Lowe’s has plans for laying off and changing job descriptions for thousands of people in its workforce, according to The Wall Street Journal. Lowe’s employs more than 285,000 workers, and will be cutting the positions of less than 3,000 of them “as the home-improvement retailer tries to …

When Mark Rand considered buying a hardware store, he learned Ace Hardware Corp. offers a financial incentive to help military veterans like him start, buy or expand Ace stores. Retailers who join Ace Hardware or open new store locations pay an affiliation fee for their stores to be …

Stanley Black & Decker is buying Sears’ iconic Craftsman tool brand in a deal valued at about $900 million. With the acquisition, which the manufacturer announced Thursday, Stanley will own the rights to develop, make and sell Craftsman products. The deal is expected to close this year. …

In 2016, J.C. Penney has experimented with multiple product categories that compete directly with home improvement retailers, and the year isn’t quite over yet. The Texas company began selling heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in November in test stores in …

The final stores from Lowe’s failed Australian joint venture closed this month. Lowe’s partner in the business, Woolworths Limited, oversaw liquidation of the Masters Home Improvement assets. Additionally, the company announced that all stores would cease operating after Dec. 11. The chain had more …

To view a PDF of this story, click here.  By Kate Klein, kklein@nrha.org  Employee, We’ve Got a Problem! Justin looked really good on paper when you hired him three months ago, but he’s been a headache ever since. You know …

You know the results of the heated presidential election, but have you checked in on how various states voted on business issues? Four states approved minimum wage increases in November’s general election, and South Dakota residents voted down a decrease …

Lowe’s Canada has plans for expansion that include growing the Canadian company RONA and roughly tripling Ace Hardware’s store count. In May, Lowe’s finalized its purchase of home improvement chain RONA and this month released more information about its plans for the acquisition. Through its purchase of RONA, Lowe’s …