Research and Guides

Hardware Retailing magazine and the North American Retail Hardware Association have a wealth of hiring resources to help you manage your hiring process and evaluate the employees you bring on board. Review these articles and download the following guides to …

Use the following industry metrics to anticipate emerging trends and opportunities in the channel. Data is not seasonally adjusted, meaning these graphs represent real-time shifts in the market. Understand consumers’ desire to save or spend by gauging overall consumer confidence …

Whether you are building your employee schedule for next month or investing in a new category without knowing how it will perform, you are often asked to make decisions that would be simpler if you had a crystal ball. However, …

In 2020, Hardware Retailing is talking about succession planning in each issue of the magazine. To get the series started, we consulted with Gary Pittsford, president and CEO of Castle Wealth Advisors, a financial advisory firm that has been guiding …

If you serve customers who have gas furnaces in their homes, keep this troubleshooting flowchart close to the service counter and the phone. Train your staff on each step of the guide so they are prepared to answer any follow …

Knowledge is power. For more than a century, independent hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards have relied on the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) Cost of Doing Business Study to see how their businesses compare to typical and high-profit …

After polling more than 200 independent home improvement retailers operating in the U.S., the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) finds the impact from tariffs continues to represent great uncertainty for business operators. Notably, 67 percent of surveyed retailers believe …

The associates who interact with your customers on the salesfloor, offer their advice on products and projects and keep a store running are the lifeblood of the home improvement industry. To reward employees who contribute to sales growth, Island Hardware …