Busy Beaver Home Improvement Centers, an independent chain of 16 hardware stores based in Harmar, has joined the Chicago-based True Value Co. as a co-op member.

The move announced Tuesday at Busy Beaver headquarters in the U-PARC office complex won’t change the store names, although the True Value connection will likely be added to signs and literature, a company spokesman said.

Busy Beaver officials hope the affiliation will give them more buying power, but also help them expand faster and more aggressively. In part, that’s because the True Value name may be more familiar to customers in new markets.

In addition, the Chicago co-op is expected to help Busy Beaver develop a smaller store model that will allow it to move into neighborhoods that don’t have room for a 30,000-square-foot store, said Steven Derr, marketing director for the Harmar company.

Mr. Derr said Busy Beaver would like to create an 8,000- to 9,000-square-foot prototype. “That’s going to allow us to be more competitive,” he said.

The True Value cooperative links nearly 4,400 independent retail locations worldwide, including more than 20 True Value stores in the Pittsburgh area, according to the announcement.

Busy Beaver will be serviced by True Value’s distribution center in the Cleveland area.

“Busy Beaver and True Value are both focused on transformational change to better serve our customers; this fundamental alignment in strategy is what sold us on selecting True Value as our growth partner,” said Busy Beaver CEO Joe Kallen in the official announcement.

Mr. Kallen acquired the regional hardware chain about two years ago. It was founded more than 50 years ago and has locations in Ohio and West Virginia, but the company had closed several stores in recent years as it coped with incursions by large hardware chains Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Under the new ownership, the company opened a location in Lawrenceville last year. In July, it added a store in Fairmont, W.Va.

Mr. Derr said annual sales are on track to hit $42 million this year.

He said the affiliation with True Value will not affect employment levels, which stand at more than 300 full-time and part-time workers in the main office and in the stores.

“If anything, the partnership with True Value would help us add employees,” he said.

Teresa F. Lindeman: tlindeman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2018.

First Published: August 25, 2015, 2:02 p.m.
Updated: August 26, 2015, 2:48 a.m.