By Mike Aylen With the spring market season upon us, in this Inside the Margin article, I will be looking at the best ways to get the most out of your attendance at spring markets with gross profit in mind. …
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Outdoor Done Right: Utilize Spring Markets to Enhance Your Outdoor Living Department
By Darrell Baker Spring is a great season to breathe new life into merchandising. As days get longer, foliage is starting to bloom and customers are ready to get outside. For retailers, this is a great time to revive displays …
Read More »Making Market Buys Successful
By Tony Corsberg As we are entering the market buying season, I would like to offer some insights to help retailers achieve success with their market buys to benefit all segments of our independent channel. Manufacturers, co-ops and distributors invest …
Read More »A Lasting Legacy: NHPA Announces Leadership Changes to Drive Continued Growth
In 2025, the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) marked 125 years serving the independent home improvement channel and fulfilling its mission of helping independent home improvement, paint and decorating retailers, regardless of affiliations, become better and more profitable …
Read More »The Delicate Balance of Margin Management
Between constant price changes from tariffs, rising labor costs, a soft housing market and dropping consumer confidence, to say last year was challenging for retailers would be an understatement. While they can’t control outside factors, there are ways retailers can …
Read More »Bring Life to Hardware: A Practical Guide for Exploring Live Plant Sales
By Darrell Baker While many hardware retailers have been selling plants for a long time, some have just started recently and others have avoided the extra work and complexity of this category. Whatever the case for your operation, live goods …
Read More »NHPA’s New RetailWise Features Microtraining Videos to Deliver Low-Effort, High-Impact Results
As it continually strives to make independent home improvement retailers better and more profitable, the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) is leaning into technology to bring efficient and time-saving training offerings to the channel. The new RetailWise program …
Read More »Canadian Industry Continues Post-COVID Doldrums
By Steve Payne, Editor-in-Chief, Hardlines Inc. The health of the retail hardware and home improvement industry in Canada had its ups and downs both during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, industry sales declined by 3.7%, and in 2024 …
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