Latest news with #TrueValue
Hypebeast
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Lorna Simpson's Decade of Painting Gets a Met Spotlight
Summary ForLorna Simpson, images are always up for negotiation. A pioneer of conceptual photography, the New York-based artist is lauded for her ability to unravel the ways we reckon and wrestle with identity, challenging traditional narratives through text and image. Expanding on her impressive oeuvre of film, photography and collage, Simpson has spent the last decade delving into painting, building on her earlier themes while introducing new visual textures and techniques. TheMetropolitan Museum of Artis currently hosting the first museum survey dedicated to Simpson's painterly chapter. TitledSource Notes, the exhibition brings together more than 30 pieces, shedding light on the artist's technical brilliance and eye for repurposing history with poetic precision. Works on view include 'True Value (2015) and 'Three Figures (2014), key pieces from Simpson's monumental presentation at the 2015 Venice Biennale, alongside 'did time elapse' (2024) from her newest body of paintings,Earth and Sky. The title reflects Simpson's use of archival materials — from vintage editions ofEbonyandJetto star maps and minerals — across her practice. Cut, collaged and puzzled back together, these fragments, often arranged non-chronologically, mirror the artist's own rich, layered process. Through paint, they gain new resonance, building bridges between the past and what is deeply present. Lorna Simpson: Source Notes is now onviewin New York through November 2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art1000 5th Ave,New York, NY 10028
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Family-owned CT hardware store for sale after 100 years. ‘It's home,' longtime customers say
Schmidt's & Serafine's Inc. True Value has roots in Waterbury going back 100 years. Now, the long-time family business is up for sale. Company president and co-owner Jeff Schmidt, 71, has worked at the hardware store for more than 50 years and has been part of the ownership for two decades. He is one of five co-owners who have decided to put the business up for sale. 'The decision is tough because it's a family business and we have no next generation that wants to be involved for various reasons,' Schmidt said. 'It's very tough. It's been 100 years for us and we've been at this location since 1958. The history is huge, and it's been a hard decision.' Jeff Schmidt's great-grandfather, Charles H. Schmidt, opened up a hardware store in 1925 at 825 North Main St. in Waterbury with his sons Ellsworth Schmidt and Charles Schmidt Jr., Jeff's father. The business was open for about 10 years before closing during The Great Depression. Charles Schmidt Jr. reopened a hardware store in Old North Square in Waterbury and, in the 1950s, opened a second location in the Waterville section of the city. At that time, the Serafine family operated a hardware store in Waterbury. The three stores combined at the current 464 Chase Ave. location and called it Schmidt's & Serafine's. 'We grew up in the neighborhood in Waterbury, in the Bucks Hill neighborhood, where there were seven houses in a row and were all related. Most of us worked at the store,' said Jeff Schmidt, who started working at the store in the early 1970s. 'My grandfather would take the van, and everyone would come down in one vehicle and when we closed, we would all go home in the van together. We worked from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. then. It was always a tight family thing.' Jeff Schmidt took over the business after his father Charles died nine years ago. There is still a family feel to the business. He works with his cousin, Lee Schmidt, who works in the power equipment and repair department. Jeff's sister Beverly still works part-time at the store. 'I'm 71 and I would like to spend a little time off playing golf once a week instead of three times a year,' said Jeff Schmidt, who lives in Plymouth. 'The retail business is difficult, and you need youth to drive it. … Someone could make a good living here with a little youth.' Jeff Schmidt has two sons. Ian is a physician's assistant in New Jersey and Jeffrey is the owner of Waterbury restaurant Hindsight BBQ on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury. One of Lee's children is a teacher in Waterbury and the other works for Eversource. Jeff Schmidt said the 7,920-square-foot property is for sale and the goal is for it to remain a hardware store, thinking about his 24 employees, 16 of which are full-time. 'There's a lot of family tradition and most of the employees will tell you they become part of the family and that's why I'm trying to watch out for them too,' Jeff Schmidt said. Lee Schmidt admitted that being in a family business can be challenging at times. 