A nut and bolt salesman in an era of mom and pop hardware stores, in 1946 Lanctot got the idea of banding many hardware stores together to increase their buying power to offer goods at a lower price — and a higher profit margin. The result: the True Value hardware cooperative, which grew to a national chain of 7,000 stores by the time he retired in 1989.
Another part of the idea: co-op advertising. By pooling ad money, Lanctot was able to hire professional pitchmen like Paul Harvey, Pat Summerall, and Willard Scott to advertise the stores, helping make the chain a household name. Lanctot died October 30 after a stroke. He was 84.