Operations

It’s a new year, which means it’s an excellent time to look at leadership development training for your new managers. Have you considered the North American Hardware and Paint Association’s (NHPA) Foundations of Leadership program? The program offers three different …

In the final weeks of 2020, it was clear COVID-19 had affected every person in some way: physically, financially, emotionally. Amid the volatility of the year, U.S. retail sales rose and fell dramatically and ultimately ended on a positive note …

In the early days of March, Cheryl Brown and the Knudson Lumber team in the Kittitas Valley of Washington were busy putting the final touches on a new addition to the 80-year-old family business: an e-commerce site. Since 1940, Knudson …

A Q&A with Abbe Will about the housing market Abbe Will is a research associate and associate project director of the Remodeling Futures Program for the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Hardware Retailing spoke to Will about …

A Q&A with Holly Wade about the economy Holly Wade is the executive director of the NFIB Research Center, where she conducts original research and studies public policy effects on small businesses. She produces NFIB’s monthly Small Business Economic Trends …

The Canadian retail hardware industry has weathered similar conditions to its southern neighbors through much of 2020. But before the pandemic, sales by the industry overall were facing negative growth at the end of 2019 for the first time since …

Years from now, when our children and grandchildren are studying history, there will almost certainly be a chapter in their virtual textbooks that focuses on 2020. One might easily argue that 2020 will be remembered among the most influential years …

Anxiety about COVID-19 has shifted where and how people will shop for the holidays.  Research from professional services firm Deloitte shows that more than half of shoppers feel anxious about in-store shopping due to the pandemic.  Independent home improvement retailers …