To download a PDF of this story, click here. Visit hardwareretailing.com/2015pricing-study to view the NRHA’s 2015 State of Pricing Study.  Whether you like it or not, today’s consumers have access to detailed pricing information for every item in your store. In fact, in some cases, …

Buying two wholesale companies and growing same-store sales boosted revenue for Ace Hardware Corp. in 2014. The home improvement co-op reported 2014 fiscal-year revenue of $4.7  billion, for growth of 13.2 percent year over year. Fourth-quarter revenue also increased, up 13.6 percent …

Lowe’s reported sales increases for its fourth quarter of 2014, as well as for the fiscal year. The year’s sales were $56.2 billion, a 5.3-percent increase from 2013. Fourth-quarter sales totaled $12.5 billion, which was an increase of 7.3 percent from the …

Rick Alspaugh needed a solution to his Texas store’s overflowing parking lot, and building a parking garage didn’t make financial sense. As the problem worsened, a neighboring business was turning Alspaugh Ace Hardware’s customers away so its own tenants had space for parking. Some …

Construction started on more homes in January than in the same month a year ago. The U.S. saw 1.07 million new housing starts in January, an increase of about 19 percent from January 2014, according to data from the National Association …

Get creative with your window merchandising. Can you turn your windows into eye-catching, offbeat art? Independent home improvement stores in San Francisco decked out their window displays for Valentine’s Day this month – and they weren’t showcasing chocolate and roses. The …

For a $5 fee, nearly three dozen Ace Hardware stores in the U.S. are sending employees to deliver online orders to customers’ homes, businesses and job sites. Ace launched its Express Delivery pilot program earlier this year at 33 stores in Arizona, Colorado, …

In its March 2 issue, Forbes magazine recognizes Ace Hardware as a business success story and highlights a thriving chain of Ace stores. Ace is now a $4.7 billion co-op with thousands of locally owned stores, despite massive changes to retail such as the …