US LBM Holdings has acquired H & H Lumber Co. of Superior, Wis., which will become part of the Lyman Lumber Co. 

H&H serves the northern Wisconsin and greater Duluth, Minn., markets, providing home builders, specialty contractors and professional remodelers with a full-suite of building materials and services. The company joins Lyman Lumber Co., a US LBM division that is one of the largest building material suppliers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

In a pilot program at 37 stores, Menards will open a series of propane-fueling stations designed for propane-powered vehicles and cylinders used on gas grills and recreational vehicles. The program is a partnership with CleanFUEL USA, a leading supplier of propane autogas infrastructure and engine systems.

The home improvement retailer will conduct the pilot at Menards locations throughout Illinois, as well as its Eau Claire West store in Wisconsin. 

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) will make a campaign stop at Northwest Hardware, a True Value dealer in Roanoke, Va., on Aug. 22 at 8:30 a.m.

Beginning July 1, 2012, contractors, pro dealers and others who want to electronically access or obtain construction plans and construction project information in Wisconsin will be subject to state sales tax and use tax. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue has determined that electronic access to construction plans and project information is taxable as the sale of digital goods.

Menards may become the first anchor tenant in a vacant St. Louis mall, one of local several sites the Midwest retailer is eyeing for expansion, according to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The developer of the Northwest Plaza shopping center told the County Tax Increment Financing Commission on May 23 that Menards is interested in purchasing 17 acres of the site to build a 160,000 sq. ft. store.

A. O. Smith Corp. has posted first-quarter net earnings of $47.5 million, compared with $24.2 million in the prior-year quarter. Net earnings included an after-tax gain of $16.7 million, related to the sale of shares of Regal Beloit Corporation, which were received from the 2011 divestiture of the electric motor business.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) officially issued the trademark for a variety of Menards lawn and garden products.

The Eau Claire, Wis.-based home center retailer filed its application Aug. 2, 2011, and was officially given the trademark March 20.

The yard and lawn applications include lawn mowers, mechanical spreaders for seed and dry lawn chemicals, and mechanical lawn aerators. The brand also applies to power tools such as blowers, edgers, lawn trimmers and hedge shears.

When the President of the United States visits a factory, that's news. But there was even more to President Obama's trip to Master Lock's Milwaukee plant -- there was talk of jobs. 

After recognizing Master Lock several times in recent months for moving some jobs from China back to the United States, President Obama visited Milwaukee last week led a discussion on jobs and the economy. 

Mead Lumber, the regional LBM chain with locations in seven Midwestern states, has purchased four locations of Fullerton Building Center, according to an announcement on its website.  

The stores are located in Yankton, S.D., and Vermillion, Winner, and Norfolk, Neb. Fullerton will still operate its lumberyards in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Lyman Lumber, the Excelsior, Minn.-based pro dealer, has been acquired by BlackEagle Partners, the parent company of US LBM Holdings. Serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area as well as parts of Wisconsin, Lyman Lumber includes lumberyards in Chanhassen, Minn., and Eau Claire, Wis., as well as Carpentry Contractors Corp. and Automated Building Components.