There are many legislative and business topics that impact the welfare of independent home improvement businesses and their owners. In an effort to bring some of those topics to light, the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) is in the …
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Westlake Ace to Expand Into North Carolina
The Westlake Ace Hardware chain is expanding into North Carolina. The company, which is an Ace Hardware Corp. subsidiary, is scheduled to close a deal to buy two stores in Raleigh, North Carolina, in mid-July. With the addition of the North …
Read More »Walmart Ends Price Matching Program
In-store price matching from ads is now a thing of the past for Walmart shoppers. Historically, customers of the retail giant could present a competitors’ printed ad that displayed a lower price at checkout in order to get a discount. On …
Read More »Lumber Liquidators Won’t Sell Chinese Flooring, Continues Tests
Flooring discounter Lumber Liquidators won’t be selling Chinese-made laminate anymore, and has agreed to continue an air-quality testing program for consumers. Federal agencies, including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, had been investigating the Toano, Virginia, company since early 2015, when the retailer …
Read More »Home Depot Sues Credit Card Companies Over Chips
Banks continue rolling out new microchip-embedded debit and credit cards, which are supposed to be more secure against fraud than cards that are authenticated with signatures only. But Home Depot, in a recently filed lawsuit, says Visa and MasterCard aren’t making transactions as secure as …
Read More »Retailers Seek Opportunities at United Hardware Market
Retailers hit the floor of the 2016 United Hardware June Buying Market, held June 17-19 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, looking for promotional items, new categories and a strong start to the second half of the year. “With the arrival …
Read More »The Dos and Don’ts of Sharing Political Opinions
No matter what business owners believe about political candidates or causes, they must consider how expressing those opinions–through signage at their stores or in other ways–may impact customers and potential customers. Even the most loyal customers may react strongly to a …
Read More »Hardware Store Unites Businesses After Orlando Shooting
On June 12, Walter Toole woke up early for work, unaware that a gunman had gone on a shooting rampage a few blocks from a hardware store Toole owns in Orlando, Florida. “My wife Patty woke me up and told me there …
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