“A penny saved is a penny earned,” or so goes the old adage. When you think about improving profitability, it may be easy to spot the big ways to cut costs. But if you start looking for smaller cost-cutting measures …

Click the picture to download a PDF of this story. By Jesse Carleton, jcarleton@nrha.org, Chad Husted, chusted@nrha.org, and Liz Lichtenberger, llichtenberger@nrha.org Despite an enviable location in Hawaii, HPM has survived its share of hard times. Established in 1921 during the Great Depression, it survived a …

As retailers crowded into United Hardware’s Fall and Winter Buying Market, held July 28-30 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, one message came across loud and clear. There are plenty of opportunities to gain success in the home improvement industry for those …

Click the picture to download a PDF of this story. By Jesse Carleton, jcarleton@nrha.org For the past couple of years, the electric meter has been spinning backwards at Brinkmann’s True Value. In 2015, the company’s location in Miller Place, New York, achieved …

Add-on sales are adding up fast at Mark’s Ace Hardware. General manager Camille Gibson knows her employees play a key role in encouraging customers to make add-on purchases, which raise the average transaction size. But to keep that top of …

Students will soon be headed back to school and college, and before they do, parents and students alike will be making a list of everything they need for that first day of school or dorm life. This year, back-to-school spending …

Holding a DIY craft workshop is an effective way to get customers together and promote your store’s categories. Michelle Schefter, owner of Langdon Hardware in Langdon, North Dakota, finds it’s also an opportunity to support other local businesses. Earlier this …