'There are so many different opinions and views, but it worked out with my father and my brother, Beverly and my uncle Charlie. As kids, we worked at the business and that kind of thing is gone now. We don't have the next generation that wants to do that. It's not for everybody. It was a whole different mentality back in the day,' Lee Schmidt said. Jeff Schmidt said the business has also been hurt by the raise in minimum wage. He used to hire four or five high school students but only has one. 'We are a typical hardware store with a lawn and garden section with power equipment,' Schmidt said. 'We tend to know our customers by name, and many of them have been with us a long time.' Lee Schmidt said it's just time to sell. 'I'm just getting tired, and we've been doing this for so many years,' Lee Schmidt said. 'The family environment is what has set us apart. 'We try to treat everyone the way we would like to be treated. We try to do that the best we can even when we can't please everyone.' According to Schmidt said Schmidt's & Serafine's is the last remaining family-owned hardware store in the city. Schmidt said the industry has changed a lot over the years with large box stores, tractor supplies and the biggest of them all, Amazon, for online shopping. 'It's the personal touch that keeps me coming back all of these years,' said Thomas Desantis, a lifelong customer of the hardware store. Desantis, 75, started visiting the store with his parents in the 1950s. He lives down the street and has purchased power equipment, tractors, chainsaws, leaf blowers among other items throughout the years. 'It's a niche. It's home,' Desantis said. 'Every year when I come down to buy a Christmas tree, you are welcome. It's kind of like going to your favorite restaurant and everybody knows you. That's how it is here. … They load up my car for me. That's the difference between a place like this and Home Depot and Lowe's.' Joe Stofko, of Waterbury, has been shopping at the store since 1968. 'The people here keep me coming back. They have always been really well stocked in just about everything,' Stofko said. 'I have bought everything here from screws to barbecues. … It's convenient, prices are competitive with anyone else and they've always treated me right here.' Dwayne Preston of Waterbury, a 27-year employee at Schmidt's & Serafine's, said customer service is what keeps customers coming back. 'When they come in, we take care of them. That's why we have a lot of faithful old-timers that are still coming in,' Preston said. John Giudice, also of Waterbury, is a 40-year employee who proudly remembers his first day when he started at the job on July 9, 1984. 'It's personal. When a customer walks in you actually wait on them,' Giudice said. 'You don't go down five aisles and not talk to them. We practically take them down the aisle and right to the product. 'The job is convenient because I'm only five minutes from home,' he added. 'I've learned a lot being here. Anything you want to know about fertilizer I can tell you everything you need to know. If you have any questions about plants, I can help. I'm pretty knowledgeable and if you stick with something you learn it. That's why I'm still here.' Schmidt's & Serafine's Inc. True Value is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
High demand for de-icing materials continues
MANLIUS, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Ice dams are putting a damper on homes across Central New York. With removal companies booked out for weeks, some are wondering, 'What can I do?' One answer: a contraption that looks like a hockey puck. 'People try to toss them up on the roof and they're made of calcium chloride,' Norman Cadwell, Department Manager at True Value in Manlius, explained. 'The hope is as things melt, they melt in very cold temperature, that they cause a valley through the ice allowing the water that's damming up behind it to get off.' The brand sold at True Value is called Roof Melt. The only problem is that there is such a demand for the product that it's sold out. 'About a month ago, the weather came and just wouldn't go away, it wouldn't thaw. Everything is on order, but it's not coming in anymore,' Cadwell said. A DIY option would be to put calcium chloride into a stocking and place that on the ice dam, working similarly to the hockey puck-style ice melt. Ice dams aren't the only thing causing problems this winter. A salt shortage is hard at work, too. Last season, True Value had 12 pallets of salt left over. This season, before the end of December, those were all gone. 'We had a delivery last week of 12 pallets of rock salt and that just disappeared in a few days,' Cadwell said. Four pallets of salt were delivered at noon on a Tuesday. 24 hours later, only one pallet of salt remained, and that was with a limit of two bags per person. 'We're hoping salt comes in tomorrow, but we're just kind of at the mercy of suppliers right now.' Plus, they're hoping for warmer weather to get here soon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge rules Ohio must distribute $900M in pandemic-era benefits it previously passed on
