Wolseley plc (Theale, England) announced that Fenton Hord, president of Stock Building Supply (Raleigh, NC), the company's U.S. building materials business, will retire July 31. Joe Appelmann, senior vice president of operations, will take over as president of Stock effective Aug. 1.

Hord has led Stock Building Supply for the past 20 years as CEO. Under his guidance, Stock has grown from seven North Carolina stores with sales of $113 million, to 310 locations in 34 states with a record $5.3 billion in sales in 2006, for a compound annual growth rate of 22%.

Appelmann joined Stock in 1988 and has held senior management positions in finance, manufacturing and logistics. He is currently responsible for Stock’s operations across the country.

Stock Building Supply, a subsidiary of Wolseley plc, which also owns Ferguson (Newport News, VA), provides building materials and construction services to professional contractors in the United States. For more information, visit www.wolseley.com.