Menard Inc. is a chain of home improvement centers primarily in the Midwestern United States.
The privately held company, headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has approximately 300 stores in 14 states: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Kentucky. It is the third largest home improvement chain in the United States, behind The Home Depot and Lowe's.
Company history
In 1959, John Menard, Jr. began building post-frame buildings to finance his college education. By the end of 1959, Menard found it necessary to hire extra crews, and to purchase more equipment to keep up with demand. After graduating from the University of Wisconsinâ€"Eau Claire in 1962, Menard purchased land in Eau Claire and built an office and shop. The company was founded in 1960 and incorporated in 1962.
In 2007, Menards opened their third and fourth distribution centers in Holiday City, Ohio, and Shelby, Iowa, which are 669,000 square feet (62,200Â m2) and 735,000 square feet (68,300Â m2), respectively.
Store structure
In 2007, the 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2) and larger Menards stores began selling groceries.
Advertising
Menards utilizes weekly print ads, while also utilizing TV and radio ads.Radio and TV ads are sometimes accompanied with banjo music played by Gary Shaw of Wisconsin. Ray Szmanda was the "Menards Guy" who used the slogan "Save big money at Menards" regularly on television advertisements from 1976 to 1998, and occasionally since 1999.
Auto racing
Menards has supported several racing drivers, including Paul Menard, John Menard's son; Robby Gordon; P. J. Jones; Brandon Jones; Matt Crafton; and Simon Pagenaud. Menards has begun sponsoring Team Penske as of 2016. Menards has also become the title sponsor of races in the Xfinity Series and ARCA Racing Series.
Industry ranking
In 2016, Menard, Inc., was ranked 37th on Forbes’ list of "America's Largest Private Companies", with an estimated revenue of USD$8.7 billion. In that same year, Menard was ranked 45th on the National Retail Federation's list of "100 Top Retailers".
References
External links
- Official website
- Menard Inc. website
- Menards Real Estate
- Menards Racing
- Team Menard
- After 2 years of talks, work begins at Menards complex - Toledo Blade article