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) — A Franklin County judge has ordered the state to obtain and distribute $900 million in federally funded pandemic-era unemployment benefits that it previously refused in 2021. The U.S. Department of Labor's Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program offered an additional $300 per week to unemployed Ohioans between Dec. 27, 2020, and Sept. 6, 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. True Value distribution center in Westlake to close, 82 workers face layoffs They were available to anyone who was already receiving traditional unemployment benefits, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. But Gov. Mike DeWine stopped the temporary payments for Ohioans on June 26, 2021, claiming they were 'discouraging' residents from returning to work. Several other states also opted out of the program that month. Attorney Marc Dann, on behalf of Ohioans who were denied the payments, sued DeWine and ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder in July 2021 for the 'unwarranted decision' to prematurely cancel the benefits, despite them being federally funded, according to a Wednesday news release. The Franklin County Common Pleas Court in 2021 ruled against the plaintiffs, but the Tenth District Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that DeWine had a 'clear legal duty' to keep the state in the program and secure the benefits for Ohioans, according to the Wednesday ruling. By the time the case reached the Ohio Supreme Court, the benefits had expired, and justices considered the case moot. The Franklin County court in 2024 allowed the plaintiffs to bring new, amended complaints. They also included a declaration from a DOL administrator, who made it clear that states that backed out of the supplemental unemployment program could rescind their terminations and go on to collect the benefits for their residents. List: The more than 500 JOANN stores expected to close amid second bankruptcy filing The judge ruled state officials violated state statute in prematurely terminating the benefits for Ohioans and ordered them to 'take all action necessary' to obtain and distribute the benefits to eligible Ohioans. 'The payments will both enable people still reeling from the effects of the pandemic to rebuild their lives and significantly boost the state's economy,' Dann is quoted in a Wednesday news release. 'We've never understood why the Governor would leave nearly a billion dollars sitting in an account in Washington, D.C. rather than allowing that money to flow into Ohio's […] cities, townships and villages where it will fuel sales for local businesses and generate tax revenue. Aside from being cruel, refusing funds made no sense from an economic standpoint. 'We've been assured the money is there, it's far past time for the state to ask for it on behalf of citizens who desperately need it.' Dann noted the county court's ruling could be appealed, but that the appellate court has already ruled against the state, and that a refusal would tee up another court battle. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
True Value distribution center in Westlake to close, 82 workers face layoffs
WESTLAKE, Ohio (WJW) — True Value, a national hardware retailer that filed for bankruptcy in October, announced it will soon shutter its Westlake distribution center, laying off 82 employees. The retailer sold off 'substantially all' of its assets the following November. Now, its distribution center at 26025 First Street is no longer needed. West Park Elementary School in Ravenna to close permanently due to declining district enrollment The center will start to shut down on April 8 and be completed by April 22, according to a Worker Readjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, filed earlier this month with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The layoffs include 59 merchandise handlers, four warehouse supervisors, four team leaders and various other maintenance and office workers. The workers do not have bumping rights. RECALL: Canned tuna sold at Walmart, Trader Joe's, Costco and more The 390,000 square-foot facility was built in 1972, according to Cuyahoga County property records, where it's listed as being in 'good' condition. It was valued in 2024 at $11.9 million, a 30% increase from the year prior. True Value, which was founded 75 years ago in Chicago, had 4,500 independently owned and operated stores across the U.S., including 40 in Ohio. All but the company-owned store in Illinois are expected to remain open, since they are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Nexstar previously reported. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
