Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
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Third-quarter sales results are in for the public companies that are prime competitors for independent home improvement retailers, and only Sears continues to decline.
Walmart—the United States’ biggest retailer, and the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retail company—saw sales increase by 4.2 percent above third-quarter 2016.
Amazon has continued its impressive double-digit growth, with third-quarter sales that rose 33.7 percent above the same time period in 2016.
Home Depot’s sales grew by 8.1 percent, and Lowe’s sales went up 6.6 percent for the quarter. Tractor Supply, the smallest company of the group, saw year-over-year growth of 11.6 percent.
Continuing a steady downward trajectory, Sears Holdings had a $1.4 billion, or 27 percent, decline in sales from third-quarter 2016. The company has been unprofitable for years now and has been closing its Sears and Kmart stores in efforts to shed poorly performing locations and trim operating costs.
For the third quarter, “store closures [contributed] to over half of the decline,” with closed electronics departments and pharmacies also factors, Sears reports in a press release.
