 60 percent of its sales in 2006.

Trane is among the leading suppliers of commercial and residential heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. The new Trane company will retain the right to use the American Standard brand name for such products.

Trane on Wednesday announced plans to invest nearly $3.4 million into expanding its Fort Wayne operations, including a warehouse.

Trane’s vehicle control systems business, which posted $2 billion in revenue in 2006, will be spun into a publicly traded company to be called WABCO. American Standard shareholders will be issued one share of WABCO stock for every three American Standard shares currently owned.

American Standard also said it will sell its bath and kitchen business, which generated $2.4 billion in revenue in 2006. The company plans to use proceeds from that sale to pay down debt and buy back Trane common stock.

The breakup, which does not require shareholder approval, is to be completed by early fall.